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Culture Entertainment Music

Bobby Whitlock & Ricky Byrd to play B.B. King’s on Jun. 13

Bobby Whitlock & CoCo Carmel / Photo: Todd V Wolfson
Bobby Whitlock & CoCo Carmel / Photo: Todd V Wolfson

If you are a fan of rock & roll, you have heard Bobby Whitlock play music. Beyond his long-standing solo career alongside wife CoCo Carmel — who herself has performed with Jon Bon Jovi, Dr. John and Phoebe Snow — Bobby also played and wrote on three of rock’s most iconic albums: George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, Derek & The Dominos’ Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs and The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main Street. He is also notably a co-founder of Derek & The Dominos, and was the first “friend” in Delaney and Bonnie. While Bobby has a new album in the works, he and CoCo have opted to travel the road for The Sparkly Shoes Tour, which hits B.B. King’s on Jun. 13.

One thing that makes the Sparkly Shoes Tour even more interesting is that each date of the tour features a special guest guitarist. The Jun. 13 show includes Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ricky Byrd, who played in Joan Jett & The Blackhearts for many years; he has also performed alongside Southside Johnny, The Who’s Roger Daltrey, and Mott The Hoople’s Ian Hunter, among others.

Downtown had the pleasure of speaking with both Bobby and Ricky via e-mail. Interestingly, the two have never met in-person, so day of the B.B. King’s show will likely be their first meeting. Bobby and Coco can be visited online at www.bobbywhitlockandcococarmel.com, while Ricky keeps an online home at www.cleangetaway.nyc.

How did you two first meet?

Bobby Whitlock: We have yet to meet face to face, but have talked over the telephone…

Ricky Byrd: I haven’t actually met Bobby or Coco yet. My wife Carol Kaye is their publicist, so that’s my connection. I had seen a post on Facebook from Bobby that they were playing BB’s in June and I remember my pal Godfrey Townsend — who played with them last year — said he wasn’t available this year, so I asked Carol to reach out to them and offer my services. No doubt I’m honored to play with them. I have also agreed to do a short opening acoustic set of songs from my solo CD Lifer and some tunes I wish I had written. (laughs)

Ricky, you’re considered a sideman yet have also put out solo albums. Do you like being thought of as a sideman, though?

RB: Honestly, I have more of a frontman personality. I have been up front singing lead and driving the bus for so long, it’s a natural place for me to be. With that said, the fact that I’m a professional, I understand the concept of playing a supporting role and I have been that guy many, many times as well. At this point I have quite a list of people I have played alongside…everyone from Roger Daltrey to Smokey Robinson, and now Bobby Whitlock and CoCo Carmel
Sometimes I’m lead dog …sometimes you are there to help pull the sled. I just bring my tools and do whatever job is at hand!

What should be expected from your gig at B.B. King’s? Will you be playing any covers?

BW: We will be playing the Dominos songs that I wrote on the Layla record and some new originals that CoCo and I have written, along with a couple from my upcoming solo record.

On each date of the tour you’re playing with a guest guitarist. Did you have the cities picked out first? Or the guitarist?

BW: We have the dates and cities picked out before we get the guitarist.

How have you and CoCo been able to keep long-standing relationships as both collaborators and a married couple? I mean, few other musical couples have lasted decades…

Whitlock: CoCo and I are friends, lovers, husband and wife, and also musical partners…And we are together 24/7. We are equals in everything that we do. There is no “mine and yours.” It’s all ours. I never tell her what to play or sing. She knows what to do. We have great respect for each other and each other’s abilities. We are both free to be.

Ricky, where was the first gig you ever played in New York City?

RB: Hmm, probably a church dance in Queens. We were too young to play clubs. Eventually I made my way playing upstairs at Max’s Kansas City and other 70’s rock joints in New York City.

Do you still get out to Long Beach often?

RB: Back in the early 80s, I was out there often because Jett lived there. Over the past few years, I’ve played a few gigs in Long Beach, and you could find me at a restaurant or two there occasionally.

Gig at B.B. King’s aside, what’s coming up for you?

