That is amazing and a blessing.”Īn invitation-only industry presentation, co-directed by Stephen Lloyd Helper and Arminda Thomas, will take place in New York City on Tuesday, March 7 th and Wednesday, March 8th. And, on the other end, it’s me, the oldest Grammy winner still working. And one other thing, Walter just won a Grammy – I think the youngest one ever to win. Steve wants this to make sure everybody knows I’m still going strong after all I’ve been through. Then, in the finale section of my song ‘Funky Old Man,’ I come out and sing and dance with the cast. Then it is passed to Jackson’s own Mark Henderson playing Old Bobby Rush. “Eventually the baton is passed to Cedric Lamar who plays the main Bobby Rush. Rush joins the company on stage and performs a final song. And as a coda to tie it all together, the real Mr. Slippin’ Through the Cracks begins with Walter Russell III as a young Bobby Rush. Now I go to the New York City rehearsals every day! I love being there with Steve, I learn a lot and can contribute, especially working with the music and the cast.” Then when I saw what he accomplished in Jackson, I knew we truly had something. Steve kept wanting me to come to the rehearsals in Jackson, but I felt like since I didn’t know much about theater, what could I contribute? Plus, I didn’t know if this project was really gonna pan out. Steve made a lot of trips to Jackson to visit me. Steve learned a lot about me he has this ability to build strong relationships. Steve and I have that, in both directions. Rush adds, “You can’t create something like we have unless people are working together real close, with love and with trust. “He said to me, ‘Bobby Rush, you have written the score to the story of your life.’ I call him a genius, because the emotions of the scenes – he’s a great writer, by the way – carry into the songs in just the right way.” Helper recognized that most Bobby Rush songs are autobiographical, and he found the right songs to amplify critical moments to move the story forward. So, they came to a presentation and they got very excited, too.” But I wanted my family to see it, to see if they like it. You will recognize a lot of them! The workshop went great. He made a deal with New Stage Theatre in Jackson who hosted a three-week workshop to test out the script and the score. Grow the show from the roots of the blues. “He thought it was important to begin the show in the South, in Mississippi. So, we started to get to know each other and work together. When he contacted me about the idea, I thought he was crazy. He thought I had a great story that other people needed to know. So, then, he found out some more about my life. He thought if he heard that song in the theater, he would love it. It all started when Stephen Helper heard a Bobby Rush song, “Sue,” on the radio a couple summers ago. So, the cast brings it all to life super well.” “You don’t have to look like me to be me, you don’t have to look like Howlin’ Wolf, B. “One thing I learned is that no one in the cast needs to look like the real people,” he says. “The show encompasses from the time I was a sharecropper kid picking cotton to today,” Rush explains to me, “my blues journey from then to now.” His little-known saga, both exhilarating and harrowing, is brought to life by a cast of 14 actors and five musicians who play family members, business associates, fellow artists, etc.
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