(Jordan Williams and Edwin Green bring Redd Foxx and Malcolm X to life. Photo by Beth Dedman.)
By Jerome Langston
“This one feels really special because I have a new Foxy this time. I have a new co-star. And this guy just happens to be one of my best friends,” says actor Edwin Green, who plays the lead role of Little, in Virginia Stage Company’s final production of season 47 — “Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem.” It’s the middle of the week, and preview performances of the new play, which is a fascinatingly titled co-world premiere, begin tonight. I am joined inside the lobby of Norfolk’s historic Wells Theatre, by actors Jordan Williams, who plays the co-lead role of Foxy, and the aforementioned Edwin Green, who has been with the show since its inception. Both actors are new to Virginia Stage Company… but have apparently known each other for quite a while. “It’s the third time we’re doing it, but this is the first time it’s been done like this. So Virginia is getting something really special,” continues Green.
Written by Dallas-based playwright Jonathan Norton, and directed by Dexter J. Singleton, “Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes..”. is VSC’s first proper world premiere since Season 34’s “Frog Kiss,” which was building towards a Broadway run that eventually never happened, but nevertheless generated buzz for its premiere here at the Wells. This is a slightly different scenario however for Norton’s new play, as its being produced in partnership with Arkansas’s TheatreSquared, Pittsburgh’s City Theatre Company, and Dallas Theater Center, where the playwright also serves as interim artistic director and playwright-in-residence. VSC’s production is the third production for this co-world premiere but is distinguishable as the first one featuring Williams in the role of Foxy. The prior two productions starred actor Trey Smith-Mills in that role. After its run ends here in Norfolk, the work will make its debut at DTC in May.
“Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem” was born from an idea that Norton developed after reading in the classic work, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which was published posthumously following Malcolm’s horrific assassination in 1965, that the iconic human rights activist had washed dishes with, and befriended comedian Redd Foxx in the 1940s, who was simply known at the time as John Elroy Sanford, his birth name. This was before Malcolm converted to The Nation of Islam, and so he himself was just a young Malcolm Little. And their time together was indeed at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem. That is historically accurate. They both reportedly had red hair, so Malcolm was known in the community as “Detroit Red,” while Foxx was known as “Chicago Red.” The play’s setting is 1943 in Harlem — during the Harlem riot of 1943. Little is only 18, while Foxy is slightly older, but only 20 himself. Through only one fast paced act, the play captures both humor and drama, as the two navigate highly challenging times as young Black men, during that time in society. Having seen this two-character play, it was refreshing to witness the autonomy that the playwright gave these two iconic American men, who are both largely misunderstood.
“Since the beginning it’s been an honor and a privilege to step into the shoes of Malcolm X,” says Green. He didn’t have to audition for the role, as the creative team reached out to him directly, back in March of 2024. “I’ve seen it change. I’ve seen maybe 7 or 8 different drafts of this script,” he later adds. Both Green and Williams attended graduate school at the University of Arkansas, and it was in Fayetteville where they became acquainted with director Dexter Singleton, who is TheatreSquared’s director of new play development. That’s where the play was first commissioned. “He’s very collaborative. And he listens. And he respects us…” says Green, regarding their show’s director.
Jordan has been in the role of understudy for the Foxy role, but this is his first time actually inhabiting the part, and having to do so within such a short window of time — the play was up and running here at the Wells, just a few days after the actors and creative team arrived. And as VSC’s producing Artistic Director, Tom Quaintance alluded to following the opening night performance — even the staging is far different from the needs of the prior theatres. The actor and comedian somehow figured it out though, and quickly… “It’s really scary. It’s really daunting. But everyone has created a space and system that is fun to be in and really encouraging…” he says.
Even though the playwright’s story focuses on Malcolm and Foxx well before they became men whom the world became interested in, the dialogue between the two characters hints at their eventual public personas. Redd Foxx lived until he was 68, transitioning in October of 1991, following years of success in Hollywood with sitcoms like the hugely popular Sanford and Son and The Redd Foxx Show. Malcolm X was only 39 when he was assassinated, but he’d nevertheless inspired and challenged millions through his activism, which includes many now iconic speeches. Norton’s writing casts them, early in life… as both average and exceptional, for their time. Jordan says that the play “kind of looks at how they could have encouraged each other or discouraged each other.” Towards the end of our chat, I ask the actors if there is anything distinguishable about performing this play here in Hampton Roads. They both agree that the Wells is a beautiful theatre. For Green, he wants to share the work with as many people as possible. “This play will be done for years to come afterwards, so it’s an honor to be a part of the originating production.”
MALCOLM X & REDD FOXX WASHING DISHES AT JIMMY’S CHICKEN SHACK IN HARLEM
Presented by Virginia Stage Company
Through April 26
Wells Theatre