Latest / The BSB Podcast / Exclusive Interview: Bri Tomczak and Antoine Jackson of Rosedale Community Players' 'Intimate Apparel'

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Exclusive Interview: Bri Tomczak and Antoine Jackson of Rosedale Community Players' 'Intimate Apparel' · The BSB Podcast

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  Intimate Apparel is a powerful intimate play that explores love-longing and identity at the turn of the 20th century.
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  Today we're speaking to Antoine Jackson and Bri Tomczak.
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  From Rosedale Community Players, production of Intimate Apparel to discuss their process, characters, and what the story means to them and to audiences today.
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  Thank you so much for being here.
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  uh So you're currently in your tech week, correct?
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  How's that going?
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  Yeah, it's going pretty good.
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  um Today we just took the day off and every day just to reset We've been going hard at it every day.
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  um yeah, we're just a lot more discovering, a lot more connecting and depending on each other even more, you know what I mean?
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  Just a great ensemble and director.
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  Yeah, so it's going well.
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  This is like the week that you really get to kind of dive into it Bri right?
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  Yeah, well, so I was, some of our castmates were talking about the fact that like, and I agree with this totally, like you need your like props to be like immersed in it and you
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  need, you know, all of that to come together, like the lights and the sound.
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  And so once all of that gets put together, then you're like, like I connect.
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  Now I have that like, I'm in it moment.
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  So it is like the heat of the moment, but it's like, everything's come together.
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  So now you finally get to feel that like, this is what it's going to feel like.
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  when we actually get to do it kind of thing.
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  but yeah.
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  with the lights and the costumes and everything is finally here and you're kind of just running through it and it all feels cohesive and you're these characters and kind of
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  embodying them.
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  Yes, definitely.
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  Yeah.
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  So Antoine, I'm gonna be honest with you.
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  I don't know much about this show.
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  So I'm hoping that maybe you can kind of give me the information about what's kind of going on in Intimate Apparel.
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  Sure, yeah.
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  it's a play about a uh woman named Esther.
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  She's a seamstress, and she also does uh seamstress work for Bri's character, Mrs.
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  Van Buren.
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  uh And I played George, and it's dated back in 1905.
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  And um so, you know, it's pretty much a love story.
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  uh
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  not only about relationships between me, my character and her character, but just the art through her work and everything like that.
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  um Yeah, so it's really interesting.
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  My character, comes from Panama, because he works on the Panama Canal, and um he's been writing letters to her they had never made or anything like that.
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  then Ms.
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  Van Buren, Bri's character helps.
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  write the letter back to George, who my character is, and then they finally, he wants to, without telling too much, he wants to, he's in love with her without meeting her.
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  And so he finally comes to the States and everything like that, and they finally meet and they get married.
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  So it's an interesting journey.
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  That's quite a love story.
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  Bri, how well did you know the show before auditioning for it?
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  Um, kind of in a weird way, very well.
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  I, so I went to school at Hope College and I studied theater and got my Bachelor of Arts degree in theater.
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  Um, and one of our projects was like, take costumes from a certain piece.
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  And I love Lynn Nottage as a writer.
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  think she's just beautiful and I love all of her plays.
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  So I, happened to be the one that I chose.
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  So I got the opportunity to get to kind of dive into these.
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  characters without actually like doing any of the show.
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  So once I saw that it was something that was available, I like found it on Facebook and I was like, I know that show.
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  Like I would love to audition for that show.
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  So kind of a yeah, in the way that like my college career kind of re-brought me back to this show.
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  So I had a little bit of background with it, but I definitely still think we've all grown so much with these characters and I've learned.
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  so much more about, especially Mrs.
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  Van Buren as well too, just because she's that higher class society woman.
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  So what does that look like in 1905?
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  What does that mean with her relationship with Esther?
• 4:27
  yeah, so yeah, it's been a blast.
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  But it was kind of funny, yes, to see.
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  I was like, I recognize this.
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  Why do I recognize this?
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  Oh yeah.
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  Yeah, very much.
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  I was like, I did the costumes for that.
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  Okay, in my own head I kind of know what this is.
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  Antoine, how about for you?
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  Were you familiar with the show before auditioning for it?
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  ah I had heard about it, but I was not familiar with it at all.
