Entertainment

Flyest Fables Offer Kaleidoscope of Stories

THE AFRO — When you tune into “Flyest Fables” you are transported to a fantastical world of young people on big quests and journeys.

Published

6 years ago

March 3, 2019

Oakland Post

By George Kevin Jordan

When you tune into “Flyest Fables” you are transported to a fantastical world of young people on big quests and journeys. But the product that audiences hear is a result of the creator and producer going on his own path to empowerment.

“Podcasting for me is a way for me to tell the stories I didn’t get when I was growing up,”

Morgan Givens, creator of “Flyest Fables” said. “I really wanted Black and Brown character’s in fantasy settings. That was like my bread and butter as a kid.”

“I loved to read and books were like a safe haven for me, but they also influenced my outlook for the world. So when my nephew was about to turn three and we live in the Trump era. I was like, ‘the world is pretty dark,’ and so much of the entertainment geared towards young adults was reminding them of that darkness.”

“I wanted to create something that is joyful and show young people the world as it should exist not as it currently exists.”

And I think there could be something awesome in embedding in the mind of kids, and even adults, that the world we live in isn’t the world we have to live in.”

When looking for an outlet to tell their stories, Givens said podcasting offered some distinct advantages to other forms of media.

“You don’t have to worry about that filter of someone changing your ideas,” Givens said.

“And no one putting words in your mouth. I said it in the podcast. You can’t tell me I said something I didn’t say.”

“Also it could reach young people in places I could not get to them.”

As a novelist working on books, Givens said he thought about barriers- from costs of purchasing literature, to the risks of even having certain things in your possession in the first place.

“Depending on who you are as a young person, maybe certain pieces of entertainment or media are not safe for you to be seen holding where you live,” Givens said.

“If I write a book about a young Trans kid in high school and I want all young kids to read it, especially young Trans people who are spread across places where it is not safe to own who they are, I have to find a way to reach them and give them that joy without putting them in danger.”

“Nobody knows what your listening to most likely,” Givens added. “People walk around with headphones on their ears all day.”

Givens, 32, understands the power of owning your own narrative.

“As a Black person, as a Trans person, so often we move through the world and society tells us what our story is,” Givens said. “It says if you’re Black this is what’s going to happen to you.

If you’re Trans, the story this is the path of your life to take. And for me it was sort of reclaiming some of that. And saying ‘hold on what gives you the right to tell me what my story is?’”

The road to podcaster and creator was not a traditional one. Even though he always knew he wanted to write a book someday, media was not on Givens’ list of career choices. In fact, Givens first career was as a police officer for D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.

‘My grandma was a cop for like 30 years,” Givens said. ‘It was the job that got my mom and her out of the projects.”

Graduating from school at the tail-end of a recession and possessing a curiosity as to how and why people become police officers and what happens to them afterwards, Givens gave it a go.

He served for a few years but admitted that “I didn’t like it,” and pushed to find a job that helped people in a different way. But Givens was a storyteller at heart and started doing storytelling on stage.

In an effort to try to figure out how to be a storytelling Givens got accepted into an internship for WAMU’s 1A – at 31-years old. Givens stayed on and is now a producer for the show.

Flyest Fables is getting buzz locally and internationally. Season two is coming this summer. But to listen to season one here.

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

Published

1 day ago

December 20, 2024

Oakland Post

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Arts and Culture

Promise Marks Performs Songs of Etta James in One-Woman Show, “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley

“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.” Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

Published

4 days ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo Courtesy Of Promise Marks.

Special to the Post

It was “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Group Theater in Berkeley on Saturday night, Dec. 7. The one-woman musical based on the music of Etta James featured the multi-talented singer Promise Marks

Marks, who wrote and directed the musical, also owns PM Productions.

Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

In between her soulful songs, Marks narrated impactful moments of the love story and journey of blues and forgiveness.

Marks sultry voice carried the audience back to an era that echoed with the power of Black music and a time of great change.

Marks said James shared love for the Black community by singing at gatherings during the Civil Rights Movement uplifting the people.

“She spoke to the movement, spoke to the people, and let her music speak for itself,” Marks said.

Backing the musical’s monologues, images and videos of Etta James are projected for the audience to view. While the production is fictional, Marks infused script with the unfairness and heartbreak James experienced while performing.

Marks performed gospel artist Donnie McClurkin’s “We Fall Down” as she narrated acts of reconciliation and forgiveness among the characters at Johnny Rhythm’s deathbed.

Marks, who regularly sings for the Miss America Pageant, was asked to perform as Etta James last year. “(At the event) a lady yelled out to me: ‘You’re Etta James!’ And then the audience went crazy. I said to myself, ‘I may have something here,’” she said.

Within 12 months, Marks created the musical production, which featured a dozen songs honoring “the great legacy of Etta James,” she said.

Marks says she was saddened to see how Etta James was often judged by the struggles in her life and wanted to offer attendees a more layered view.

“Etta’s life was so big. I want people to know that she was more than her drug addiction,” said Marks. “We can’t make that her legacy. Her catalog is too amazing. You can’t just be that and have the catalog that she (created). I don’t want the addiction to be the focus: I want her music, her element, her sassiness, and what she brought to be the focus – her woman-ness, that she was strong, and I wanted to honor that.”

Set Designer Nora Burnette says she created the set segments to mirror James’ life story. A set designer for BRG since 2016, she explained that her process of researching the scenario and the character serve as her inspiration for her design.

“I try to design a set as close to real life as possible so that the actress can deliver the performance sincerely,” said Burnette. “By creating the right setting, it helps the actors release the true essence of a character.”

The set brought the story to life and absolutely floored Marks. “Once Promise (Marks) saw the actual set, she understood my vision: ‘Wow, you get me. You get it,'” Marks told the designer.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins, Etta James, began her career in 1954 and gained fame with hits such “At Last” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.” She faced a number of personal problems, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album “Seven Year Itch.”

Co-producer and BRG Development Director, Sean Vaughn Scott, works with Overseer Production. According to producer Pamela Spikes, “Marks talent truly does Etta’s life story justice.”

Pam Jacobs of Hercules, a friend of Marks’ mom, Jackie Smith, said, Marks “was fabulous and sang all of those songs flawlessly.”

“I’m so proud of my daughter,” said Smith.

Marks, who has served as an instructor for BRG, will return on Feb. 21- 23 for an encore run of the musical.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the BRG (Black Repertory Group) family and continue our executive director Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott’s vision for the Black Repertory Group theater,” said Marks.

The Black Repertory Group Theatre is located at 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703. For information, visit: BlackRepertoryGroup.com