Interview: Bill Bellamy, Chante Moore, LisaRaye McCoy, Carl Anthony Payne of MARRIED BUT SINGLE TOO at Music Hall Center

I had the chance to sit down with most of the cast of Married But Single Too including writer, director, and producer, Je'Caryous Johnson, of the original stage play, Married But Single, for a round table discussion. What ensued was lengthy, but hilarious discussion about love, life, and, of course, Detroit.

After spending close to an hour with the cast off-stage and seeing how much fun they have together, I can't wait to see them perform. They truly love what they do and anyone coming to the show is going to be in for quite a treat from these dedicated performers who spoke passionately no matter what the topic happens to be.

Question: Is it necessary to see the first show before seeing Married But Single Too?

LisaRaye McCoy: No, not at all. We pick up where we left off, but we can give you a little bit or Mr. Johnson can give you the first half.

Je'Caryous: No, you don't need to have seen the first one. We certainly kept that in mind that the piece has to stand alone. As you are watching it, you'll get an understanding of what happened in the first one, but this piece is really about issues. I just recently got married, and as a newly married person, you realize there are different perspectives in life than when you were single and the things that you experienced as a single individual, and now you have to walk through life with someone else. One of the things is you are two individuals with your own separate lives, your own separate everything and are kind of thrust together to become one and things are supposed to be perfect; and that's really kind of an impossibility unless one person really kind of negates who they were and just now conforms to who someone else wants you to be, but that's not marriage. Marriage is, it's not a give and take, it's not a sacrifice and a compromise, because therein lies the toxicity in marriage is the concept of giving and taking and sacrificing and compromise. But what it is, is developing an acquired desire to want to do something for someone else and that becomes the impulse. Not out of resistance, but out of love, I want to do this for you. As long as I want to do that for you, life is easy and love can flow, but the moment that you ask me to do something and I don't have that desire to do it, friction comes in. That friction is a thing that contaminates that marital process and the fact of you coming together as one. We deal with issues of singleness because married people want to be single and single people want to be married. We all are looking at each other's situation and saying the grass is greener on the other side, but at the end of the day, everything's has weeds in it. But if you don't pluck the weeds and put the right fertilizer on whatever your situation is, it can't grow to be something beautiful anyway. I like to say instead of talking about what the play is specifically about, we address the issues that are going to resonate with everyone that sees it.

Carl Anthony Payne: I think this interview is over. That's it right there. (Everyone laughs)

LisaRaye: End of quote.

Bill Bellamy: I just dropped the mic.

Carl: I just appreciate you using SAT words. You know what I'm saying. That was good. Toxicity. I like that.

Bill: I didn't understand none of it. (laughter)

Q: Some of you are revisiting characters and some you are new characters? What is it like for those of your returning the show and for the newcomers?

Carl: Great. Awesome. Next. (laughter)

Chante Moore: Well I'm new to the play. I play Denise Winters. She's eccentric, a lovechild, and trying to get the best out of him. You can't really tell that is what she is doing, but she has different techniques to try and get him let go and open up letting this real gutsy, emotional and real love guy out. I never met him before now so I don't know what he was in the last one, but I know in my script that I knew him before. I'm enjoying it because everyone is really professional. They are really kind and no one is really mean to anybody. That means something to me because I'm a solo artist and I'm usually by myself. To be in an ensemble of people and still be cool, be able to flow, and smiles that makes me happy, that makes the script easier to do, and that makes the whole show easier to do. Thank you all.

Bill: I'm new. Very, very new. First time ever doing a stage play. I'm the baby in the group in respect to that. My character is Jackson Kelly this hot, young, business guy.

Everybody: Hot? (laughter)

Bill: Based on the script. (laughter) This hot business guy who comes into town and starts a wave, you know, rekindle an old love affair with her, Sharon. She was this amazing person in his life for just a little window of time and we just had this thing, you know, it was Luke and Laura and shit (laughter). It was amazing. We didn't fight, it was this blissful thing, it was dreamy, you know. But it was short lived. I get in my marriage. My marriage goes left. I don't know what I'm doing. And I run into her and I'm like oh my god this can't be true. I want to get back and it's just really hard because we're in a different place. I'm trying to remind her of the fun - you don't remember that, you don't remember this? Yeah shut up. Anyway, but her husband means a lot to her and she's in a conundrum. And that I think is the push and pull that makes the play exciting because people are like oh my god what is she going to do because he is a great guy and I'm like this flash in a pan dude and it's like tempestuous, so it's good.

