Thursday, March 28, 2024

Inside Broadway with Rema Webb: The ‘Escape to Margaritaville’ Actress Says Studying Opera Helped Her Sustain a 20-Year Career on Broadway

Rema Webb (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Esquire Entertainment)

*Veteran performing artist Rema Webb, who currently stars as Marley in Jimmy Buffet’s “Escape to Margaritaville” at the Marquis Theatre, says she always knew she wanted to be on Broadway.

“My sister, who is 17 years older than I, always told me that I’ve had blinders on and I have always followed my passion since I was 6 years old.’ She said, I’ve had this thing about me from day one. I’ve never gone left or right; I’ve always gone straight toward my dream.

“My path led me down the road to study dance, opera, and acting,” Webb continues. “Thank God I studied opera because it’s been my foundation, and it’s allowed me to be on Broadway for 20 years, never, ever without a show. Though I’m not singing a lot in this show [“Escape to Margaritaville”], I’m always hired to holler or sing something classical. So to go between those two genres, you need to have technique and foundation to keep your voice healthy because you’re going to get the normal wear and tear.”

In this edition of “Inside Broadway,” Webb talks about Jimmy Buffet, why she feels “Escape to Margaritaville” was not well received by the critics and the Broadway community, her arts education and performing arts program, and why it’s important to give back and more.

Rema Webb (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Esquire Entertainment)

Gwendolyn Quinn: What was the theater scene like growing up in Pittsburgh?

Rema Webb: The theater scene in Pittsburgh was great. We had the Pittsburgh Playhouse and the Pittsburgh Public Theater.

August Wilson is from Pittsburgh, and his shows premiered at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. I grew up watching his plays on that stage.

GQ: When did you fall in love with the craft of acting and theater?

RW: It’s something I’ve always done. I had a great mother [Emelda Webb] who was eclectic. Theater wasn’t my first thing, music was. I grew up listening to Muddy Waters, Donny Hathaway, Aretha Franklin, Leontyne Price, and Jessye Norman. My mother exposed me to opera, R&B, jazz, bluegrass, and country.

My mother loved the arts. She took me to my first symphony, my first opera, and my first play and musical. I saw “Annie,” “Bubbling Brown Sugar,” and “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.”

From age 6 to 14 years old, my mother enrolled me in dance class. During the day, three times a week, I attended The Mount Lebanon Center for the Arts, and then I studied opera at the Pittsburgh Civic Opera one day a week. I did that from 16 years old until I graduated from high school.

GQ: Tell me about your association with the Civic Light Opera Mini Stars.

RW: I started performing professionally at 15 years old at the Civic Light Opera Mini Stars. There were more than 1,100 kids that auditioned, and 22 were picked.

Rema Webb and Don Sparks of “Escape to Margaritaville” (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Esquire Entertainment)

GQ: Before “Escape to Margaritaville” debuted on Broadway, were you part of the pre-Broadway tour and the world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse on the West Coast?

RW: Yes, we were scheduled to be at the La Jolla Playhouse for three months, but it was extended to four and a half months. We took the summer off, and the show went to New Orleans, Houston, and Chicago. After the tour, we took four weeks off and then started rehearsals for Broadway and opened in March [2018].

GQ: Were you a Jimmy Buffett fan before you became involved with the production?

RW: No. I knew nothing about Jimmy Buffett. My family is from New Orleans, and once I started hearing and learning his music, I knew more than I thought.

New Orleans is a place where people love Jimmy Buffet’s music. I also have family in Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, and Biloxi, Mississippi, which is also Jimmy Buffet’s territory and stomping ground.

Rema Webb Opening Night for “Escape to Margaritaville” (Photo Credit: Walter McBride, Courtesy of Esquire Entertainment)

GQ: What attracted you to “Escape to Margaritaville?”

RW: The show was not on my periphery. I didn’t see it coming. At the time, I was performing in “The Color Purple,” and once we received notice that the show was closing, I started auditioning every day.

I missed my audition [for “Escape to Margaritaville”]. I was overbooked with a gig; it was a lot going on that week. Sometimes I had three auditions in one day. I received a call from my manager while I was preparing to do another gig, “Can you run over and audition?” I said, “Can I do a cold read?” I was told to come back [for the audition] five days later.

Within fifteen minutes I received another call, “Listen, the whole team is here, you need to come now.” I was running down the street with one of my colleague’s songbooks. When I arrived, I said, “I’m here y’all, and I’ma do my best.”

Rema Webb (left) in “The Color Purple (Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy, Courtesy of Esquire Entertainment)

That week, I had been playing the role of Shug Avery for “The Color Purple.” I did the cold reading and I sang one of the songs from that show and my manager called me back and said, “I can’t believe it, you have a callback.”

