Alumni Highlight: Eric Jordan Young

Eric Jordan Young is a change maker in his field. Young was selected to direct Ragtime for the Dillingham Theater fall of 2018. The story accounts the varying narratives that create the American fabric. Young denoted how the most interesting element of Ragtime as a musical genre is that both hands are playing separate chords. However, in order to make lovely music, the musician must listen to each syncopation in order to make the chords flow. The meaning behind Ragtime demonstrates that differences can be harmonious.  The symbolism behind the work shows that there is value in multiple narratives because the culmination of those narratives allow for productive conversation if people are willing to listen.

Eric Jordan Young expresses many narratives through his art forms of singing, dancing and acting.  He has had many experiences on and off Broadway. Young is a successful producer, director, choreographer, entertainer, playwright and songwriter. Specifically, he starred in the shows Ragtime (1998, 2009), Seussical (2000), The Look of Love (2003) and Chicago (1996). Most recently, he has been involved in Las Vegas Strip Projects such as the Las Vegas Company of ROCK OF AGES.  These many experiences have led him to form his own Production Company ENJOY, founded in 2008. While media plays a vital role in altering mindsets, the contemporary art form of theater influences many parts of society in relation to identity. We asked Young the following questions to have an understanding of the depths of the influences that theater plays in his own career.

Alexis Davis & Yetunde Smalls: Have you always wanted to pursue a career in Performing Arts?

Eric Jordan Young: Always without a doubt. I did not know how I would necessarily execute that when I was younger but I was always in my bedroom performing, creating shows, creating art, writing plays and singing songs. I was always doing something. As a young person, my older brother David and I were always in choir in elementary school, middle school and high school. There became a point in my career where my physical abilities started to match with dance and so I started doing musicals. That is how I tapped into knowing that there was a professional field that was available to me. In seventh grade, I decided that I wanted to major in musical theater. In high school, I took my craft very seriously and at the time when I started to pursue majoring in musical theater, there were only 14 musical programs throughout the country to even choose from. And so I landed in Ithaca.

AY: What led you to Ithaca in particular for undergrad?

EJY:  There was something about Ithaca. I knew the history of the the music program here and [knew] that it was really strong. I also had a familiar relationship with the region. Just knowing about the Finger Lakes and knowing that there was a similar community to the way that I grew up [outside of Saratoga Springs, NY]. But I had a lot of people in musical theater from the University of Buffalo that led me to make specific choices about specific schools and this is the one that just felt right.

AY: How do you allow yourself to remain authentic to a character yet express your own experiences within that character? For example, you have played Booker T. Washington and Members of the Rat Pack. What led you to audition or portray these individuals?

EJY: I think you have to be familiar with the people you are portraying. Especially if they are historical figures or people who are really in the world. With Booker T, I grew up in the A & E Zionist Church (African Methodist Episcopal Zionist Church) and as far as I learned, this was a domination that Booker T. Washington supported. In my experience of doing Ragtime in 1998, I learned the philosophy of Booker T. Washington and related it to my past. I was able to see that the structure of my church was built on his philosophy. I had the opportunity to connect with that. I don't always believe that his philosophy is the right kind of philosophy for how people of color need to exist in the world but the times have changed. At that time, he believed that assimilation of attitudes and finical ways and the way that we should act and behave would contribute to people of color being successful in American society. With that being said, I had to find a way to connect my own personal experiences with what Booker T. believed and I was able to do that by going back and looking at studies and findings of my own church.

I have always felt that I have had a relationship with Sammy Davis Junior, in that I am an entertainer.  I sing, I dance, I act. He is known as a quadruple threat, and people told me that I remind them of another Sammy Davis Jr. I thought the reason they were saying that to me is because I was black and I could entertain people. [I could] make them laugh, make them feel good. However, I did learn that I share similar qualities to him as an entertainer. I do not know how to explain that. I am not sure how [you] could ever explain that. The way that I associated with him and the way I was able to connect myself to his energy and the person that he is. I was a black actor who grew up in predominantly white neighborhoods and went to predominantly white schools a0n00d I was genuinely the only person of color in a world that did not have much color in it. I related that to Sammy Davis Junior because he was at the forefront of bringing color to the entertainment field for American entertainment.