Chante: It's funny, why do I believe him?

Je'Caryous: You know what is so interesting? The whole part one, part two came about because I was in Houston in a club with my now wife, but she wasn't my wife at the time, and I walked out the club and there was a girl throwing up and while she was throwing up, I was walking past and she looks up and says, 'hey I know you.' (laughter) This was a girl, I was in something called Top Teens of America, gorgeous, never really met in her Top Teens, but I saw her from afar, stunning, my god this girl is beautiful. Then I went to college and she happened to go to the same university and we always saw each other and never got a chance to be together or date or anything like that. Then here we are in this one moment coming out this club, I'm coming out with my girlfriend and she's falling over, and we literally exchange numbers as friends, and what I found out is she married, unhappy, four kids, miserable, husband disrespects, you know, and he's talking about how he's working and she's like I work twenty hours a day from sun up to sun down I'm cooking, I'm taking care of the kids, I'm running errands, I'm taking care of you, of this, this, and that, I can't sleep until everybody else is sleeping, and I began to realize I'm not married yet but this is married life for her. And I'm saying if this her reality, then this a lot of people's reality, but he cheated on her, so her reason, which was subconscious at the time, she knew she had a connection with me that never materialized at the time into anything, but when she reached out for my number, she was reaching ultimately to have an affair with me. And I said,

Carl: Yes. (laughter)

Je'Caryous: No. Under normal circumstances a guy would say yes. But I listened to what she was saying it was because her husband had cheated on her that she desired to retaliate and get revenge and make him feel like how she felt. I said you are not going to use me for that.

Terrell Carter: Because it wasn't for you.

Je'Caryous: It wasn't for me. I was the guy you thought and wanted and this and that. But it wasn't for me. I said no and ultimately her marriage is better today because of the counsel of conversation that she had with me. He doesn't know because his marriage survived because I told you need to go home and if you say you forgive him, forgive him. You can't forgive him and then throw the stuff back up in his face. Men don't operate like that. If we say it's over, it's over. If you say it's over to us, we got to believe it's over and move forward. As I began to counsel her in that way, literally their marriage is good. She was going to walk out and have an affair and mess everything up because he did wrong, but he was the perfect guy at that point, he became a deacon in church and was trying to do everything right and she resisted him wanting to do anything right because she was a virgin, he was her only lover, and he broke the covenant, and he had broke everything, and she had felt like she had given up everything.

Bill: Wow, you have me crying and shit. (laughter)

Je'Caryous: And that was the emphasis for the Married But Single saga period; it was that moment, that woman, that situation, that created this that has now become a sequel.

Carl: I think you have just touched on something interesting is that in any other given circumstance I also think it was because of where you were at the time with your situation because even though she wasn't your wife at time. I think that is the arc of my character. My character my plays this player so to speak, a wannabe player. The difference between the first show and this show is progression. His willingness to want to change for one person. To give up all of that for one person. I think those are the kind of the decisions we make as well in real life. There is this one person that comes along and makes you organically not want to be with someone else. Organically you are like I'm done, I'm good, this is the only person I'm good right now, this is it, all of that extra, any other situation, I would have done it; but you didn't even want to, you didn't even feel the urge to, not just on the egotistically personal level because it's not about me, but I'm sure it's more than just that, right? It's I'm not that person anymore.

LisaRaye: My character, I'm not new. We started this where I was in a relationship with Julian where I was wanting a commitment, wanting to be married, wanting him to marry me. I was taking care of him. I was supportive of his career and I had to realize where it came from and if, in fact, he believed in marriage. Basically, what he saw growing up in his mother and father, it kind of damaged what he felt about love, so I play this huge game on him with his father to make him commit to me, to make him understand that he would be stronger, that we would be stronger together as a union. After that, a year later, we have Married But Single Too, and now we are married and we pick up from how has marriage been within the time frame since we've been together. So now it's been like where are we? Where's the relationship? Am I happy? Am I not? And inside that marriage now there is still some difficulties, there is still some ups and downs, and we explore that as well.

