“Be Kind. Breathe. Listen.” Chatting with the Incomparable Rodney Hicks!
Kevin Ray Johnson
It is my honor to introduce you to the wonderful Rodney Hicks! Mr. Hicks is a New Yorker but is originally from Philadelphia. He is an award-winning artist. His play FLAME BROILED had its World Premiere at Local Theater Company in Boulder, CO in the Fall of 2019 and was awarded the 2019 Eulipions Fund on behalf of The Denver Foundation. His other plays, JUST PRESS SAVE and MS. PEARL'S CABARET were 2018 and 2019 Semi-Finalists for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Conference respectively.
Rodney has performed on Broadway as part of the original cast of the international hit musical, Come From Away, where he originated the role(s) of Bob & Others. Rodney has been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical (Ford’s Theater) and a Gypsy Rose Lee nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical (Seattle Rep). Other credits include originating the role of Clarence Norris in John Kander & Fred Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys; Peter in the 2000 Revival of Jesus Christ Superstar; and the role of Paul, a Cop and Others in the multiple Tony Award/Pulitzer Prize honored landmark musical RENT. Rodney came back to the show in its final year on Broadway as Benjamin Coffin III and starred in the RENT: Live on Broadway DVD. He also appears in the film, Mighty Oak, which is now available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
Rodney is truly one of my biggest artistic influences, and it was beyond incredible to have the chance to interview him!
How old were you when you knew you wanted to be a performer?
I am someone who knew early on that I wanted to be an artist. My first memory of when I knew was at the age of 7, sitting in front of the TV set memorizing episodes of Good Times, What's Happening!, Maude, The Jefferson’s, and Mork and Mindy. At that time my Aunt Sherry (Cheryl Hicks) was in a local production of Ain't Misbehavin' in Philly. I believe it was at the Wilma Theater if I'm not mistaken. Watching her rehearse was a thrill to me.
A few years prior in 1981, my father (Robert Hicks, Sr.), who passed on from Cancer in 2018, had just presented his play with music and dance about the Black experience called, Sojourn in a Strange Land at The African American History Museum in Philly as a special event. My uncle (Darnell Hicks) was an exquisite singer who wrote musical plays for young people and as also a teacher. Growing up, my first cousins and I held daily "singing and dancing routines" that we'd do in the living room of our grandparent's home when they lived in West Oak Lane, Philly. I always loved performing, creating, and writing. Always.
My first professional job was when I was 17 as a show regular on Dance Party USA. I was in my Senior year of high school. That was a lot of fun and a great learning experience as well. Pretty much my whole family on my Dad's side is artistically talented, so I was around creativity a lot. Having a career as an artist on Broadway, tv, and film has been my personal love and goal since I was very young. Now at the age of 46, I am so grateful that I get to continue doing what brings me great joy, being an artist.
Where did you study and are there any mentors in your life who truly helped you become the amazing artist you are today?
Thank you. I love this question. This answer is long because there is so much to it. Where did I study? I must first share where I did not study and the story behind it in order to truly share where I did study. I did not study at Juilliard. When I was a young actor, I was very insecure about my looks, being gay, not being an actor who could sing high tenor notes, and not being an actor who went to a prestigious school for Acting. I was simply not comfortable in my own skin.
Twenty years ago, I was doing the Broadway revival of Jesus Christ Superstar in the role of Peter, and someone asked if I went to Juilliard, and I mindlessly said yes. That kept going for years because I felt I couldn't unsay it until I did. I put myself through a lot of years of anxiety and eventual growth to learn that I was indeed enough.
My career seemed to be going on an upswing at the time. Although our show was closing in four months, I had just gotten the offer to do a new revival of Golden Boy in the role of Joe Bonaparte in a workshop production. After two months of boxing training, I then went on to do the regional mounting at Long Wharf Theatre. We all thought it would lead to a hopeful Broadway revival. Sammy Davis, Jr. originated the role in 1964, and it was, of course, a dream to me at the time. I even learned to tap dance for it.
Well, everything I thought would happen with the show and my career didn't. I actually suffered a panic attack/seizure at intermission of one of the shows from simply not being emotionally ready and not having yet done the internal work that is also necessary for artists on top of the learning of theatre and the craft. I realized that I needed to begin the work and go on a very hard journey with my mental health, which thirteen years later, led me to the meditation, peace, compassion, and gratitude I needed to reboot and recharge my internal life so that the work could finally take hold, shape, form, shift, and renew. The work isn't easy, but it can be done. To stand in this world of today and thrive in your own lane is the best you can do.
