• Advertise
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
    • Become a print subscriber
    • Sign up for e-Newsletter
    • e-Editions
Friday, September 22, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
No Result
View All Result

Award-winning director brings Passing Strange to Twin Cities

by MSR News Online
April 24, 2014
9
SHARES
178
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

Arts no chaser

Actor feels free to take risks at Mixed Blood

 

Director-actor-playwright Thomas W. Jones II, hailing from Atlanta as founding artistic director of Jomandi Productions, owns an enviable Twin Cities presence, consistently working at Mixed Blood Theatre, currently directing and performing in Passing Strange.

His track record is remarkable. Starting with directing. Jones walked off with a Helen Hayes Award for Samm Art Williams’ Home and his original script Bessie’s Blues. No mere hat-trick. Nothing else to sneeze at, he directed and

Thomas W. Jones II, director
Thomas W. Jones II, director

collaborated with Jevetta Steele on the book for Mixed Blood’s national hit musical Two Queens, One Castle. Also at said shop, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity and Point of Revue.

Acting highlights include a Guthrie Theater run opposite Regina Marie Williams in Dael Orlandersmith’s Yellowman, directed by Marion McClinton, and Topdog/Underdog at Mixed Blood. Among author credits, along with Bessie’s Blues, he contributed to Point of Revue, a Mixed Blood hit in which he was in rarefied company. The collection of 10-minute plays boasted a roster for which artistic director Jack Reuler enlisted, among other pens, Don Cheadle, Carlyle Brown and

 Anthony Manough in Howard University’s production of Passing Strange Photo by Justin Knight
Anthony Manough in Howard University’s production of Passing Strange
Photo by Justin Knight

Lynn Nottage. Suffice to say Jones was in good company.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Reuler says of Jones’ chops, “Tom is an actor’s director. As an actor himself, he knows how to excite a cast and inspire casts to become tightly-knit ensembles. He knows how to get to the themes and character depth while providing… creativity and inventiveness, in pursuit of smart choices.”

Why does this artist keep coming back to Mixed Blood? Jones, speaking by telephone during a dinner break from rehearsal, pragmatically answers, “To work. [It] gives me a place to work.” Then, he adds, “Aside that Jack and I are good friends, what’s done here, I don’t have to worry about taking risks. Philosophically or aesthetically, one way or another, he’s not going to stand there and look over my shoulder.” Continuing, Jones — never one to mince words — breaks it down in cold terms. “As an African American artist, you are always called upon to explain, apologize for or justify yourself [and] your way of looking at the world. You always have to deal with that. When you find a place where you don’t have to do that, naturally you come back.”

What drew Jones to Passing Strange? “It drew attention to, in the past century expatriates. You look at Josephine Baker in the early part of the 20th Century. ‘I don’t have to be the mammy, coon, etcetera.’ She became [a superstar when she left America]. James Baldwin. Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and Jimi Hendrix were all able to have a context outside of America. This play [addresses] who I am as an artist, as a human being. Before I discover that place called home. Looking at what that identity concept is outside the American border. [In this play we have a character] who comes back and tries to replicate what he finds out about himself outside of America. That’s what the expatriate journey is about.” He sums up saying, “Everything is about self-revelation, self-identity. And what that means.”

Closing out, Jones relates it personally. “I also need to know what this experience is so I can survive it myself, on a daily basis. It’s a full time job.” So, he sums up, “When Jack Reuler came up with the idea to do [this play], I was all over it.”

 

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Passing Strange by Stew Stew and Heidi Rodewald, and directed by Thomas W. Jones II, opens at Mixed Blood Theatre April 25 (preview April 24) and runs through May 11. All Performances are in the Mixed Blood Theatre’s Alan Page Auditorium, 1501 S. 4th St., Minneapolis. 

Tickets: $0 — First come, first served; $20 — guaranteed admission. Contact the box office at 612-338-6131 or go www.mixedblood.com for more information

Dwight Hobbes welcomes reader responses at P.O. Box 50357, Mpls., 55403. 

To see more stories by Dwight Hobbes stories click HERE

 

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Support Black local news

Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.

Donate Now!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Minneapolis musician selected for Doris Duke Artist Award

Next Post

Biased news coverage benefits only the bigots

MSR News Online

Reach the MSR staff at msrnewsonline@spokesman-recorder.com.

You Might Also Like

Two new early vote centers open in Minneapolis
Local

Early voting begins Sept. 22 for local elections

In history-making selection, Biden picks Gen. Charles ‘CQ’ Brown, Jr. as chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff
National

Historic confirmation of Gen. Charles ‘CQ’ Brown Jr. signals milestone for representation

Biden administration to ban medical debt from Americans’ credit scores
National

Biden administration to ban medical debt from Americans’ credit scores

Hamline’s Jones claims season’s first individual MIAC award 
Sports

Hamline’s Jones claims season’s first individual MIAC award 

College hockey undergoing ‘significant transformation’
MN Wild/NHL

College hockey undergoing ‘significant transformation’

A child should be seen and heard
Bulletin

A child should be seen and heard

Next Post

Biased news coverage benefits only the bigots

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Sep 12
September 12 @ 6:30 pm-December 18 @ 9:30 pm Recurring

Vic Volare Presents MUSIC FOR MARTINIS ft: Vic’s Fabulous Nightclub Academy

Sep 22
September 22 @ 5:00 pm-September 23 @ 8:30 pm

9th Annual Lantern Lighting Celebration at Lakewood Cemetery

Sep 22
7:30 pm-9:00 pm Recurring

Michhil Amra | We Are The Procession

Sep 23
10:00 am-1:00 pm

Expanding Diversity Career Fair

View Calendar
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Read our latest e-Edition!

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe

  • Home/Office Delivery
  • Weekly e-newsletter
  • e-Editions

Support

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • MSR Newsstand Locations

Connect

  • About
    • MSR Staff
  • Contact
  • Send a news tip
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

No Result
View All Result
  • News & Features
    • Local
    • National
  • All Sections
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health & Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • MN Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
      • Small Business Month Celebration
    • Opinion
    • Sports
  • Events
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: