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Video: Go Inside Opening Night of FAT HAM on Broadway
May 17, 2024
Broadway is a whole lot juicier after last night. The Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy Fat Ham by James Ijames, directed by Saheem Ali, opened on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre. Watch as we take you inside opening night with BroadwayWorld's Katie Lynch in this video!
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Hi, Broadway World Family. It's me, Katie Lynch, here post-opening night on Broadway for Fat Ham
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the Pulitzer Prize winning play written by James Ims and directed by Sahim Ali
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You are on Broadway originating a role. What does that mean to you
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It's one of those things where, like, when you're in school and you see somebody's name in the book, right
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you see that name in the book and it's like originated by
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blah blah blah blah blah or this production blah blah blah blah and now my name is going to be in that book
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and it feels it feels good it's like I'm gonna I'm a part of history
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I feel like in a way that I always wanted but never expected
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and I'm really excited to do that and get to do that with this group of people
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at this time in my life is good I think one of the most touching things
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was that I heard James and he said, when I watched you do this role, I learned about who Opel was
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And he gave me more language because he realized that there's an access to softness that Opel needed
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and that he, in watching me in rehearsal, discovered that. And that is the highest honor that someone as brilliant as James would see something in me
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and change what he wrote. So for me, that process of originating something, I really feel like I have ownership over
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this character in a real way. We had no idea that this would be this
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this huge. You know we just kind of went to rehearsal every day And then one day they were like hey guys we think we might move it uptown and that how it all happened Yeah yeah we didn think that it would be so profound
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You know, young, old, gay, white, black, everybody is really enjoying it
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And it feels good to really impact people's lives in this way. It feels surreal. I feel like I'm flying, you know
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I mean, it's probably one of the most exciting moments in my life
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and I don't want to get emotional, but, you know, I'm just so grateful to be here
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It's a dream come true. Congratulations. Broadway debut. Yes. How are you feeling
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Aestatic. Like a firework, like a joy bomb, like going off. I mean, it feels absolutely amazing to open a show on Broadway in front of my friends and my family
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My mom is here. Not just open a show on Broadway. Originate a role
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I know. That is a actor's dream. thought in a million is that I would be originating a role on Broadway. This is like, it's insane
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What a beautiful placement of Hamlet. Where did this come from? Well, you know, I love a cookout
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And they're like, you know, anything's possible. People are drinking. People are playing
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spades. It's like, it's a sight of a lot of potential. And so it felt exciting to put this
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really dangerous story in this environment that I know so well. And I could just be
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very free with it. And I could be creative with how I told the actual bits of Hamlet
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but through the lens of this barbecue. So like the charades and the karaoke all of that stuff is my way of like sort of bringing my world to Shakespeare I think James wrote a beautiful rendition of Shakespeare
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I think anybody can relate to it. I think you don't have to know the Bard
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You don't have to know Shakespeare in order to experience what everybody on the stage is feeling in terms of family and secrets and situations
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And so that's what I think is the great thing about this play
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that everybody can relate to it. At least I hope so. He's written brilliant characters
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He's taken his spin on Shakespeare. And he's opened up the doors to a black family in the South
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and how we interact with one another all the while, it being the basis of Shakespeare, which is, I just think
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is so amazingly crafty. And he's just brilliant in his words. I mean, it's poetry
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And I love speaking them every night. Yeah, without him, I wouldn't be here
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What was going through your head tonight as you were getting in costume to go on stage
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For me, I was just like, please let me tell this story
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Let me tell the story. Like, I've always been telling the story. Let the story be clear
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That was kind of the focus. going into the show. And then once I got to the curtain call
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and I realized that I was on Broadway, I got a little overwhelmed I got a little overwhelmed because this is like a huge moment It like one of the most beautiful gifts I think I ever gotten So I really I trying to soak up this moment as much as I can
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and I'm glad I get to share it with artists that I love and respect. Some of them I've worked with before and have known for a long time
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It feels really good. You know, I actually revisited Emily's last monologue in Our Town
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it helps ground me a lot and reminds me to just stay present
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I mean, this event, opening night of any play, is huge. And you can, for me anyway, I can lose sight of my job
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the work that I'm supposed to do. And it just helps me, like, make sure that I am where my feet are
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and that I'm listening to my scene partner. That whole monologue is about presence
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and, like, soaking in the moment, moment to moment to moment, and not losing sight of what's in front of you
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So I spent, you know, the first maybe like half hour, just like revisiting that monologue over and over
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Yeah, it touches me too. I want to play Emily in Our Town
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If anybody wants to hire me for that, and I'm dead serious
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You know, I was thinking about too many things. I was thinking about, does my son have enough milk at home
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Is my mother-in-law okay? Is everybody in their seats? Am I going to be fine
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Can I warm up my mouth? Can I do my vocal warm-ups and all the things that go through your head, the list of things
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And I was like, okay, everything's in order. Everything's going to be fine. Take a breath. We set a prayer together as a cast before we went on to kind of settle ourselves
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And it was a great show. I had a great time
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