Thursday, March 28, 2024

Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s Vow to Playwright August Wilson Came True: ‘Jitney’ Does Broadway and Then Some

*“Jitney,” the first of famed playwright August Wilson’s works he wrote as part of his collection of ten plays known as the Pittsburgh Cycle and the last to be performed on Broadway, has left its Broadway perch, for a few stops across the country. The final performances will be held in Seattle, Washington, the city in which August Wilson lived.

“Jitney” is a father and son story, set in a gypsy cab station, as the owner of the cab company squares off against his son, who was recently released from prison.  The play is directed by award-winning acting, director, producer and playwright Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who vowed to August Wilson before his death that “Jitney” would make it to Broadway.

True to his word, Santiago-Hudson brought the play to Broadway in 2017, earning a Tony nomination for Best Direction of a Play.  “Jitney” won a Tony award in 2017 for Best Revival of a Play.  Santiago-Hudson has launched the national tour of “Jitney.” So far, it has been performed in Washington DC and Detroit.  It will be coming to the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, where it will run from November 22 through December 29, before going on to San Diego (January) and finally ending in Seattle in February.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson - screenshot1

Ruben Santiago-Hudson was gracious enough to take time out between rehearsal and dinner to indulge me in a telephone interview, where I asked the man considered to be the foremost authority on August Wilson and his work, how he earned the distinction and what gravitated him towards August Wilson and his work.  Mr. Santiago-Hudson’s response was stated in a way only a polished award winner could manage, saying, “What gravitated me towards his work was the authenticity and cultural specificity of his work. It deals with the salt of the earth blue-collar Northern color people; people that came from the South, moved to the North and stayed colored. So, it’s like the beauty of the way they do things, the rhythm of the language, the way they court, the way they spar, their patience and ethos, their humor.  All these things attracted me to the material and then I developed a long friendship with August Wilson over the years and found myself deeply involved in his work as he was developing them and he wrote a couple of roles for me and we just got closer and closer and basically fell in love with the celebration of our culture.”

Mr. Santiago-Hudson has been involved in all ten of August Wilson’s plays in the Pittsburg Cycle, in one way or another.  He wrote the screenplay to Netflix’s  “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” starring Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo and Taylour Paige.  He has produced all 10 of the plays, as well as directed eight of them and acted in three of them.  Mr. Santiago-Hudson moves between stage, film, television, acting, writing and directing so effortlessly that I was compelled to ask him how he was able to adapt so easily.  He shared, “It’s craft. It’s something that I have been working and doing for over four decades, so I adapt as the projects come my way. I do the research.  I do the homework.  I prepare myself like any craftsman would and I go in and do the best job with the material I have.  You know; find out what’s real about each character and what is real about me in each character and I bring that to it.”

August Wilson's Jitney

Although Mr. Santiago-Hudson has theater, film and television on his resume, theater is his first love, sharing “First and foremost I’m a theater artist, but the bigger picture is I am an artist. So whether in writing the story, directing the story or telling the story as an actor, I am a storyteller, so I have to find out how to be the best craftsman I can be when telling the story.”  He credits his teachers: preachers, numbers men, bartenders, hobos, people from mental asylums and school teachers as being the best storytellers in the world and those responsible for helping him learn how to be a good storyteller, as he sat around them with “big eyes” as he listened to their stories.

After “Jitney,” Mr. Santiago-Hudson, who books himself two years at a time, will be moving on to reprise “Lackawanna Blues,” his one-man autobiographical play.  Unlike the most recent edition of Lackawanna Blues, the upcoming performances will be Broadway only performances, as opposed to a touring show.  If you get a chance to take in a Broadway show, “Lackawanna Blues” should definitely be in consideration.  After “Lackawanna Blues,” Mr. Santiago-Hudson will put on his acting hat to be part of an ensemble in a Broadway play.  Another upcoming iron in the fire is seeing “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” come to fruition.

Jitney scene

Realizing that Ruben Santiago-Hudson has accomplished so much, I was curious to know what he thought would be his legacy.  He shared, “I think the thing I want them to know most is that I am a good man; a fair man.  I was a good man.  I tried to do things that would empower my community through my arts.  My art is where my relevance stands.  The reason I’m important in the world. The reason you wanna talk to me.  The reason anybody wants to stop and take my picture or spend time listening to things I have to say is because of my art.  Because I have achieved a very high level and standard\of excellence as an artist. So, I use the power of that art to be impactful in my community.  To make sure that we all reap the benefits of my success somehow, whether it’s by me giving education or helping open an arts center in my community Lackawanna, which I have, or teaching or the black arts intensive that I have, The Black Arts Institute that I’m a part of that I started in Brooklyn.  It’s all about empowering my community and knowing that if you approach me, I approach you.  You approach a good man; a fair man.  What’s first and foremost, that I represent my family, my community and my art at the highest level and integrity.”  Somehow I don’t think that will be a problem.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, check out “Jitney” at the Mark Taper Forum.  It will run from

November 22 through December 29.  It will be performed in San Diego, California, at the Old Globe from January 18 through February 23 and in Seattle, Washington at the Bagley Wright Theater from February 28 through March 29.  Don’t miss out!

marilyn smith
Marilyn Smith

Marilyn Smith is a Los Angeles based writer/reviewer.  Contact her via [email protected].

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