Terrell: I think Julian is still dealing with some of the same things that we dealt with in front but there are some new issues and new things that I didn't even see before I even read script and we were able to go that route. It is still between the two of them and trying to figure out how to make that marriage work, but at the same time still trying to please yourself too. You know trying to please her, but trying to please yourself by living your life and I think it just gets out of hand especially in part one where music is first love, no matter what, his first love, and does that change? And we'll see.

La'Myia Good: And I am Tina. And I'm returning as well from part one. What I love most about her character is that she is always hopeless (laughter), I mean hopeful in love. Despite all the things that she runs into, she maintains this ability to still have the desire for love even though she has been done wrong. She might not be the most tactful person and I like to explore that about her character as well because it helped me play her character. It helped not to judge her character because I don't know what she has been through and I don't know the damage that has been done and until you understand somebody's story, you really don't have a way to help and all you are doing is pointing your finger at them. I love her character. Tina is really good at heart.

Skye Griffin: I play a host, bartender, waitress, dancer and security. I'm all over the place. I was in part one. I was just the host. My growth has been very small.

Je'Caryous: What's your name?

Skye: I'm Charity Case. (laughter) So that's why I say I'm all over the place. For me, more than having a lot of the action in the play, I'm really nosey and I'm really observant. I'm observing everybody's characters, just taking it all in, and learning personally how to reciprocate love in the right way. And like she said to be able to understand somebody's story why they are that way and who they are becoming or how they have gotten off track so I'm pretty much just taking the back seat and really learning a lot. This time. Next time, I'm the star. (laughter)

Q: Along with the talented actors in the show, there are some known for their musical abilities, will there be singing?

Je'Caryous: Yes, there is singing. You have a stage play, a musical, and in between that there is a play with music and that's where we are. There are probably six numbers in the entire show. Six really great musical numbers that comes out the emotion of the characters in those certain points. It's definitely some good music.

Q: Original music?

Je'Caryous: Some original and some cover. A combination of both.

Chante: The songs I sing are songs that have been out before and then one of the new songs from my new record.

Q: Besides seeing their favorite artists on stage, what will this show leave the audience with?

Bill: I think it makes you think about your relationships. First and foremost, I think they are going to have discussions in the car and it's going to make you sort of analyze where you are in your relationship because we show so many different styles of relationships in the play. I think that is wonderful, but also in your personal life it makes you feel like okay and think - am I giving, should I give more, or where am I? My character, Jackson, and I'm playing an ex-lover of Sharon and we had this great thing, this tumultuous sort of affair thing going on. At the time, I was married, she wasn't. Now she got married and she's happy with her new man. I see her and I'm like oh my god maybe I can get back to that beautiful place because it was wonderful, but it was such a short window of beauty for both of us at the time. A lot of people are going to relate to that, being there, where you had something special with somebody and what if, what if they weren't married? What she didn't live in North Dakota and I live in...?

All: Right.

Terrell: And it's easy to feel that way now, that he's [Jackson] going through a divorce and he comes in, I'm already having problems. And he comes and it makes it even worse because he's like what if this, what if that? He's already going through his situation and then he comes in and it takes our situation to a whole new level.

La'Myia: Another great thing that the script brings up about relationships is relationships about friends. I play Tina which is Sharon's best friend and so we can really relate to some of the issues that you have in a friendship. I think the script really brings out points that we can discuss and we get to that really organic place of I know what it is like and maybe I could have made a different decision when you are viewing some of the things that have been written. It's like dang I have been in that situation, maybe I could have handled it differently. It's a variation of different relationships. Not only getting the male to female, you are getting the homeboy to homeboy, the girlfriend to girlfriend.

Q: You are kicking off the Married But Single Too tour here, any fond memories of Detroit?

Terrell: Coming back and performing in Detroit, when I used to live here, I mean Detroit is everything. It is Motown, you have the best gospel singers in the world, so you have everything. When I lived here, I used to work with a lot of the gospel singers. To come back and be in Detroit, that was the beginning of my career. Coming back and performing at some of the places in Detroit and doing a show like this where I am singing when I was hoping to do at that time, it is just amazing for me. And then to know that the same people I used to work with are able to come see the show; it's just a great experience for me.

