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Chandra Currelley: It’s their integrity. Some people have professionalism, but no integrity. Everybody thinks they can write a play, but with Tyler, God had a mission for him. He gave him the ability to be able to look at something and suck it up like a
sponge.
I tell young
people to
learn their
craft. When I
read the script
for this, I knew
they understood
what they were
doing. You have to give
people their respect for that. When I saw them, they reminded me of Tyler
when I first met him. He was just trying to get people to read his script. When I read his stuff, I said I never had the chance to do those types of characters. And it was stuff people could implement in their lives. It gave the material a true purpose. The way they handle their business is a reflection. They’ve thought about it and sacrificed for it.
U.G. Digital Mag: Some of the characters have change a bit. What has the change been like for you?
Chandra Currelley: For me, I like things that change. It’s something new and fresh. It has an effect on what you do. Meelah, I worked with her in A Mother’s Love by Kandi Burruss, I saw how talented and serious she was. It wasn’t about her being a reality star. She wanted to grow as an actress and artist. I saw that from the work she put in. I’m looking forward to working with her. She’s honest, and just try to be. It’s better this time because I think the magic is going to happen as intended.
U.G. Digital Mag: I think you’re spot on. She’s got so much integrity in all she does. She works hard to learn her craft. I’ve heard nothing but great things about A Mother’s Love. I look forward to this play so much now.
Chandra Currelley: That’s one of the few plays they were presenting on the urban theater circuit. Back in the day, they called it the chitlin circuit. It rose above that. I thank Mr. Perry, and another director who just did Almost Christmas. He was another one who took it past that, and they had to respect it. That play was going to bring something that had never been brought. It was a full-fledged musical. It was incredible, but it couldn’t do what it could do for whatever reason. That’s how I met Sean Baker. The second time we did it, they rewrote it. He was part of a singing group but they wrote that out. We stayed in touch, and it was because of his integrity. He really worked at his craft and was serious. When you get with your kind, the occasion is not the only time you’ll connect with them. You end up in similar situations where integrity is involved. We’re about the same thing. He new people, the fresh blood, it’s just awesome.
U.G. Digital Mag: I think it’s a great thing to have that new
blood. It freshens things up.
Chandra Currelley: Yes, and the music is good. They
were every particular about the songs in the show.
Some plays, it’s song after song after song. The
songs are to forward the story line. If you have
too much, the message gets all muddied up. They were
very particular about the number and the type.
U.G. Digital Mag: Not giving too much of the story away, what are some of the things we can expect different since there’s new cast members?
Chandra Currelley: The material never changes. It’s like if you see A Raisin in the Sun. The lines never change, but it’s different when different people do it. If you have a good script, you don’t have to
change it. The way the cast sees it makes it different. From the director’s point of view, what they got a chance to see before will be different in translation this time. I think this will be felt more. Earlier, it was in the head, but now, it’s in the heart.
U.G. Digital
Mag: I
agree. It’s
in their
hearts
because it’s
been perfected,
and they know the
story.
Chandra Currelley:
That was the emphasis.
Making sure the audience
feels it. We want them to feel something, and cry. We want them to feel this and relate to it. I ran into a lady while getting my eyebrows arched, and we were talking about Valentine’s day. She and her husband had been having problems, and I was able to tell her about the show. The story is a match to their lives. That’s what we do. It’s therapeutic, but not clinical. This is just life, and we adapt our changes and things we experience to our relationships.
U.G. Digital Mag: It’s amazing how much these stories touch people’s lives. I remember with Making Moves, and how Sean Baker’s character really related deeply to my life. It was like looking at my own life, or looking in a mirror. You connecting with the young lady is going to help her.
Chandra Currelley: Right. That’s how we learn stuff, and know stuff. It doesn’t make sense to me to experience things and not pass them on.
U.G. Digital Mag: It goes back to your own personality, and how you connect with people. It says a lot about you and how down to earth you are.