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  I've, you know, just being in training and classes and everything I did here about the knowledge, but you know, I heard about the play, it, you know, I'd never read it or seen
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  it anywhere.
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  So yeah, yeah.
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  What drew me to the show?
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  ah You know, that's a good question.
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  So I was doing a play at
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  Detroit Repertory Theater and Byron Keys is the director who the director of this play is.
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  He asked me to audition and and and yeah so I went to audition I was like yeah sure and then and then he's like I hope you ready I said I hope you ready for what he said for the
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  accent I okay hold on I didn't know he had accent now and so I went I went to the car and just
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  did because he has a Barbadian accent.
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  He's from Barbados, so he had to work on the accents and all that.
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  uh And I did the best I could.
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  I went back in there and I guess I did OK because I got the call that I had booked it.
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  But what drew me to it was just just challenging myself.
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  And you know, this is a beautiful play I had heard of.
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  Like I said, I've heard of Lynn Nottage and I wanted to see what I could do with this character with this.
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  with this piece and this play.
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  Speaking of that, you mentioned that you're playing George and you kind of spoke to the narrative of George, but who is George to you now that you're kind of embodying this
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  character?
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  That's a good question.
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  George is uh, he's very complex.
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  gets what he wants.
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  He is...
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  He is a man who...
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  Yeah, he does whatever is necessary to get what he wants.
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  He's coming from, you know, this other, you know, culture and everything where, you know, he's working on the Panama Canal.
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  It's rough, vigorous work.
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  He's seen a lot of things.
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  And so he's not used to the society of, you know, being just in the U.S.
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  and everything like that.
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  he just kind of just, he makes his own rules.
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  He makes his own rules and he justifies it in a way to where it makes sense to him.
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  And you know, it's interesting having played a character like this.
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  um So I love like diving in.
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  I'm still like learning and discovering more about him.
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  But yeah, yeah.
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  He's a cool cat, but he has his funny ways.
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  I say that.
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  Bri, you're playing Mrs.
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  Van Buren.
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  Who is Mrs.
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  Van Buren to you and kind of what is your narrative that you feel like for this character?
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  Yeah, so she is one of Esther's customers.
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  She is a higher class society kind of, she's a white woman.
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  So in 1905, that definitely has race playing into the role.
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  But I really have learned to kind of love Miss Van Buren.
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  She's got some quirks for sure.
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  And she's definitely quite the gossip.
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  uh But I think she, uh in the way that Lynn Nottage writes, you can never like fully like hate any character that I think she creates because they always have a reason and a
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  purpose to do what they think is the best scenario for them.
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  And so I've really come to learn to love Mrs.
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  Van Buren because she's doing what she believes is best for her and that, you know, we all strive for that.
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  So.
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  I definitely have gained a little more sympathy for her than I think I would have originally given her the credit for.
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  So I've definitely learned to love her a lot more.
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  So what is your process for developing a character such as Mrs.
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  Van Buren?
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  definitely read the script, obviously.
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  and then know you're obviously like your time period, your setting, um, where you are.
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  Um, so that, you know, if you're in the city versus in the country, does that affect anything?
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  Um, if you're in Europe versus America, does that affect anything?
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  So just making sure you have all of those kinds of context clues to kind of wrap.
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  em around your character.
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  And then I usually em will just kind of go through every line and try and figure out like why share this, why say this, like what's the point?
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  em What is she trying to get across?
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  Like why does she need to share that this happened in her day?
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  And what does she accomplish by that?
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  So, and that's something that I had learned back in school as well too that I've kind of continued to carry with me.
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  So just the kind of whys of why do we do things and why do we say things I'll often go through.
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  Antoine, do you have a similar process to developing your character or do you do something different to kind of bring George to life on stage?
• 10:12
  Yeah, have somewhat of a similar process.
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  You know, I think it goes back to just, um you know, learning who the character is.
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  I've read the script over and over and over and you know, learning about that character through what other characters say and are not saying.
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  uh And then that helps me kind of formulate who and what my character wants and where he came from and what he's doing.
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  It's a lot of research, you know, doing a lot of research for this one, just on the Panama Canal and being in Panama and everything like that.
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  And you know, how much they made and like I said, just the culture over there and what they had to deal with was building the Panama Canal, you know, and everything like that.
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  So yeah, just a lot of research and then just trying to tap into the mindset as much as possible.
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  especially of his family and where he came from.
