playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney met
actor Jimmy Pope when his play choirboy
at his New York stage debut off-broadway
five years and won Oscar win later the
two hyper United as fire boy paused on
Broadway
let's meet McCraney the mastermind
behind this a very personal play and the
rising new talent who lifts his voice in
a leading role
choirboy centers on the students at a
prep school struggling with the
institution's deep roots in tradition
for playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney
the story was born out of his
relationship with his own community of
Liberty City Miami which was also the
setting of his hit film moonlight play
has always come from the same impulse
which is that at once I loved and then
Tom and him invested in my community and
I want that community to thrive and I
want it to be prideful of the people who
come from it but having a love for that
for your community sometimes also means
that your community asks you to change
bend things about yourself growing up
gay with a love of writing and the arts
wasn't the most accepted of life paths
on the streets of McRae knees childhood
home there seemed to be a sort of
societal push to leave my community that
clearly what I need it was an inside my
community it was outside how do you be
your full self in a community that may
not always accept fully who you are what
you are and I have no answers for that
and so whenever I have no answers for a
question I make a play about it although
choirboy marks his Broadway debut
McRaney has received great acclaim for
his plays off-broadway in London and
regionally from coast to coast a play
with rousing gospel music choirboy
premiered at London's Royal Court
Theatre in 2012 at New York's Manhattan
Theatre Club off-broadway in 2013 the
mythical school that we've created
centers around the legacy of Negro
spirituals Negro spirituals are probably
some of the greatest treasures in terms
of the cosmology of the black experience
in this country over the last five
hundred years and then we get introduced
to Farris who is a young queer man who
was charged with leading that legacy in
this high school and what does that mean
for him
what is that how does he find his face
his own voice
[Music]
Paris is played by Broadway newcomer
Jeremy Pope whose face graces the
marquee here at the Samuel J Friedman
theater when I heard that the marquee
was up I was you know I didn't want
anyone to send me a picture I just want
to see it and as soon as I got it in saw
it I just called my mom and she was
driving so she pulled over and was like
what let me see Pope previously earned
raves for playing Ferris in the place
off-broadway debut the brawl has brought
unexpected joy for this rising star you
know it's kind of like the goal it's
like maybe one day you'll be on Broadway
for me I was like maybe I'll be in Lion
King or C we didn't hairspray but there
was just a few options for me when I
think about how this role is setting an
example are just offering representation
for young Faris's or Youngjae Pope's out
there and looking like yes you can be in
Lion King but also maybe you could be a
ferris and choir boy or maybe you can be
whatever I like there's just
opportunities for us to kind of shine
and talk about our story the list of
characters of color on Broadway leading
characters like this it is not that
large but them and you look at queer
characters of color and get real slim
gets real silly and I'm on one hand I
always think it's it's important for
folks to recognize and see themselves
that that's thrilling I think also
what's important is that folks who see
themselves will also go that's not all
of me it's important for people to be
able to engage in those in those
different conversations and that we're
all having them together and there are
many perspectives to think about it's
not a mainstream thing it's not a thing
that you'll see a queer young black
artist up there as a lead here we have
you know a beautiful story where we kind
of go through all of the young boys but
it's centers and focuses on Ferris and
the things that he you know is striving
for and I just think that is so
beautiful and while it can be
heartbreaking at times it's just honest
and truthful
between choirboys off Broadway and
Broadway debuts McCraney took the
national stage when he won the 2017
Academy Award for Best Adapted
Screenplay
alongside director Barry Jenkins for
moonlight which also took the Best
Picture trophy after a surprise snafu
this is not a joke moonlight is won Best
Picture moonlight Best Picture how's
your Oscar I think it's okay I haven't
seen it in a while no no where did you
put it I gave it to a management company
to hold okay because I was like I don't
live anywhere how do you sort of look at
that whole experience I mean the most
memorable stuff is that you know we we
put up screens in Liberty City
you know they watched the Oscars in
Liberty City and then the power went out
and then it came back on and we have one
and they were sort of like you know like
that stuff that's thrilling to me
because I'm like again it's you know
those twelve Lux that I grew up in that
are just now even more immortalized by
this experienced so that's been you know
just great and fun when that moment
happened and the world recognized
Terrell mcrainey
I just I was so thrilled for him we are
very grateful for the Oscar but I'm just
excited for whatever is to come for him
and excited that people are tuned into
the to Alvin McCraney
you know because he is a special human
being and we are grateful to have him
[Music]