(upbeat music)
- Seven new plays written by Black playwrights
are coming to Broadway this fall,
and one of the first to open on Broadway
since the shutdown will be
"Thoughts of a Colored Man,"
and one of the shows producers is Kandi Burruss.
You might know her from the Real Housewives of Atlanta,
or maybe you know her because she wrote
the 1999 hit song, "No Scrubs" by TLC.
And now she's behind one of
the most anticipated new shows
of the Broadway season.
So, this is exciting.
There are a lot of firsts that
you've had in your life. - Yes.
- And this is one of your first in terms of producing.
What does it feel like to get out of the car
and see the marquee?
- It's an amazing feeling because like, for me,
I grew up, I wanted to be a part of Broadway.
I was in musical theater, I did all those things.
And so, I was like, "Oh,
I have to do something with Broadway!"
I was able to be a part of Chicago,
I was in that as Mama Moton and I said,
"I want to do it again."
But this time, I'm getting to see it
from a business aspect.
When you are the producer,
you're able to help other people live out their dreams,
lots of people, and that's something
that I find to be very special.
With this show, it's historic in a sense.
"Thoughts of a Colored Man" being
the first show on Broadway
that stars seven Black men, amazing actors,
let me just go ahead and say that.
Also, we have an amazing Black writer and director.
That's the first time that's ever happened!
And in a year, especially what we dealt with last year,
we want to show diversity in such a positive
and amazing way, and I think that this is it.
I just feel like for so long, Black men
have been shown in a negative way in the public.
Now, it's to say, have a show called
"Thoughts of a Colored Man,"
to be able to see what goes on
in their minds, in their day to day lives.
This gets to show you Black men
who talk about love, their wisdom,
and how they share that with their children,
All different aspects, but not the crazy
that has been shown in the past,
but real stories where these men come together onstage
and bring it to life through spoken word and slam poetry.
It's in a way that you've never seen before.
- Is there anything about it that surprised you
and you took a step back and went,
"Oh wow, I've learned something here?"
Or, "We need to talk about this more."
- I just think it needs to be talked about period.
Somebody said to me earlier today, they was like,
"Why did they use the word colored?"
And the one thing that I find interesting is,
and I said this to them, I said, "You know what?
You would have to ask our writer, Keenan Scott,
why he chose that particular word."
But for me, from my standpoint, I'm like...
Black people, we are the only people
who name or identity has changed
multiple times over the last 50, 75 years.
We've been African American,
we've been Negro, we've been Black,
we've been, you know, colored,
we've been so many different things.
"People of color." - Right.
- We're the only ones, as far as
our actual identity, who the names changed.
So I think when you say
"Thoughts of a Colored Man,"
it's just the word that is used
that makes people stop in their tracks
and say, wait a minute.
("Real Housewives" theme plays)
A little Kandi always helps sweeten the tea.
- Let's talk about "Real Housewives."
You're coming back.
What did the pandemic do to all that for you guys?
- You know, I think the pandemic was hard on us.
I think a lot of people are gonna be like,
"Oh my God, the Housewives of Atlanta,
they're not doing what they used to do" or whatever.
But what people did not understand,
we started filming right early on in the pandemic.
And it was in a time we really didn't know
what we could or could not do.
We were not able to do a lot of big parties,
big events, which the housewives are known for.
- Yes they are. - Right?
And if you think about it,
if you go back and watch last season,
we did not have an all-cast episode
until the fifth or sixth episode.
That never happened in the history of our show.
- But that was for safety, - It was for safety!
- You didn't know you could even do it at that point.
- Yes, but I think this year we'll be able to
have some more of that spice and
you know, do what we are known to do.
- I like the word spice,
I like the word spice. - It's spice!
- It is spice. - You know what I mean?
- It's a lot of spice! - It's a lotta spice.
I'm excited about seeing who's coming back,
as well as who are going to be the newbies.
The newbies always get put through the ringer.
- What happens when you see a newbie for the first time?
Do you test them out a little bit,
or do you have something that you do for fun?
- For me-- - Even subconsciously?
- For me, I'm kind of watching to see
how are they going to act
and what they're going to be like.
Is she going to be doing the most?
You know, some girls come on,
they try to do the most
because they want the most attention.
Some people actually come on and it seems like
they're purposely trying to get at you,
because they're trying to make a name for themselves.
Some people seem like they're just
being genuine and being cool.
So, I always try to just sit back and figure out
which one they are going to be.
I feel like when people open up their life to the world
and share, that's the real thing
that keeps our show going to me.
♪ No, I don't want no scrub ♪
♪ A scrub is a guy ♪
♪ That can't get no love from me ♪
- [Tamsen] 21 Years, I have a producer that says
that song is old enough to drink!
21-year-anniversary of "No Scrubs", what do you think?
- "No Scrubs", my career before song writing, music,
before you saw me on "Real Housewives of Atlanta."
Yes, I did "No Scrubs" with my crew
and that song blew up, much love to TLC.
They did an amazing job performing that record
and putting that in people's brains,
and it cannot go away.
- Never. - That song will not go away!
It's the gift that keeps on giving to me.
(upbeat music fades out)