I went to the second audition and decided I couldn’t leave my son. I’m a single parent, and I have children. I said, “I can’t go on the road, I can’t do this,” and casting called and asked me to come in.

I went in again, and I received another call, “Chris Ashley wants to work with you on Saturday.” I went into the audition hall at Bernie Telsey Casting, and there was nobody there. I had an eerie feeling. And Rachel Hoffman came in and said, “Chris Ashley is running late, let’s just put this out on the table.”

By that time, my material was tight. Casting had given me more sides. I learned the whole show overnight and had my [Caribbean] accent down. Rachel put it on tape, and then we finished.

At the time, I was working in “The Lion King,” I had filled in for someone who was on vacation. Rachel said, “I know you have two shows today.” I said, “If Chris needs me to come in to give any adjustments, I’m here.” And she said, “No we just wanted to know if you wanted the job.” I was like, “But I was a hot mess, before.” She said, “But we know what we want, and you’re great.”

That’s how I secured this job. You don’t know what God has for you when you wake up in the morning. This whole process has been one of the happiest times of my life. It’s been amazing; from Jimmy to the producers, to the creative, to the writers, to our stage management [team]. It’s an atmosphere that perpetuates kindness, fun, and its good energy. I can’t wait to get to work every day.

GQ: Let’s talk about Jimmy Buffett and the Margaritaville brand.

RW: Jimmy had done another show similar [to “Escape to Margaritaville”]. I heard him talking about it a couple of weeks ago. And it was elements of that show that one of the producers [Frank Marshall] saw and said, “You know, maybe we should write a show?”

Jimmy Buffet has a couple of autobiographical [and biographical] books [“Jimmy Buffet: A Pirate Looks at 50” and “Jimmy Buffett: The Key West Years,” as well as Ryan White’s “Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All The Way”]. Hollywood television writers Mike O’Malley and Greg Garcia were hired to write the book for “Escape to Margaritaville.” Both grew up as theater geeks. Mike O’Malley and his family are from New York and went to see everything [Broadway and New York Theater] growing up.

Jimmy always said he didn’t want someone to do their version of him. He wanted someone who got him. He said, “I’ve always been the odd man out, and I had to stay true to marching to the beat of my drum,” and they got that. In 2015, they did a reading, followed by a few more readings. Then we did the reading in La Jolla Playhouse.

GQ: Tell us about “Escape to Margaritaville.”

RW: “Escape to Margaritaville” is about relationships. The story revolves around escapism, relaxing by the beach all day and drinking mai tais and margaritas. Jimmy’s philosophy is to find a moment to enjoy family and friends and to give yourself a break. Live your life out loud and in living color, every moment, because life isn’t promised to you.

The show is set in Montserrat in the Caribbean, and Cincinnati, Ohio. In the show, Jimmy is committed to women figures being strong and not controlled by a man. The women characters are smart and intelligent and can hold their own.

My character, Marley, owns Margaritaville Hotel and Bar. Rachel [played by Alison Luff] is a scientist, and Tammy [played by Lisa Howard] works hard and is in a relationship she probably shouldn’t be and is trying to figure it out and find joy in her life. All the women meet people [men], but they meet them on their terms. It’s a real storyline with real meaning.

Rema Webb and Don Sparks in “Escape to Margaritaville” (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Esquire Entertainment)

GQ: Tell us more about Marley.

RW: Marley been on the island for many years. She gave her blood, sweat, and tears to build that resort. It’s a small resort; and it’s been her life, to the point that Marley hasn’t had balance. She spends a lot of time taking care of everyone else. But her joy comes from seeing everybody have a good time at her establishment. Later, she finds love with J.D. [played by Don Sparks], an older gentleman, and decides to follow love with someone that was always right there in front of her.

My character Marley is a reminiscence of my grandmother, Aklemia Hall, who was also known as Nonee, who owned and operated two lounges [The Garden Inn #1 in Pearlington, Mississippi, and the Garden Inn #2 in Ocean Springs, Mississippi]. She took it from her mother-in-law, who had it when she was 18 years old. And my grandmother didn’t die until she was 86, and then my uncle took over.

No matter who was there [lounge], she would make sure that everyone had a bowl of gumbo or red beans and rice in their belly before they left out, especially if they had been there all day. In the show, that’s who Marley is at Margaritaville Hotel and Bar.

Rema Webb and Andre Ward during the Press Sneak Peak for “Escape to Margaritaville”

GQ: In “Escape to Margaritaville,” you had a perfect West Indian accent. I thought they imported you from the Caribbean. What was your process and did you have a dialect coach?