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  So similar process, you know, yeah.
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  I like your process as well.
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  Thank you.
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  a lot of that background work that lot of, you know, that people don't see, but it's really helping to bring these characters to life.
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  Yeah.
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  absolutely.
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  Like, you know, it's interesting, like right now, like I'm having a hard time speaking as Antoine because I've been speaking and talking like George.
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  So like, this is weird now talking like Antoine.
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  It's the weirdest thing.
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  It's like, wanna, my mind wants to shift back to like talking and being as George, cause I'm in his shoes every single day.
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  So even coming home and we're talking.
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  and walking and you know even before we even start rehearsal just just embody the character.
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  Just I'm really you really kind of already already natural you know you know it's I'm not forcing nothing it's just it's a it's a habit it's a beautiful habit.
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  sure you are living and breathing this character.
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  Yes.
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  Well, so like I found that like Brianna obviously sits a little bit more relaxed um as a more kind of modern individual, right?
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  But Mrs.
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  Van Buren doesn't do that.
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  So I noticed that like I'll come home from rehearsal and be like, like my, like I've been stretching my back muscles.
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  Like everything feels much more regal and lifted because that's the way that I hold her.
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  versus Brianna's like, all right, let's hang out, you know?
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  So it does, it's like the physical, mental embodiment of these characters and that's how you bring them to life, yeah.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  sure.
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  Bri, what has been the biggest challenge to bringing either this story or your character to life?
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  Yeah, I definitely think em it's been a little bit of a challenge for sure to play the kind of possibly getting seen as like the ditzy white character that doesn't pick up on
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  things.
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  em And I definitely think I first read her as like, as I said, like the gossip who just shares everything because she thinks her life.
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  is the most miserable of everyone else's and she doesn't really realize that there's a world around her.
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  So I definitely think it's been interesting because I'm someone who is so very noticeable of emotion and feeling, probably because I am an actor.
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  em So that divide between me and Mrs.
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  Van Buren was definitely larger in the beginning and it was something I kind of had to slowly be like, okay, she's not just like a jerk.
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  Like she just...
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  Like she thinks this is the most important thing to talk about.
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  like, so you have to learn to like, yeah, I think that's been kind of, I guess the biggest challenge I would say is kind of narrowing that gap between maybe preconceived notions
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  that I had about her to where you can start to realize why she does what she does.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  Absolutely understandable.
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  Antoine, how about for you?
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  What's been the biggest challenge as a performer with the show?
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  um I say just really every day just walking in George's shoes because that's not who Antoine is.
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  George is more, like I said, he gets what he wants.
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  He does whatever he wants um and he uh has a bit of like manipulating aspect to him, a huge manipulating aspect to him to where
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  You know, he just doesn't care.
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  He just doesn't care.
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  He came from all over here and then he comes to New York City and he just feels like he can do what he want.
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  And Antoine's not like that.
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  So it's just, you know, just seeing those different characteristics, which is cool, which I like playing those different characters because it's completely separate from who I am.
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  The biggest challenge was getting into the accents.
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  everything like that, because it's a very distinct, you know, I'm working with um Danielle, who is Carole's sister, Carole's sister, Carole plays Esther in the play, her
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  sister, um I'm working with someone to help me with the vocal and everything like that, because she is of Caribbean, um with her background and everything like that, so working
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  on the distinct voice and.
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  and how to say these broken English and everything.
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  ah It was very challenging, but I got a rhythm, I got a hook on it now because once you do something every day, you just come second nature.
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  Yeah.
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  I can understand how that would be because like if it's not what you're used to speaking, you know what I mean?
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  That it takes a while to catch on to that.
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  my gosh.
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  they told me, when I was reading, you you read it your way the first time and then you talk to, you know, vocal coach or whoever or somebody helping you.
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  You were like, you know, this is how you say faced.
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  How you say faced this way.
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  No, no, no, no, no.
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  It's fiest, fiest.
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  I said, what?
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  I gotta remember that.
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  Not faced, fiest, like fiest, you know.
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  You know, it's a lot of, but it's really cool.
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  It's really, love learning about different backgrounds, different cultures, different ethnicities.
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  And that's why I love acting in general.
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  get to, these characters help you learn.
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  I love history in general.
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  like, Bri, you could probably attest to this, you know, just learning.
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  It's easy, it's like a school of learning.