In 2001, at the beginning of this internal shifting, I left the city for a bit to stay with my grandparents in South Jersey to regroup. Golden Boy was my second leading role slated to come to Broadway that didn't. The first one was the first New York show I did in the Fall of 1994 called Bring in the Morning: A Wake up Call where I starred alongside Lauryn Hill, Kimberly Jajaun, Andrea Burns, and Philip Anthony Rodriguez among others. They were all young pros. Me? I had just left Mansfield University after two years of being a Communications and Theatre major. I wanted to pursue my dream of being an artist in New York City, and at the time, did not want to be in college in the mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania. One of my longtime friends and mentors in my life is Michael Crum who was my acting/theatre tech professor at Mansfield. He just understood me, even when I had no clue who I was beyond knowing that being an artist in NYC is all I ever wanted to do. He encouraged me to pursue it. While at Mansfield, Mike helped to teach me the foundations of artistic craftsmanship. I am very proud of my time at Mansfield University.
The rest of my study and training came from every rehearsal room I was in, every show I was fortunate to be a part of, every artist/spiritual friend I've ever known or worked with, and ultimately, books and films on acting, the voice, and movement. In my 20's and 30's, for as much of a mess as I thought I was, many of my days were spent at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts watching shows on tape in the upstairs research/archival section. They knew me by name. For years, I would go and watch shows, take notes, then sit and read books on acting, playwriting, producing, and stagecraft. I would also spend hours in the Drama Book Shop reading resource material and, of course, Backstage magazine. I was also always seeing friends in plays and musicals. I was always learning with room to grow. Even though I had representation early on, I was still going on open calls I saw in the trades. I kept going.
So, back to Juilliard. After a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar, someone asked if I had gone to school there, and instead of sharing my truth, I allowed fear and inauthenticity to cripple my thoughts and said I went to Juilliard because I thought there had to be a reason I was 25 turning 26 and in my second Broadway show without having completed college. At the time, I thought no one wants to know that I worked really hard, and my degree was earned by life, learning, falling, getting back up, falling again, learning some more overcoming to be the best version of myself that I can. In this one life we have here, we have to just be. But at the time, I simply wasn't in a place to say No, I didn't go there, move on, and accept the compliment. It took me some time to figure it out, but man, has it been worth the journey.
So, to answer your question, my place of study is placeless. My place of study is life and the very hard work it took to overcome depression, lack of self-worth, and anxiety in order to stand on my feet now in gratitude and love for what is. I learned by watching, observing, asking questions, listening, making many mistakes, and allowing myself the freedom to be perfectly imperfect and go from there. I have had many mentors in my life. From a butterfly giving me pause to see, stand, and breathe in our present moment, to the many beautiful and kind-hearted individuals who took the time to mentor me growing up and well into my present moment of now. I have been fortunate to have many people believe in me throughout my life, and that means the world to me.
When did writing come into the picture for you? Can you tell me about some of your current projects?
Writing has always been in the picture for me, since the first play I wrote in my senior year of high school at Roxborough High called Cocaine. I played cocaine. I had a teacher co-sign for me at the Tuxedo Rental place so I could wear an all-white tux with patent leather shoes! I have always written around the topics of social issues. The idea for the play came out of my first experience with cocaine when I was in grade school and was visiting my biological mother on a weekend visitation. She was pregnant with my half-sister and asked me to get her "medicine" that was sitting on the windowpane in a brown paper bag. I got the bag for her, and I remember she emptied it out, and it was this white powder. It was not until later in one of my classes about drug prevention that I put the two together. I watched her ingest this drug up her nose while pregnant and she called it her medicine. That was the last time I chose to go over there until senior year when my father and I had a falling out, and I went to stay with Carol in Detroit. That only lasted for two weeks due to me realizing why I stopped going over there in the first place. I left for college.
A year into college, I rewrote my play and called it It Could Happen to Anyone, and my college professor championed me to direct the new version of it as well. At the time I had already written, produced, and directed two student films while I was there. That was pretty much my college life. Like I did in high school, I assembled people who were from all walks of social life and racial demographics. I will never forget that time and experience.
My first outing on the other side of the table in NYC was in 1997 when my friend Jerry Dixon asked me to direct a fun musical farce he wrote called Guess Who's Comin' for Chit’lins?. I was 23 at the time and was still wanting to figure out life through acting. I tip-toed and took these massive stairs to learn and understand the crafts of playwriting and directing, just as I did with acting. But this time, I did it without the walls of institution, just the kindness of respected friends in this industry who helped to mentor me. I was also seeing plays and reading them from the standpoint of an author and creative artist.
In 2002, my friend Renoly Santiago put me in contact with Elizabeth Swados, who wrote the seminal RUNAWAYS. My dream was to write a revision of her book to bring it into today in a way where you didn't know where her pen stopped and mine began. I had been working on that for many years until I realized that my new version wasn't going to go anywhere, and another artist now has the rights. So, yeah. Ultimately, Liz wasn't keen on the idea of me altering her piece, so it's cool, and I have closure. She did come and see the 2007 Joe's Pub concert presentation we did, which I thought was beautiful, but it didn't go anywhere from there. That cast and the time spent working on that project are unforgettable. We had such a great time. However, I still kept working on it hoping she'd one day say yes to this artistic collaboration. When Liz passed away on January 5, 2016, I was grief-stricken. I hadn't realized how I had spent years working on her piece while mine was living underneath.