AY: There are many discussions surrounding what post-race theater means and in that discussion comes the debate of color-conscious casting and color-blind casting. In your experience as a founder of a production group ENJOY, how heavily do you utilize either practice if at all? Do you think that either method affects the way a story is told?

EJY: I do think that it affects the way that a story is told. The thing that I try to remember is that regardless of what I’m telling and what point of view I am coming from, the audience that I’m speaking to is always predominantly white. For the most part, anyone that goes to see theater... I’m speaking about theater as a form...the audiences that usually consider a theatrical experience are predominantly white. That’s just what it is. With that being my foundation for any decisions that I make, I find that seeing the change is what is worthy.

When I was starting out, the definition and filling the glossary term of  color-blind casting was created. It did not exist when I was a child and it did not exist when I was in middle school. But once I got to high school, people started saying “oh, we’re doing color-blind casting” and nobody knew how to define that until it started being initiated. That color-blind casting effect ended up with a lot of people going to see broadway shows where there was  always a black person in the cast of a show that you wouldn't necessarily see a person of color in.

Now, in terms of post-racial theater, I guess we are in this place where now that people understand what color-blind casting means, and they are able to execute that, now what? Do we acknowledge the fact that it exists but do we continue to put people in positions where they’re not really believable? No. I think that’s where the post-race comes into play. People like Branden Jacob Jenkins and all of these other playwrights who are addressing issues with the forefront of race...I think they are saying that no matter what you call it, color-blind casting or anything, people are thinking about race so why not acknowledge race in the dialog in the play and the storytelling? Then you’ll have something that is profound and real and true instead of masked.

How do I deal with it? I deal with it by sometimes acknowledging that the base of people that I’m performing to either they care or they don’t care. So if I’m doing an entertainment, I find that they [the audience] probably don’t care as much. But if I’m doing theater then that’s  a totally different thing. It’s understanding what supermarket you’re offering to the people and then knowing what goods are in that supermarket for them to purchase.

AY: How have you, if at all tried to portray the most recent showing of Ragtime at Ithaca College in a different light? Given the content of the play, some may be nervous of telling this story. Do you get that sense? If so, how do you ease their worries? More so why do you think of all stories this is an important one to tell?

EJY: Yes, people are nervous about sharing this story. I feel that people are nervous in a different way than when the show first opened. The code of ethics in our country is different than it used to be. There is this cloak that we all wear of protection. This cloak invites fear of saying something wrong to each other should we step out of the politically correct lane. And sometimes that fear dips into the perception of an actor or the perception of an audience member seeing this story and actually being able to feel it because the cloak they are wearing tells them they are not supposed to accept certain things. However, if you do not story tell you do not learn. We learn from our history, we learn from our past. You cannot win if you do not fail. Witnessing our failure through story is probably the safest thing you could possibly do if you want to learn anything about how to change your mind or perception or ideology or philosophy or presumptuous thoughts about any person, any thing and any place.

In terms of Ragtime and how I have presented it, I think that I am trying to communicate to the audience that if we do not listen to one another then change will never happen.  In ragtime music, the left hand is one dominant base beat that is two chords–on one and three or two and four. And the right hand is playing a melody or a syncopated rhythm that is against that base line. It is very difficult to play. The difficult technical aspect of it is one thing but it is even more difficult as a musician and a composer to write that and make those things fit one another. Bringing in syncopation against a one and three baseline or a two and a four,  the two parts have to listen to one another and that is what Ragtime the musical is. It is all of these different parts, and all of these different races and political views and social views that are in specific rhythms that need to listen to one another and until they do we will not gain success.

AY: If you had a piece of advice/scripture/philosophical reference to give an aspiring artist who feels marginalized, how would you encourage them to stick with their craft and stay grounded?

EJY: I would say that it is very easy to play the victim in some situations. But it’s easier and it’s much more rewarding, or it has been for me, to try to control what I can control and not what I can’t control. And to allow myself to be in charge of any type of victimization as opposed to being the victim. Especially in this industry and in this business. Like I said, my chosen profession is to perform an art that is mostly where the audience is predominantly white or people of non-color. So with that being said, it is very easy for me to feel isolated but choosing not to be is what has led me to have more confidence, control and a stronger sense of self.