RW: When I got the third audition call, I had called my friend, Marshall Jones, who is the Producing Artistic Director of Crossroads Theatre Company. He recommended his wife, Chantal Jean-Pierre, who is a dialect coach. She put some stuff down on tape for me, and we went through the script together. We broke down that script, and she helped me, and by the time I got to that third audition, it was tight.

When we started production, I found out it was set in Montserrat. I decided to use a little Jamaican accent mixed with a bit of Trinidadian because it’s a softer than Jamaican, and a more sing-songy. But then Montserrat has a little bit of an Irish lilt, so it’s a combination of those three.

Rema Webb Opening Night for “Escape to Margaritaville” (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Esquire Entertainment)

GQ: Why do you think “Escape to Margaritaville” was not well received by the critics and the Broadway community?

RW: It’s a jukebox musical, which they don’t like to call it that, but it does have a strong storyline. It’s also part of the Jimmy Buffett brand. I don’t know; maybe it was too much fun, maybe it’s too non-traditional.

Even after doing “The Color Purple,” which was beautiful; you have other shows like “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Come From Away,” and “The Band’s Visit,” and those shows are changing the world. But every show doesn’t have to be like that to change the world.

We’re also in a time where we need to foster kindness and come together. It doesn’t matter what our political orientation is, or who we are. We’re sitting there laughing [at “Escape to Margaritaville”] and having a good time together and forgetting about all the mess that’s happening around us and in the world. That also changes people’s lives. Everyone that comes [to the show], that was cynical, or read the review, or didn’t know what they were walking into, every person has said, “Oh my God, I had a good time, and I probably will be back.”

Maybe if the reviewers had been in a different mood and said, “You know, it might not be my cup of tea, but I feel good, and that’s OK for me to have a good time.”

No one is going to go see “Independence Day” and think that they’re going to go see “The Bridges of Madison County.” You know what the genre is you’re going to see; I don’t know if that kind of consideration was given. It’s Jimmy Buffett and it’s jukebox musical-ish, and it’s good old fun, with sitcom-type of writing. It reminds me of “Three’s Company” and “Fantasy Island,” mixed with “The Love Boat.” It’s like that old school sitcom writing. The music emulates that, and it is what it is. And, it’s a shame that this genre or this musical is frowned upon this season. In its own right [“Escape to Margaritaville”] it’s also healing, and bringing a lot of joy to people and that’s just as important.

GQ: Tell us about your time abroad when you studied classical voice; and please describe a “lyric soprano.”

RW: I studied abroad at EPCASO [Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera] for one semester in Oderzo, Italy, and Ascona, Switzerland.

There are different types of sopranos. Lyrical sopranos are sopranos that sing smoothly and can hold a line out very long and legato. Then you have a coloratura who can do all the tricks, and the voice is flighty, and it can do all kinds of vocal acrobatics. But you can have a mezzo, who is a lyrical mezzo-soprano who has a strong, lower, rich voice in a lower register, which sings very beautifully, and much on the line and the breath, and it’s legato. You can hold phrases for a long stretch of time. Whereas a coloratura mezzo can do all of the melismas and vocal acrobatics and different tricks and turn your voice inside and out.

It’s two different types of voices. I was a lyric soprano, going a little bit into coloratura because I could do some of that, but my specialty was oratorios. Like the “Missa Solemnis” or Mozart’s “Requiem.”

I was trained in the bel canto technique. It’s the foundation of Italian opera. I don’t know if they’re teaching that as much anymore, but that allowed my lyric to be the way that it was.

Rema Webb (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Esquire Entertainment)

GQ: World renowned Claudia Pinza took you on as a student. How did that happen?

RW: I was singing in Civic Light Opera, and doing a lot of belting, and someone had mentioned to my mother, “Your daughter has a wonderful voice, but you have to make sure that she doesn’t ruin it, she needs voice lessons to keep that voice like that.” And my mother search and found the best.

I went to visit Claudia Pinza, and she vocalized me and agreed to train me. I studied with her for ten years. She is the daughter of Ezio Pinza, who sang the original “Some Enchanted Evening” in “South Pacific.” If you wanted to learn Italian opera, whether you were singing at the Met [The Metropolitan Opera] or La Scala [Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy], Claudia Pinza was the person you would come and study with. It was an honor for her to take me in, a sixteen-year-old black girl from Clairton, Pennsylvania [a small town part of Pittsburgh]. At the time, I didn’t know what an honor it was to train with her, I knew it was special, but I didn’t fully get it.