BW: Aside from the B.B. King date. which is in the middle of our Sparkly Shoes Tour, I am working on finishing my first solo recording in years. It has some new songs, some of which we are performing on this tour, and the band is great! Darryl Jones on bass, Colin Linden and Nick Tremulis on guitars, Charley Drayton on drums, with Stephen Barber on keyboards along with myself and of course my darling CoCo Carmel singing and playing sax. She also has about six songs that were co-written with me, and her song “Nobody Knows” is on my new solo record. I could not resist doing her song.

RB: I’m currently working on a CD filled with original songs I play at treatment facilities around the U.S. I have been in recovery since 1987 and a huge part of my world is trying to help those fighting addiction just as I was helped. The songs are about addiction, recovery, hope and inspiration. There will be some very special guests, including Bobby, but in the end the message of recovery is the special guest! I’ll be handing the CD out to patients at my groups. Knowing music is a healer, hopefully it will help save a life.

When not busy with music, how do you like to spend your free time?

BW: When I am not singing and playing or writing a new song or working on my poetry book, I enjoy whatever comes my way by the way of the creative process. I love walking in our woods with our dogs, and simply strolling down the street in our neighborhood with CoCo. I have a passion for working with wood, namely tree stumps. I call it root art. As a matter of fact, some people came from Japan to our home several years ago and they all were captivated with my artwork. I told them that I call it “root art” and they said that it is a very spiritual art in Japan, as it gives eternal life to the root of the tree.

RB: Watching baseball. Trying to navigate around a 15-year-old daughter. And napping. (laughs)

Do you have a favorite restaurant in New York?

BW: I don’t really have a favorite restaurant anywhere, as I prefer CoCo’s cooking at home.

RB: Wo Hop on Mott Street. I’ve been going there since 1974.

Finally, any last words for the kids?

BW: Final word for the children…Listen…Just be still and listen for that still small voice.

RB: If you want to be a music lifer, go out and play the joints to zero people on a Tuesday night. Learn the craft, play every day, make your bones the old-fashioned way, and let rejection roll off your back or you’ll go nuts.

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Business Culture Entertainment NYC

Cristina Alesci on her new CNN series “The American Dream: New York,” life as a journalist, Downtown Manhattan & more

Cristina Alesci

Cristina Alesci
Cristina Alesci

A lifelong New Yorker, Cristina Alesci is an award-winning television and digital correspondent. Even before joining the CNN team in 2014, she had interviewed countless business leaders and tastemakers as a correspondent for Bloomberg. Facebook’s IPO, Dell’s takeover battle, and Gwyneth Paltrow’s “common woman” interview are among the stories that have helped make Cristina one of the go-to New York journalists for breaking stories.

As hosted by Cristina, The American Dream: New York will be premiering on CNN’s digital platforms on Monday, Feb. 13. The American Dream is a multi-part documentary series exploring how living in New York during the first half of the 20th century inspired some of New York’s most successful residents. Interviewees include J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, hip-hop legend Russell Simmons, and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. The series will also be showing on CNN International shortly after its Feb. 13 premiere.

Downtown spoke with Cristina about The American Dream, daily living as a journalist, and what keeps her based in New York all these years later. She can be followed on both Twitter and Instagram.

Do you yourself have a definition of what the “American Dream” is?

Cristina Alesci: Now more than ever, I believe the American Dream is hope. At its core, the American Dream is having the freedom to achieve success as you define it, regardless of where you’re born and who your parents are. While government programs and policies can nurture an environment of possibility, the individual needs ambition, resilience and a decent amount of luck. It’s a struggle and it’s not easy. The American Dream is an ideal we should all aspire to achieve and preserve for future generations.

Where did the idea for this series come from?

CA: My family and New York, two of my favorite things. My parents and grandparents inspired it in large part. Like many others in this country, they emigrated to the U.S., in their case from Italy. To me, they embody the spirit of the American Dream, unrelenting hard work and hope. My mother arrived when she was 12 years old and had to learn a new language, a different culture and how to take care of herself in some very tough neighborhoods. The same with my father, who eventually started a successful small business. I’m in awe of what they’ve been able to achieve. Also, New York was a breeding ground for their dreams and so many others who found success in this country. I wanted to understand it, document it and share it so it can inspire others.

Do you have a favorite moment or interview from the upcoming series?

CA: I have many, actually, but as a woman covering corporate America eight years was struck by Xerox CEO Ursula Burns‘ observation that despite all the advances women have made in business over the last few decades, men still seem to have the advantage. She made a point about how women sometimes may overlook picking a kind of partner who will help them share the burdens of their personal and family lives.

