Schele Williams
Image courtesy of Schele Williams.
Schele Williams is a director who has years of experience working on Broadway and is set to direct the upcoming Disney revival of Aida. I feel so fortunate and lucky to have gotten the chance to sit down and chat with Schele (over Zoom, of course!) and ask her about her journey and her process as a director.
Perhaps what’s on a lot of our minds right now is the extended date of the Broadway shutdown that was recently announced— Broadway won’t open again till at least May of 2021. It’s so easy to lose heart, to lose motivation, to be angry, upset, and bitter about the uncertain fate of live theatre in a world dealing with COVID-19. I urge you to listen and read to Schele’s words and recognize that, as she puts it, we are not on pause right now. We are all still going, we are all using this time to get more creative and motivated than we’ve ever been so that when the world is ready for live theatre again, we will be ready to meet it where it is.
How do you identify as an artist?
I identify as a director.
And why do you like being a director?
I’ve always been a storyteller in one capacity or another. When I was an actor I was a storyteller. When I was a musician I was a storyteller. When I was a dancer, I was a storyteller.
But as a director, I get to define the lens through which the story is told.
I really love being the curator of that information. Obviously, the audience has latitude in theatre to take away what they want. I don’t get to prescribe what they walk away with. But I do have an opportunity to shape the story very early on and have an impact on all of the details around the storytelling. And I really enjoy that process.
When did you know that you wanted to shift from being an actor and a musician to a director?
Really late! I always like to say that everyone else knew before me. I didn’t become a director until I was in my 30s. I had worked on Broadway for a long time as an actor and during that process people would say “Hey! Do you want to assist me on this?” and I had been a dance captain; I kind of had all the stepping stones to being a director and I just never connected the dots. . . until I was doing Aida and when the show was getting ready to close I thought, I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to be able to define what is happening on the stage.
It became very clear to me during the course of that show that direction was my real passion.
What’s unique about your directing style and what’s most important to you in your process?
Well, I really revere the actors. I was an actor and I have so much love for the craftsmen and women. I think about not only the personal sacrifice, but when you’re handpicking each individual for a role, it’s such a beautiful thing and I would say even intimate. When you pick someone and you’re just hoping they’ll say yes: you are believing they’re going to bring something so unique and so wonderful that cannot be replicated by any other human. Right?
Mhmm.
Anytime someone else comes into the show, in my shows, I don’t call them “replacements”. No one can be replaced. Other people can play the role, but I don’t have “replacements” in my shows. I have additions to the show.
I think about how unique and organic a cast is at any given point and I think that that’s really beautiful.
If I’m taking on a show, I believe that the work is great. If I really believe in the work, that’s the beginning. So now, we’re gonna take this work and we’re going to bring it to life with incredible craftsmen and women in every trade. Whether that’s designers, actors, props, sound, costumes, wardrobe. . . every single person that is touching this show is putting their own fingerprint on it. And I think that’s what makes a show so unique and beautiful. And even when you do a tour or you do a show in another country, you can’t replicate that experience. It is unique unto itself. I love that about the whole process.
But I think that my style is that I’m not like a “5,6,7,8 and then you move here.” Every one of my productions might have slight shifts to them because I’m really taking in the individuals that I bring into the show. I really take on their energy and their uniqueness and try to incorporate that into the story.
I never thought about how dehumanizing the word “replacements’ is until you just said it.
It’s horrible.
It’s really bad!! And people are always saying it.
Yeah, people aren’t replaceable. It’s a word I’d love to eliminate from our industry.
So. Could you talk a little bit about your journey? From how you started out in this industry to where you are now, about to direct the revival of Disney’s Aida. . .
When we get back from COVID-19, if we ever get back, I’m just kidding we will get back from it, we will—
We will and you know what, I always like to shift and say: we’re not on pause, and we are not “getting back”. We are where we are, and when we step in to the next phase, whatever that is, we will be there. Because life is continuing. Maybe not in the way that we planned, but I am very consciously embracing this moment and adjusting and not waiting for life but living life.
And the one thing that we do, you know, when you’re a creative person— creative people make something out of nothing. When a producer says to me “we can’t afford that” I don’t say “we can’t do the show”. I can figure it out. I think that it’s really incumbent upon us to keep thinking of these moments as opportunities.
Going forward, what kinds of stories do you hope to see more of?