Then I followed Claudia Pinza into the University of Pittsburgh to continue studying opera. My major was liberal arts with a concentration in vocal performance, and my dual major was Italian.

Then what made her really special was once I got into college, she didn’t just give me a lesson every day, she started giving me a lesson, one, two, three, and four times a day. And there’s no way I would have been able to afford those extra lessons; she did that for me.

I also sang in the jazz clubs and did shows at Pittsburgh Playhouse and at Kennywood to put myself through college.

Claudia Pinza passed away in August [2017]. I recently went back to sing the tribute concert with all of her students and got a chance to reconnect with some of the people that I went to school with in EPCASO.

Rema Webb’s On Broadway Arts Training Program (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Esquire Entertainment)

GQ: When did you develop your passion for teaching?

RW: I’ve been studying since I was 6 years old, and every area of my life, from a little girl to elementary school, to high school, to college, and to a young adult, I’ve always studied; and while I was studying, I would go back and teach. I graduated from college, I went back home and taught at the Civic Light Opera Academy.

Later, I left Pennsylvania and I commuted between New York and Philadelphia for eight years. At one point, I was the musical director for the performing arts training program at New Freedom Theatre, and I had a thousand children under my tutelage. I also taught at Friends Select School. Unconsciously, I didn’t realized it, but I’ve always been seeking knowledge, and the minute I get it, I will give and share it with friends, no matter how young I was.

When I moved to New York, I’ll never forget, I was with “Book of Mormon” and said, “I need to start this program” [On Broadway Arts Training Program]. I started writing the curriculum. At the time, I didn’t realize, I was writing my mission statement and my business plan. I spoke with Diane Leslie at the New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia, whose father, Bob E. Leslie, Sr., along with John E. Allen, Jr., co-founded the theater company. Diane and the team at New Freedom Theatre provided me a lot of important information to get started.

Rema Webb and her students for On Broadway Arts Training Program (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Esquire Entertainment)

By 2012, I was incorporated. In 2013, I asked my good friend Daniel Siford, who was a Civic Light Opera Mini Star with me when I was 15 years old and he was 12. He lives in New York, and is no longer on Broadway. He has his master’s degree in psychology. Daniel is a child welfare/social services training consultant who works with the Research Foundation of CUNY [City University of New York] and the New York City Administration for Children’s Services.

I couldn’t think of who I could trust to do this with and I asked him to join me in forming this organization. I had been talking about it with him from day one. He said, “All right, mama, I’m in, let’s go hard or go home.” And here we are in our sixth year.

We started out with seven kids in a Pilates studio, and now, especially during the summer months, we have seventy kids and fifteen employees. We’re a year-round program, but our summer is the most intense.

I worked about 40 hours a week, on top of doing a Broadway show, on top of being a mom, on top of auditioning, on top of trying to do everything that I have to do.

I felt weird and narcissistic that I was the face for this company, but my board and everyone was saying, “It’s good that you’re currently on Broadway, and that, you have friends from Broadway come in and teach masterclasses to these kids. I’m exposing these kids to something they’ve never done. I also used Broadway musicians to play for their shows.

Recently [Grammy-winning saxophonist] Branford Marsalis, [comic actor] Josh Gad, and [actress] Kelly Devine have agreed to be on our advisory board.

GQ: From your vantage point, how do you view the progression of diversity and inclusion on Broadway?

RW: In the last few years, it’s taken a turn. There’s so much work to do, but it does seem as though there’s been a commitment to bring diversity on Broadway. It’s getting better, but of course, we have a long way to go. I think what would turn the tide is if we had more people of color in positions to greenlight projects and usher in a new era of diversity and inclusion.

GQ: What’s next?

RW: I’m going to focus on my arts education and performing arts program [On Broadway Arts Training Program] this summer, and keep building my infrastructure, and I need to raise some money for the organization because 70 percent of our children are scholarship students, and I can’t turn anyone away. I’m not going to ever be that elite organization where I’m going to turn a child away.

I’m determined to raise the money for these children, and to continue to give them, not mediocre quality, but high-quality arts education and exposure to the performing arts, that I possibly can. If I have to wait for my friends outside their theater and ask them to continue to love and support me, which everybody’s been so gracious and kind enough to do, I’ll do it.

 

gwendolyn quinn (hair)
Gwendolyn Quinn

Gwendolyn Quinn is an award-winning media strategist and consultant with a career spanning more than 25 years. She covers entertainment, travel, and lifestyle news. Quinn is a voting member of the Drama Desk. She is a contributor to NBCNews.com/NBCBLK.com, BlackEnterprise.com, HuffPost, and Medium.com, among others.

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