INTERVIEW: Many lessons to be found in ‘Little Rock’
Photo: Little Rock stars, from left, Stephanie Umoh, Shanice Williams and Anita Welch. Photo courtesy of Carol Rosegg / Provided by Richard Hillman PR with permission.
Little Rock, the new off-Broadway play by writer-director Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, tells the story of nine students — later known as the Little Rock Nine — who overcame many obstacles to attend their city’s formerly segregated high school. The play has been running for a few months and finishes its acclaimed limited engagement Sept. 8.
At the center of the drama, which covers many important themes of civil rights and social justice, are the nine African-American students who risked everything to simply attend school. Their stories live on amongst the portrayals of this dedicated cast.
Shanice Williams, best known for her role as Dorothy in NBC’s production of The Wiz, plays Little Rockian #2, and the experience of performing in the play has transformed her and taught her many lessons.
“First of all, we have to tell the story to make sure that history doesn’t repeat itself, and it’s important because it tells the story of nine regular children who made a difference, which teaches our youth today that it doesn’t take a superhero to make a difference in America,” Williams said in a recent phone interview. “Anybody can do their part and make a change, and I think most importantly it’s good that we’re telling this story because me as an African-American student in high school, I took a lot of things for granted because I didn’t know what the Nine’s had to go through in order for me to be sitting in a class with every single color of students. So it’s important that we tell this story so that students today will not take for granted what they have.”
Williams had not heard of the Little Rock Nine before auditioning for the show, and she can tell that many audience members are new to the real-life events as well. That makes the Little Rock production that much more important to see and learn from.
“In America, the truth is that they don’t really teach the story of the Little Rock Nine,” she said. “I didn’t know much about the story before I became a part of the show, so it’s always interesting to hear their reactions. … Most of the time, I can tell that they’re seeing the story for the first time and that it is a surprise to them.”
Although her character is called Little Rockian #2, her performance on stage is actually based on the stories of Minnijean Brown and Gloria Ray Karlmark.
“These are two very different people,” Williams said. “One is a little more outgoing. She wants to be a singer. She’s very hopeful about going to Central High School. Minnijean Brown actually believed that once the other white students saw her smile and they got to know her personality and see how smart she was, that they would accept her, but that wasn’t her reality. So for Minnijean, [she starts] off as an optimistic young girl and then ends up as someone who is realizing this is harder than I thought it was going to be, and then she eventually gets expelled.”
Williams’ experience working with Maharaj, the writer and director, was a positive one. She said that talking with him was like a history lesson because he had studied the Little Rock Nine for so many years. He actually met the members of the group and interviewed them before bringing Little Rock to New York City.
“It was a great learning experience,” she added.
Williams has been performing ever since she was a child. She said her love for acting is due to her being an only child. From a young age, she performed to pass the time and make people laugh. Those early memories led to a career of several TV roles, including in HBO’s Manic and Nickelodeon’s Sunny Day. Her big break came from NBC’s The Wiz.
“I never imagined I’d be doing anything that big,” she said of her role as Dorothy. “I mean, that was my first audition. … It was the most amazing experience, and it taught me a lot. It was a dream come true.”
For Little Rock, she is making her off-Broadway debut. For the first performance, she wasn’t that nervous because her acting process is all about preparation. By the time the first performance came around, she was ready.
“For some reason, I wasn’t nervous because usually when I get to the point of performance, I’m ready,” she said. “It’s like, all right, let’s do this.”
She added: “I wanted the audience to understand it, and I was nervous about, will they leave here feeling horrible? Will they leave here sad? I wanted them to know that the story is important. Everybody should see this show. There are moments in the show where you feel bad, sad or angry, but they have to see it so that we make sure we don’t repeat history.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Little Rock is playing through Sept. 8 at the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