I hope to see more authentic representations of not only diverse populations but also women. I really, really have missed for years seeing the women that I know on stage. The incredible generosity, the sisterhood, the kindness, the strength, the intelligence, the strategic thinkers, the leaders. I’ve missed seeing real women. Women that I’ve known my whole life, mentors that I’ve had my whole life, represented on the American stage. So I really seek that.
And I seek especially diverse populations being represented in an authentic way and told through the eyes of diverse populations.
From the few interviews I’ve done so far, what’s consistently said is: I feel like I never see the women I know in my life on stage or on screen, or auditioning for them. It’s an across the board thing— and diverse representation that’s nuanced and feels real, feels like the people you know. And I feel like in this period right now where we’re not paused, but we’re thinking about what we can do differently, I hope, and I know, that a lot of us are realizing that we need to start creating the representation we want to see. Which I think is a really cool feeling to feel right now.
Yeah. When we are back in rehearsals and back on stages, there will be more permission for truth, and that’s gonna make the art better.
Absolutely.
We’ve all been pretending for way too long.
Yeah. . . it feels like all these conversations are being started right now and I just hope that we keep starting them and having them and that we aren’t scared to receive these conversations or start them, to each other’s faces.
It takes a lot of kindness and a lot of generosity and a lot of grace, but if we aren’t people who have trained ourselves to be brave, then what did we spend our money on college for?
Haha, yes!
That’s what we train for! We train for vulnerability and bravery and honesty and connection and collaboration. This is our wheelhouse! Now we just have to apply it in our lives and in our workplace.
Has there ever been a time where you felt lesser-than, either someone made you feel that way or you just felt that way. . .
Oh sure, yeah.
And how did you deal with it? What would you say to people who are feeling the same thing especially right now?
It’s really important to advocate for yourself and it’s really important to know when to do it.
Listen to the rest of Schele’s response here:
What’s going to happen with AIDA?
I have to say, I’m very fortunate because Aida was always going to have two companies in the first year. We were going to open at Paper Mill and launch a North American tour and we were going to open in Germany 7 months later. Because of COVID, we have now just switched the schedules: we’re going to open in Germany first, followed by the North American tour. It wasn’t like COVID hit and we were like, “Germany!”, (laughs) Germany had always been in the plans.
Ohhhh, okay I see!
It had not been released to the press but I had always had dates that I was going to do auditions in Germany for and that was always in the works. Not a lot of other shows had the opportunity to have that kind of a fallback plan, my show just happened to and there are certainly a lot of disappointments around the cast— we were in rehearsals and it’s heartbreaking. And as you’ve heard, I really do handpick my cast and I love every single one of them so much that it’s painful that that part of the experience was cut short.
What is bringing you joy right now?
My family. I’ve got a husband and two great kids. I wrote a children’s book that is coming out next year and that process has been extraordinary for me. It’s taken me on a real journey of exploration leading into it, and I have grown so much during this and I just wrote my second children’s book. I have had some of the most courageous conversations about race in theatre, and like I say, on our streets and on our stages, and it gives me hope and joy to think that my children will have a more equitable experience than I will in life.
I seek joy in my life. I surround myself with people who make me happy and I have an incredible support system. I have a sister who always knows when to call me and what to say and I just love her so deeply. I’m very grateful for the people who are around me in my life and for my children who keep me laughing and guessing at every turn.
That’s so nice. What’s your children’s book about?
It’s called “Your Legacy” and it is a bold reclaiming of our enslaved history.
What made you want to write this?
I wanted to have a conversation with my kids about slavery because I was so confused when I was a child and I saw the pictures in the history books and I just had no context or understanding. And I wanted them to hear it from me and understand their legacy in this country.
Listen to the rest of Schele’s response here:
I have some final speed round questions to wrap it up! What’s the last thing you watched on your screen?
Oh my gosh, so embarrassing. My husband and I are watching Homeland for the first time. . . so we’re in the second season of Homeland.
What was the last thing that you read?
I read an astounding amount of plays. I’m trying to think of one I can say out loud because a lot of the ones I’m reading aren’t out yet…
Well that is cool. You could also say what your favorite book or play is too.
Wow. That’s such a good question. . . I read Michelle Obama’s Becoming recently and I really, really enjoyed that book. I thought it was so honest. Oh, I’ll tell you what book I love too— Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom.
And finally, if you could tell a younger version of yourself one thing, what would it be?
Be more fearless. Be braver.
