Urban development

Fans of NYC cop dramas remember Malik Yoba from his New York Undercover days. Post prime time, Yoba’s been straddling two very different worlds of theater, appearing in New York in Everythings Turning Into Beautiful at the highbrow New Group, and getting ready to tour his latest play for the populist, black-oriented urban-theater market, the gospel musical Work It Out, based on the song that inspired millions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Working that decades-old circuit of gospel plays, which have huge followings but earn little recognition in the mainstream press—while maintaining a television and film career—is serious double duty. We talked to Yoba about the art of storytelling, engaging audiences and why the term chitlin’ circuit should be stricken from the record.

What’s the premise of Work It Out?
This play, as you know, or may not know, is based on a song, “Jesus Can Work It Out.” And personally, I’ve been in the urban-theater market for about seven years, touring and producing and establishing the Malik Yoba National Theater Company to provide content for the market. This was an opportunity to get involved in somebody else’s vision. So I’ve acted as a sort of unofficial consultant for the writer and director, and one of my partners is producing it, and so they asked me to step in the role, so I agreed. Principally because I like the story that they are trying to tell, you know—some of the messages that I think are important for our community in particular.

A lot of these plays have been referred to, collectively, as the chitlin’ circuit. Accurate label?
I can’t even really dignify that question, to be honest with you. Because I think that we’re past that. See, every time people use the word, that sets us back 20 years. We call it urban theater. I’ve started a magazine with some folks called Urban Theatre and Entertainment Magazine, and that’s the term that we choose to use because it’s theater at the end of the day. But it’s specific to urban audiences and to urban concerns, and not just urban audiences but people of our community. That’s the core audience at this point. So, I don’t even engage in that debate.

Would you like to see more white spectators in the audience for this production?
Well, my goal is to continue to build and expand the marketplace. My participation in this production is minimal to the extent that I am mainly just acting in it. So, part of my mission of my company is to continue to build an audience base, and it’s not just white folks. But I think, you know, the average urban-theater audiences are 25- to 55-year-old black women that make between $25,000 and $50,000 a year.

You’re hitting topics like abortion and the down low (“straight” men who secretly sleep with other men). Does this have something to do with how black audiences are relating to these shows?
Well, I encouraged the writer as he began to write the script to think about these things. I think you [have to] hit the high note, make ’em laugh and give them something to think about and give ’em hope. Or what I call the tear experience—T-E-A-R. Which is, if you make it transformative, emotional, authentic and relevant, I think that’s really key. Because, at the end of the day, it’s a very human expression to tell stories, to use our gift of language. Our stories aren’t really told in a lot of mediums, and we receive information differently. Most black folks are not in the Catholic church, they are in Baptist or Methodist churches. It’s the music, and folks are receiving the word that way. So I think that [our stories] are culturally specific things that are important. But then again, at the same time, theater is theater is theater, and it should be enjoyed by all, and all should be exposed to all aspects of it.

Why should we see your play?
The writer, director, the guy who wrote the songs—they’re all based in Chicago. The choir, you know, they’re from a local church in Chicago. It’s a very local affair and people should support that—and because they’re going to have a good time. But they can support their boy Malik.

Work It Out raises the roof of the Arie Crown Theater Thursday 20.