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  You're never gonna stop learning about different people, different cultures, especially when you're playing the characters.
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  You know, it's like, almost free schooling.
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  Yeah.
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  re-education.
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  What themes from this show really resonate the most with you?
• 16:55
  I think for sure the idea of Esther's kind of female empowerment in this world.
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  She definitely stands her ground and is not willing to be taken advantage of easily.
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  And I love to see a strong woman getting to do what she loves as well too.
• 17:21
  Yeah, I think
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  I mean, that's a great theme.
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  Yeah, I mean, I think just to like, it's always great to tell stories and as Antoine said, talk about history.
• 17:33
  So I think the history of this and where it stands and how truth be told, it could be told in, you know, 1905 or 2025 is kind of incredible.
• 17:43
  ah So I just, yeah, I think there is something that everyone who comes will resonate with.
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  So I definitely think, yeah.
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  Yeah, it's cool because Lynn Nottage, I'm sorry to interrupt, Lynn Nottage, the way she just wrote, and then every playwright, Tennessee Williams, know, uh Shakespeare, you know,
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  taking us back into those uh times and that era.
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  Like, who doesn't want to travel, like I love time traveling, like I want to travel back in time, and what are the way to do with it, being those characters, and uh you know, it's
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  beautiful writing, beautiful writing, so yeah.
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  That's awesome.
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  What themes for you Antoine really resonate with you?
• 18:27
  I would say, I don't know.
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  don't, all of it, all of it for me, you know, just the character, the relationship between Esther and George is very, very complex and different, completely two different, two
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  different ages.
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  It's a huge age gap and then just two different cultures and, and, you know,
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  just personality, just pretty much everything for me.
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  Perfect.
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  Then one final question for both of you, and I'll start with you Antoine.
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  Just what are you hoping audiences take away from this production of Intimate Apparel?
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  Whoo, that's a good one.
• 19:04
  That's a good one.
• 19:06
  Um, I say...
• 19:07
  I don't know, take away whatever you feel like what resonates with you.
• 19:12
  um I would say, I just hope that they have fun and that they enjoy the roller coaster ride that we're gonna take them on.
• 19:21
  oh And maybe uh whoever, cause every character is probably can resonate with individually with the audience, individually.
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  it's, somebody might take away from Ms.
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  Van.
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  Mrs.
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  Van Buren and better than they take away from George, you know what I mean?
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  So it's just whatever they feel like they can, you know, I don't know.
• 19:45
  I don't really know.
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  Just hope they didn't do it.
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  Bri, about for you?
• 19:50
  What do you want audiences to take away?
• 19:52
  Yeah, anything.
• 19:54
  I want them to just come and learn.
• 19:58
  That is my favorite part about theater is that we get the opportunity to share.
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  And so I love when an audience can come and learn something and grow in some way and get the chance to hear a story that they may have never had the chance to hear before.
• 20:14
  So take away everything and anything that you can from it and grow and continue to learn.
• 20:22
  use things that you hear in the show or yeah, resonate with George or resonate with Miss Van Buren or resonate with Esther, any of those characters and just continue to learn and
• 20:33
  grow in any way is magical.
• 20:36
  uh
• 20:38
  yeah, yeah.
• 20:40
  It's always interesting to hear after you do a play or film or TV or something like that, you know, a movie.
• 20:49
  of how the audience just like, oh my gosh, you played my cousin.
• 20:55
  Not even that person that was watching us on the stage or on the film or the TV, but you played my cousin.
• 21:04
  You played my aunt.
• 21:05
  It's really fascinating.
• 21:06
  So it could shoot back to deep in the family tree, or it don't have to resonate at all.
• 21:14
  Nobody has to take away anything, but just enjoy.
• 21:19
  Right?
• 21:21
  Which I'm sure they will, because this sounds like there's a lot of passion in this project from everybody that's in it, and it's gonna be such a great time.
• 21:28
  So thank you both for being here and talking with me.
• 21:29
  It's been such a pleasure to talk about the show that's coming up.
• 21:33
  So thank you so much for being here.
• 21:35
  I won't be there, but we have one of our writers coming.
• 21:40
  Yeah.
• 21:41
  So Intimate Apparel arrives at Rosedale Community Players on January 23rd and runs through February 7th.
• 21:46
  So get your tickets now and we'll see you at the show.