Who was the first person you ever interviewed?

CA: My younger sister Laura, I was eight. My parents had just bought a video camera and my first thought was, “I want to do an interview for the news.” I actually watched the video over Christmas for the first time in years, and it was a lot different than I remembered. It was more like an interrogation.

What about the first celebrity?

CA: Gwyneth Paltrow. It made some headlines…

You’ve interviewed a lot of big names, but are there people that you’re still hoping to talk with?

CA: The bold-faced names often don’t lead to the most riveting stories. Jimmy Breslin likes to say that the more compelling stories are found in the losing team’s locker room. One of the biggest stories of Breslin’s career, which is still taught in journalism school, was a column he wrote following President Kennedy’s assassination, where he interviewed the gravediggers who would be burying the President. I firmly believe the best way to report on something is by looking in the less obvious places.

Rumor has it that you wanted to pursue a career with the FBI before getting into journalism. What was it that drew you to the FBI?

CA: The rumor mill was right! I was always drawn to the idea of public service. At the time, it seemed like the best way for me to make a difference in the world. Also, Agent Alesci seemed to have a nice ring to it…but I had no poker face, so I wouldn’t have been very good at undercover work.

Have you been able to interview anyone from the FBI?

CA: Not on the record.

You helped break the story on Facebook’s initial public offering. Movies usually show a reporter getting a call in the middle of the night from an anonymous source. How does breaking stories usually come to you?

CA: I do get a lot of late-night calls but breaking a story is rarely that easy. It’s always the product of shoe leather. That, and not taking “no” for an answer—even if you’ve heard it a dozen times. But it can be a lot of fun.

I had a two-year rivalry with another reporter at a major financial newspaper. We were always trying to one up each other on breaking financial news. One time, after a week-long vacation, I scooped him on three stories my first day back. He e-mailed that night and begged me to go back to the beach.

What is a typical day like for you as a reporter? How much of the day is actually spent reporting or writing?

CA: A typical day is five hours of sleep, one hour of eating, one hour in the gym and the rest spent reporting and writing. How much is reporting versus writing changes from one day to the next, but I do both every day.

CNN series aside, what else is coming up for you?

CA: I’m focused on the nexus of money and politics, and its impact throughout the country. I believe it’s more important than ever to ensure the public understands that relationship.

You’re a CUNY graduate. What is it that keeps you based in New York?

CA: That seems like a trick question! I was born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens and now that I live downtown, I can’t imagine myself living in too many other places.

When not busy with your career, how do you like to spend your free time?

CA: With my family. I have four younger siblings; three sisters and a brother. My husband and I love cooking big meals and having everyone over for dinner — I’m Italian, after all.

Do you have a favorite restaurant in New York?

CA: It’s hard to have one favorite restaurant in New York. I have my top ten, but it’s always changing. Right now I really like Café Altro Paradiso, Via Carota and Le Coucou. I don’t have time for brunch, but for a simple breakfast on a Sunday, I love hitting the Greek bakery Pi in Soho.

Do you have tickets to any upcoming concerts or events?

CA: My husband just told me he got us tickets to see the Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet [Of 1812]. He always makes sure there’s a frosted side to my mini-wheat.

Finally, Cristina, any last words for the kids?

CA: Read as if your life depends on it, because it does. And question everything.

Categories
Culture Entertainment Music

Guitar hero Steve Stevens on his Dec. gigs with Kings Of Chaos, New York City, Billy Idol & more

Steve Stevens / Photo: Charles Jischke
Steve Stevens / Photo: Charles Jischke
Steve Stevens / Photo: Charles Jischke

As a successful musician for decades, Steve Stevens has a lot of claims to fame. As Billy Idol’s long-time guitarist, he co-wrote most of the Idol anthems still regularly heard around the world. He won a Grammy for his work on the “Top Gun Anthem” from the hit Tom Cruise movie. He has played on recordings by Michael Jackson, P!nk, Diana Ross, Joni Mitchell and Robert Palmer, to name a few key artists. Steve was also featured on the E! reality show Married To Rock as his wife Josie was one of its stars. In turn, it is not surprising that Steve has his own signature guitar via Knaggs Guitars, a signature amplifier via Friedman Amps, and signature guitar pickups via Bare Knuckles.