A year before her passing, in 2014, I began work on my first play, which is now titled JUST PRESS SAVE. It went through many gestations and readings. It began as a musical with my friend and wonderful Artist Justin Jude Carroll and had many titles from PWP, Perfect Works in Progress, FREE, NC-17, and now JUST PRESS SAVE. Grateful to everyone who helped in the development of the play. I could not have done it without you.
After six years of work, development, and many rewrites, this new play about young people has just completed a successful developmental workshop presentation with Pride Plays. Michael Greif (Broadway's Dear Evan Hansen, Next to Normal, RENT) directed. Six years ago, I didn't even know I could legit write a play, but the Universe aligned in such a way that led me to take playwright masterclasses — including a life-changing Paula Vogel class, online writing courses, reading plays and books on theatre, culture, spirituality and the mind. In the six years from 2014 to today, I took a journey and did the work to learn the craft of writing plays, as I did with acting. I now have the headspace to begin reading tv-series bibles to understand how they work, which is a whole other thing in and of itself, but I am here for the challenge as we only have one life to live. I believe in learning as much as you can in the field(s) that bring you the most JOY and hopefully some humor, healing, understanding, and love too. That is at the core of my work as an artist.
As a writer, I have a couple of projects being aligned, and I look forward to them coming into manifestation when they do. With acting, I play the supporting role of DB in the Paramount Pictures family film MIGHTY OAK which will be out on Apple TV/Amazon Prime and other streaming platforms on July 7th. Grateful for every moment of overcoming and this new moment of Now.
Your performing career has been awe-inspiring. From being in the original Broadway Cast of RENT, Come From Away, and The Scottsboro Boys to revivals such as Jesus Christ Superstar. Are there any shows or performances in your career that will always stick out to you that will always be near and dear to your heart?
That means a lot. Thank you. I used to battle within myself to fully recognize, value, and appreciate those accomplishments due to the place I was at in my life, so thank you for the reminder. I feel incredibly fortunate to be in this place in my life now where I can look back on all of these shows as a blessing. I do not use that word, blessing, loosely. Each show brought with it its' challenges along with humongous joys.
With RENT, our friend and creator, Jonathan Larson, died before he could actually see what he manifested, and we, the original Off-Broadway cast/company, moved to Broadway carrying not only the ignite of the show but the pain of his untimely death. From that experience, I learned to grieve while carrying on.
With Come From Away, after two and a half years with a show I had fallen in love with, my voice goes. I was diagnosed with a neurological condition called Spasmodic Dysphonia, which leading doctors told me meant I would never be able to do the very thing I longed to do since I can remember -speak with a clear voice and sing. Thankfully, on March 12, 2018, the morning of my father's passing, I regained my speaking voice and the ability to sing. It may not be what it once was but the fact that I can do what I was told I would never be able to do again, will always be a reminder of gratitude and miracles for me. From that experience, I took an even deeper journey into the practice of Radical Gratitude, love, inner peace, and compassion.
With The Scottsboro Boys, I was learning authenticity, who I was as a Black man in this world, and what that meant in my life and world view; what it meant to this man who came into this world born of two hurt souls. From that experience, I learned I wasn't alone.
With Jesus Christ Superstar, I learned that I had a lot to learn. That was a time in my life when I still was closeted, afraid, and didn't have a clue as to what self-love was. With all of that, each of these shows holds great meaning and beautiful weight in my life that I cherish with my full heart as well as the many other regional shows and experiences in my career that also taught me how to live and love.
The one show, though, that without a doubt was pretty amazing and an opportunity I didn't think would ever happen was having the chance to be the first Black man in a professional theatre to portray the role of Curly McLain in Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! at Portland Center Stage in Portland, OR. That is also where I met and fell in love with my husband, Chris Coleman. Our love has taken us on many a journey to now end up here in Colorado where I finally feel at home in my soul center and very happy to be creatively working in this time of change and civil unrest. It's as if I just woke up from a long nap, now refreshed and new, with a life of experience and growth to live from.
2020 has been a challenging year for all of society, especially artists. What advice would you give any aspiring artist in these times?
The advice I would give is this: Be Kind. Breathe. Listen. Learn to let go of what might be holding you back. Life is not a competition with anyone but YOU. Keep going. Love yourself. As hard as it may be, love yourself. It is worth it, and so are you. Breathe. No one's journey will ever be the same as yours. Go easy on yourself, and forgive if you can. Root for people, and don't be afraid to root for yourself too. Keep going in a way that brings well being and JOY to your life. It will shine onto others for the greater good. You may not ever know or see it… but it will.
If you would like to learn more about this amazing man and performer please make sure you visit his official website at – www.rodneyhicks.net. Here is the trailer for Mighty Oak.