Sheldon Epps has spent a lifetime telling stories. And now it’s time to tell his own.
His new book, My Own Directions: A Black Man’s Journey in the American Theater, is just being released, and he is eager to share his stories.
Epps’ theater history is vast, spanning decades, as he has directed major productions on and off Broadway, in London and at many theaters across America.
He has had an active television career as well, and was the artistic director of the renowned playhouse for two decades. He currently serves as senior artistic advisor at the historic Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C.
As Epps noted recently in an expansive interview with Pasadena Now, the inspirations for his book are many, saying, “I think I’ve had a very blessed, abundant career with lots of fascinating experiences, and lots of encounters with wonderful people and interesting people and interesting materials. So I wanted to talk about that.
“But I also think that I’ve had a very distinct journey, as I say, being a black man in the American theatre, with both great opportunities, but also some real challenges and frustrations that have gone with that over the years, both in commercial theater, and in my time with Pasadena Playhouse.”
Early on in his years with the Pasadena Playhouse, he noted two things about his position there – one was that he was quite frequently the only person of any color in the courtyard, and he was the only person there under 60.
“Both of those things I thought were fundamentally wrong for such a great American theater and the community,“ He said. “That was in a theater that was in such a richly diverse community.”
Epps then set about diversifying that audience, he said, first by ethnicity and serving all of the communities in the area, and then by bringing younger people into the theater.
“There was certainly an embrace of that by many,” he said, “but there was also some who objected, and some who thought that I was trying to be revolutionary and take over the theater and change it for the worse, and turn it into something that it had never been and from their point of view, never should be.”
But, he noted, with no little pride, that the Playhouse “went from being this theater where I was frequently the only person in color in the audience, and the only young person at that time, the only young person in the audience, to really becoming one of the most diverse theater companies in America, a model for diversity. And we were pointed to by publications and awarded by foundations for our success and achieving diversity on stage and all. And it really happened because you sort of can’t argue with success.
“There were many people who objected, and objected, and some of those people had to go away, to not come to the theater anymore,“ he continued, “but they were replaced by legions of other people who really supported what I was trying to do.”
Not only that, he noted, but many of the productions that were focused on attracting ethnic audiences became some of the highest selling shows in the history of the Pasadena Playhouse.
“They were really giving a new kind of life blood to the theater, Epps pointed out. “It was also an economic reality that when those shows started selling as well as they did, it was hard to argue with the fact that this is what the Greater Los Angeles community wanted to celebrate.”
Looking back on what he termed “a remarkable, rich and full career,” Epps stressed that, “I never wanted to be defined or inhibited by my race. I wanted to be celebrated for my race. And at those times when I wasn’t, I had to create a situation where I celebrated myself, and I never wanted to be restricted or held back by that.”
Ultimately, Epps never was held back by any of that, but he wants the theater world to acknowledge that “It was not easy, and that things needed to change, unfortunately.
“Perhaps because of some of the struggles that I’ve been through,” he said, “fortunately things have changed, things are better now, and continue to be better, but they need to keep evolving.”
Sheldon Epps will be discussing his book, My Own Directions, November 10 at 7 PM at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 East Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA. (626) 449-5320. Www.Vromansbookstore.com.