In 2016, Steve is still at it with Billy Idol; a new album, Kings & Queens On The Underground was released in October 2014. Notably, Steve also hits the road often as a guitarist in Kings Of Chaos. An all-star band featuring members of Guns N’ Roses, ZZ Top, Linkin Park, Slipknot and Stone Temple Pilots, Kings Of Chaos has gigs in the area this month. KOC can be seen at Montclair’s Wellmont Theater on Dec. 17, the following night at Long Island’s The Paramount, and a few days later at Irving Plaza on Dec. 21. In addition, Steve has a new solo album in the works.

Downtown caught up with Steve — a native New Yorker who lived downtown for years — for an interview via phone. More info on Steve and his upcoming shows with Kings Of Chaos can be found at www.kingsofchaosband.com.

I know that you were born in Brooklyn. Where in Brooklyn did you grow up?

Steve Stevens: I was born in Brooklyn, but my parents moved just to Far Rockaway by the time I was one and a half, two, so I grew up in Rockaway.

And you lived there until you moved to Manhattan?

SS: Yeah, pretty much so. By the time I was 16…I was in a cover band so I kind of moved out…The band was based in Ozone Park, Queens, so I’ve kind of lived in every borough of New York.

You and Billy first met in Manhattan?

SS: The band I was in before Billy Idol was managed by Bill Aucoin, who was the manager of KISS. And he had just brought Billy over from London. So I was still living actually, by then I was living in Kew Gardens, where my parents had moved to, so when I met Billy I was living there.

And where in Manhattan did you live over the years?

SS: My first place was on Jane Street over between West and Washington, so I was like right in the middle of Greenwich Village. And then I moved to Bleecker and Broadway, and I lived there until I moved to Los Angeles.

And when was it in your career that you moved to Los Angeles?

SS: I came out to do reunite with Billy, he had moved to L.A. And this is 1992, I believe…Different plan, let’s get together and do a record and I came out. Originally I was in a hotel, and I went into a residential hotel and got my first apartment, but I decided to live in L.A. officially like 20 years ago.

What was it that made you move out there? Was it just work or had you gotten tired of the weather here?

SS: Weather was never a factor, but a lot of musicians had moved out to L.A. and had started to…People would call to work with them, let’s say like Duff McKagan or someone, and everyone had a home studio and I thought, “Well that’s really cool, I want an environment at home that I could work in.” It seemed like a really hard thing to do in Manhattan, you always had to put money in the pockets of somebody else who had a recording studio, and I thought, “Well, I’d rather invest in it myself.”

And the environment, there just seemed to be a lot of musicians that I knew from New York that moved out here by then. New York is such a night city and stuff, and I’d made the decision to get sober as well, and I thought, “Well this is probably going to be so much easier, I can get In too much trouble in New York.” (laughs)

Sure. Do you remember the first venue that you ever played in Manhattan.

SS: Here in Manhattan we played Great Gildersleeve, which was the club right down the street from CBGB.

And then what was the first New York venue that you played with Billy?

SS: Max’s Kansas City. We played unannounced. We had found out it was closing and Billy had some friends who were [playing]…and we arranged to play unannounced. Because it was really important to us to play Max’s before it closed, so that was the very first Billy Idol gig.

So you have these East Coast dates with Kings Of Chaos. I understand that Billy Idol and you have some dates coming up in Vegas. What’s the next like six to twelve months looking like for you?

SS: Idol and I, we did our Vegas residency this year at the House Of Blues, which was just fantastic…We pulled out a lot of more obscure tunes off our records and when you’re in one venue for that long, you really gets to hone your show down. You get your lights exactly the way you want them. So we return to Vegas in March next year and I’m going to start recording another solo record…That kind of got put on the backburner for 2016, so that’s one of my priorities and I’m planning on doing a solo tour in Europe in April, and we’re just getting the dates together for that.

Do you have any hobbies when you’re not doing music?

SS: Hobbies…I don’t know, I do all the kind of same things that people like to do, I love films and all that kind of stuff, and my wife and I are a year overdue on a vacation, so we’re just now trying to find out where we’re going to go on vacation and kind of recharge our batteries.

