There’s an African-American playwright out there whose successful run of spiritually-driven stage plays has caught the attention of Hollywood. And his name is not Tyler Perry. 36-year-old JD Lawrence is most widely known for his plays "When a Man Cries" and "Rumors." Now the New York native is making his way on to the screen -- both the small and big -- with a sitcom, a sketch comedy show and a feature film in the works. BET.com recently caught up with the hard-working writer/director/actor to talk about his success, his new play, "The Clean Up Woman" and the constant comparisons to that other guy.
What inspired you to get into this business?
I started out as a background singer for Robin S. At the same time, I was doing plays at churches and local community centers. I got my passion for entertainment at a very young age. My sixth grade music instructor, Edwin Collins, was a band member in the Isley Brothers. I remember him bringing in the gold records and talking about being on tour, and I thought, ‘Man, I would like to do that.’
How did that translate into what you’re doing today?
It’s funny because I was not only into music, and I did so many different things so well that every time I talked to a record label about a deal they would say they didn’t know what to do with me or what direction to take me in. It was always frustrating for me and it happened at almost every record label that I went to. So, from there, I started doing things myself.
Taking that do-it-yourself approach, what were some of the barriers you encountered?
Getting folks to the shows. I think because I had a speech impediment, a lot of folks didn’t take me seriously. That was one of the major things that propelled me to where I am now – so many people not believing that someone with a speech impediment could stand on a stage for two and a half hours, sing and portray so many characters.
Tell me about those characters? Where does a JD Lawrence character come from?
So many different things… I pull from life. I pull from my head – there’s an unlimited amount of stuff floating around up there [laughs]. I pull from the guy at the corner store. Even talking with you on the phone, I am listening to your dialect and I put it inside a file cabinet in my head. And when I want to create a character - say a guy from Pakistan - I will remember the guy from 7-Eleven and I will take his walk. And the guy that I met in New York, I will take his voice. I put them together and then you have a guy who is very different from the guy in 7-Eleven, but he is good at talking like him.
Okay. You wrote your first play, "Dream Street," at the age of eight. Tell me about that.
Eight years old, man… And my family actually entertained me for about the half hour that I was up there, not knowing what I was going to come out with. I had the sheet curtains up and the whole nine. I even had Jiffy Pop popcorn going on. That cost them $.50. I even had my entrepreneur hat on at that age as well [laughs]. I think the process for writing a story, whether it’s a movie script or a play, you have to find some sort of release. You have to get into a place where your mind is free. A writer tends to go so many different places, and you can’t be clouded because you’re literally talking to yourself through several different people. Making all those people talk and make sense at one time and taking it to a destination is impressive in itself, besides the acting and all that stuff. I had that imagination at a young age. Having a speech impediment, writing was my own way to release sometimes.
And I hear you’re not affected by your speech impediment when you’re performing?
Yes, and I cannot figure that out for the life of me.
We talked about your characters earlier. Which character gets the best reaction from the audience?
The one character that everyone tends to gravitate to is Scooter, and he has the shortest part in the whole show, which is really funny. People leave the theater yelling his catchphrase, “Scooter, Scooter, Scooo!” We have this scene in the play where he says to Jackee’ Harry, “You’re going to always be looking for Scooter, Scooter…” and the whole audience in unison yells, “Scoooo!” But for me, it’s like having a favorite child. You love all your children equally. I feel like that with all the characters that I have, but I enjoy doing all of them. I don’t do any women [characters] and that’s just a preference of mine. I just like to show the young men in the audience strong male figures; because I feel we’re lacking that as African Americans.
Now, Scooter is a character from "The Clean Up Woman." Tell me a little more about the play.
The play is actually based on a true story – well to be politically correct – it was inspired by a true story. The couple [that inspired the play] did come out to see it and they loved it. The play is about a young woman, Terri Adams, who gets a job as the first Black anchorwoman and because she has to balance her life between work and home, she hires this clean-up woman to help clean her house. What the clean-up woman does is start to make moves on her husband and that’s when the drama unfolds.
Do you consider your plays gospel plays?
Gospel plays are just that – proclaiming the teachings of Jesus. I have done those types of shows in churches. This particular show and shows that I do on a mainstream level, I call “lifetime theater.” It’s life in real time and it's just theater. I do have spiritually-based themes because that’s who I am but everyone that you meet is not going to be saved, so you have to be mindful of that. You don’t want to feel like you’re being preached to, but there is a way to moralize your shows. I don’t think that God would allow us to be in front of almost 30,000 people a week and not plant a seed. I don’t bash men or women, I don’t curse and I try not to portray any knives or guns on stage. That’s just me. I look at that like you’re making fun of something that has held us down as a people.
You have worked with a number of well-known actors and singers, from Darius McCrary and Kimberly Brooks to Chante Moore and Fred Hammond. What is it like bringing them into your world?
I have been called a “task master” by Jackee’ Harry [laughs]. It’s funny because she was one of my biggest challenges because she is also a director and an Emmy Award winner. The process is simple but difficult. I equate it to the Olympics Dream Team. You have Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Shaq, but when they get together the first thing they have to do is put aside their jerseys and put on Olympic jerseys. That’s how I look at my shows. I don’t care about previous successes, in this particular room you’re with JD Lawrence doing this one job and they have to do it as a team. I don’t hire people because they have a hit record or show out, I hire people because they have the chops and a love for theater. There is no stunt casting. I am casting you because I believe you’re the best person for that role. The audience is not dumb at all – they can see a stunt casting.
You’re making a transition of your own – from stage to small screen with the Gospel Music Channel. Tell me about that.
I’m not leaving theater, but I am going to try my hand at TV. I have two shows, a sitcom called "Community Servant" and a variety show called "The JD Lawrence Show." "Community Servant" will also star Telma Hopkins, Jackee’ Harry and Nephew Tommy from the "Steve Harvey Morning Show." On that show, I play JD Stevens, an aspiring playwright, who helps his friend Sylvester (played by Nephew Tommy) with a court case to fight a traffic ticket. It turns out that Sylvester and the judge were in a relationship, which my character didn’t know; the whole thing explodes in the courtroom and we end up getting 3,500 hours of community service. So, JD spends the series trying to figure out how to get out of this community service. "The JD Lawrence Show" will be a gospel version of "In Living Color." I will also be working on a film script for "Behind The Cross." I just signed a deal with [Hollywood talent agency] ICM and I will be the first playwright signed to them, which I am really excited about.
Finally, I am sure you have heard the comparisons to Tyler Perry. What are your thoughts on that?
It doesn’t bother me. I have a lot of respect for Tyler and what he has done. The only thing that bothers me is that if he were White, would they be saying the same thing? People always ask me, “Do you think Tyler has opened up any doors for you?” I say, “With all due respect, no. Yes, he has changed the way Hollywood does business with Black people, but how do we know that when they are only doing business with him right now.” Tyler and I don’t know each other, but we should know each other. I hear all the time that JD Lawrence is the next Tyler Perry, Steve Harvey just said it the other day on his show, but I don’t feel like he’s opened up doors for me. I feel what God has for me is for me. And what God has for Tyler Perry is for Tyler. But people are going to compare us, and I have to accept that for right now and then show them different when they come to the show. And it doesn’t bother me when people compare me to someone making $600 million [laughs]. It’s all good though, man. I have nothing but love for him. I think people are trying to cause a battle-type of a thing, but we’re both trying to do the same thing – feed our families, man.
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A native of New Jersey, Hall has been an entertainment journalist and cultural critic since 1999. He was most recently the Online Editor for the upscale urban lifestyle title GIANT magazine.