Well, thinking about that for a second. You know a lot of people would go to Vegas for a vacation but that’s more of a working city for you and then you’re from New York and you live in Los Angeles. So you’re the kinds of people that would look to go somewhere remote?

SS: Yeah, absolutely. We try to get off the grid as much as possible.

Is there anything that you miss about New York and not having lived there for 20-something years?

SS: Yeah, I mean, the energy of the city is amazing and when I go to New York now I do all the things I used to make fun of tourists for doing, like going to Broadway plays. I guess growing up in New York, I went to High School Of The Performing Arts in Manhattan. So I kind of overlooked a lot of the things that Manhattan has to offer. So now when I go back, I make it a point to like hit up new restaurants and catch plays and things like that.

I think what I miss most is New Yorkers’ personalities because people will tell you exactly how they feel, and there’s not as much backstabbing. If somebody is pissed off at you, they’re going to tell you and you’ll either work it out or part ways or whatever. But I like the directness of New Yorkers…There’s an energy about New York that nowhere else has.

So finally, Steve, any last words for the kids?

SS: For the kids, yeah. People, come out and see Kings Of Chaos…Primarily we do it for the fun and just the catalog is just incredible and some of the players. And come on, just seeing Billy Gibbons and myself onstage, trading off solos and stuff. It’s a once-in-a lifetime experience.

Categories
Dining Fashion

Chef Mark Strausman on Freds at Barneys’ new hours, bagels, New York City and more

Chef Mark Strausman

Chef Mark Strausman
Chef Mark Strausman

A veteran of Barneys New York for two decades, Chef Mark Strausman has overseen the openings of Freds Madison Avenue, Chicago, Beverly Hills, and most recently, Chelsea. He is a native New Yorker — he grew up in Queens — and his Barneys roots predate his tenure in the Freds kitchen; he purchased his bar mitzvah suit at the original Barneys New York, a location which the new Chelsea flagship store now occupies.

Prior to working with Barneys in the United States, Chef Mark trained abroad at Germany’s Grandhotel Hessischer Hof, Switzerland’s Le Montreux Palace, and Amsterdam’s Amstel Hotel. He returned to New York in the 1980s, becoming the Executive Chef at the Hamptons’ Sapore di Mare. Next, he opened Campagna in the Flatiron District in 1994.

Campagna led to working with Barneys New York and Freds. On Jun. 28, Freds’ Chelsea restaurant extended its hours and menu, in addition to starting to serving liquor; previously it had only served lunch between 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM. Freds is famous for its bagels, which Chef Mark has been known to demonstrate the making of. Mark caught up with Downtown to talk about Freds and plenty more.

For more information on Freds, click on over to www.barneys.com/freds. Barneys New York is on Twitter via the handle @BarneysNY, while Mark is on there as @MarkStrausman. Mark can be tracked via his WordPress site and also has cookbooks available via Amazon.

FREDS-Chicago-Market-002-681x1024

How would you describe Freds to someone who has not yet been there? Is there a way to describe the cuisine?

Mark Strausman: Freds is the perfect example of a restaurant that has something for everyone. It’s classical and trend-oriented, but not trendy. It’s intimate and a local neighborhood restaurant, but also a renowned destination.

How does the New York restaurant compare to that of other locations?

MS: I view the different Freds locations the way I view my children. They come from the same family, but each one has its own individual personality and preferences. I tailor the menus in each location to the tastes of the locals, so in New York we make bagels and bialys, we do a special Passover menu. We also do special items for Christmas in New York, which is a little different from the other locations.

I see that there are bagels on your menu. It’s often said that bagels are only good in New York and New Jersey. Any idea why that is?

MS: I’ve never heard that the bagels are good in New Jersey, but that’s where I buy my bagel boards for baking, so maybe there’s some truth to that. People say it’s the water, but I think it’s more who’s making the bagels. There’s a tradition of bagel-making in New York that doesn’t exist elsewhere.

What is your favorite item on the Freds dinner menu?

MS: No one has a favorite child. I like it all.

FREDS-Chicago-Market-010-683x1024

What can you tell me about the dinner menu?

MS: I aim to create a menu that uses the finest quality, local ingredients but in dishes that people can eat every day, not just on celebratory occasions. The dinner menu is very neighborhood-oriented, meaning there’s something for everyone and it’s food that’s light enough that you can eat it every day,

What is the biggest challenge of running an establishment like Freds?

MS: Keeping the energy up every day, so that even after 20 years, each day feels fresh.

What was your first job within the hospitality world?

MS: I sold peanuts at Shea Stadium when I was a teenager.

What was it that inspired you to work with food in the first place?

MS: As a teenager I complained about my Mom’s cooking, so she suggested I do it. It turned out that I had a talent for it and I really enjoyed shopping and cooking for the family.

Word is that you got your bar mitzvah suit at Barneys. Was that where a lot of your clothing came from as a child? Or was that a favorite of your family for special occasions?

MS: Like a lot of people of my generation, it was a destination for special occasions.

All these years later in your career, what is it that keeps you based in New York City?

MS: I was born here, my family is here, and it’s has become one of the culinary capitals of the world. Why should I leave?

Makes sense. So when you’re not busy with your career, how do you like to spend your free time?

MS: Watching competitive sports of any kind, including the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which was recently on ESPN.

Finally, Mark, any last words for the kids?

MS: Shave, hide the tattoos, and please, God, put sound-proofing in your restaurants! But I love you.

Categories
Culture Entertainment

Brandon Victor Dixon, Music Man

dixon

Meet Brandon Victor Dixon, the man behind Motown: The Musical.

With his current starring role as up in Long Island and Queens. In high the legendary Berry Gordy, Jr. in the hit Broadway show Motown: The Musical, Brandon Victor Dixon continues a string of performances that are both moving and significant to the black cultural experience in America. You may recognize him for his role as Harpo from The Color Purple, the stirring story of the African-American experience during the Depressionera in the Deep South, for which he received a Tony nomination. He also originated the role of Simba in the national tour of The Lion King before hitting the bright lights of Broadway.

To immerse himself in Motown on the Great White Way, Dixon enjoyed the benefit of working with Berry Gordy, the man who helped define decades of pop culture and music. Berry Gordy founded Motown Records and launched the careers of everyone from Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Michael Jackson and made himself completely available to Dixon.

This past November, Dixon formed Walk Run Fly Productions with his long- time friend and colleague, Warren Adams, co-producing two of the most anticipated shows this theater season: Hedwig & the Angry Inch, starring Neil Patrick Harris and Of Mice & Men, starring James Franco and Chris O’Dowd.

Dixon’s list of hits continues to grow. He took some time to bring us backstage to see how he has been able to channel the masters of the past to become one of the most promising stars of today.

What originally attracted you to acting?
I think my mom knew when I was three years old, I had it in me. I had a vivid imagination. I loved the Legos, loved the games that challenged me, but most of all I loved the ability to perform, dance, sing, act out scenes. It was my passion.

How did you first find your way to New York and eventually to Broadway?
My first real exposure to New York City was through my parents. I remember going to the Double Tree hotel and seeing the lights on Broadway. That infectious energy captivated me on the spot. I grew school, I performed in plays. I also sang in churches. That gave me the foundation for this remarkable gift of entertaining, which is in my blood.

But how did Broadway break into your act?
Along came Rent. It was the first show I ever auditioned for. I was only 15, and it changed the way I looked at theatre. I auditioned six times but never broke in. So imagine my reward in finally getting to play Colin, who I wanted to play all of my life! I attended Columbia University to learn acting. When The Lion King opportunity came up, I auditioned and eventually joined the first class of master dancers. Boy did I prepare for that role! For six months I ran three miles, did yoga, did all I could to be limber for the demanding schedule I was grateful to get.

How important was The Color Purple to you and your career?
It was a combination of a good audition and good fortune. I mean, you rarely leave a show and fall into another one so quickly. And the same thing happened with Ray Charles Live! Now, that was a special experience; the kind of role you must immerse your- self into. This was my first main lead, and I was also involved in helping to develop it. So, it was a bit challenging but beyond rewarding. I love taking on roles that have great cultural qualities to them.

How do you prepare to play such iconic personalities in the black experience?
History is the ultimate way to relive these characters. I’ve done many African Ameri- can roles. I always say instead of Black history, it should be American history. We are all equal, no divide.

By Suzanne Corso

Brandon Victor Dixon is featured in DOWNTOWN’S Summer 2014 edition. Check him out in our latest issue on newsstands now! Or subscribe to DOWNTOWN Magazine for home delivery by clicking here.