Carl: For me, I can safely say that, I started doing plays in this market and in this city before most of the people here at this table. It's kind of nostalgic in a sense, where I think when this whole particular genre of plays started. It started with the Shelly Garrett, and there was another guy who is actually from here named Mike Matthews, who was my first experience with this particular genre and it started here at that time. Instead of touring for a long time, we stayed here in this city for more than two and half months doing a show every single day with two shows on the weekend. That's the kind of market this was. That's the kind of city that showed this kind of love. To literally have an apartment here and do a show every day for two months in the summer time. My first experience with Detroit was nothing but love. I think this is one of those markets where, like Terrell said, that there so much talent that comes out of here, but this is that thing that sets the tone, the precedence for everything else. But for me, coming back here to one of those second home type places. I fell in love with Greektown. I fell in love with Fishbones. I had a regular room at the Athenaeum. You know what I'm saying. A lot of roots here. Good people come out of Detroit. It's also good to see the city bouncing back after what it has gone through. There was a couple times that I came to the city excited because you remember those good times and it was like something out a bad Western. And I was like damn what it going on here. Only two seasons in Detroit - winter and construction. (laughter) So it's good to see the energy and the vitality but I don't want to say who is responsible for it, we kind of know who is, for the city.

Chante: I haven't been here in a play that often. I have only been in a couple plays. I've been here many times singing. Through the years I've been singing since 1992, I was 12. (laughter) It's really something familiar. This is one of my favorite cities to come to, this, New Orleans and DC. To come back and do this here, I'm learning how to do this better and better hopefully. Having the music has been history here for me. Well it is always great to come here because it really helps me understand where the roots are and the musical roots are here. I don't think any of us would be the way we are in music other than knowing where we have come from and doors open for us in different ways.

Q: What's next after Married But Single Too?

Chante: My new record is called, The Rise of The Phoenix, and it's coming out April. The single is out now, Real One.

Bill: My album drop tomorrow. (laughter)

Terrell: I am currently writing a book called Because I Lived It. Please follow me on Twitter and Instagram at @TerrellMusic.

Skye: You don't get to hear my singing in the play, but I do have a single coming out with Chris Brown in a couple of months, so please look out for it called Best of My Love. Check it out when it hits the radio!

Carl: As far as what I'm doing, I directed my first feature film last summer, which will be out this summer. It's an anti-bullying movie called Misguided Behavior. Look for that. I'm also working on a line of condoms, they are fishnet, it is my first ones. (laughter) No? Don't talk about that? (laughter)

LisaRaye: Pimpin' Pete. Moving on. (laughter)

Je'Caryous: And definitely tell them to go to www.jecaryous.com because once Married But Single is over I'm dropping the Destiny's Child Musical and The Luther Vandross Story. That is the stuff that is following up.

Q: Why should Detroit come see Married But Single Too?

Chante: If you come see us, you get a whole lot of talent. If you come see me, you get to hear my music old and new. You get see us be an ensemble, laugh and be entertained.

La'Myia: What makes us different is we do have that music element and we are going to make you laugh, we are going to make you cry, we are going to make go through that rollercoaster. Try something different for once.

Bill: We are going to entertain you. We are going to make you fall in love. We are going to make you think about your relationship. We are going to make you better. We are going to make you laugh along the way.

Je'Caryous: We need you to show up for us to keep coming here. At the end of the day, support black theatre. And have a great experience.

Terrell: They've covered it. You are seeing a lot of different talent that you wouldn't see on the same stage. With the way things are and politically, we need to laugh right now. Come out. Laugh.

Carl: I think you are getting a lot of star power for not a lot of money. (laughter) You getting some legends and stars on stage for not a lot of money. Like Je'Caryous said, for us to keep coming here, you got to start recycling those dollars, you got to start pouring back in, you got to reciprocate, but you are going to get, what you are going to walk away with, what you take with you is more valuable than the cost of the ticket.

LisaRaye: I think it's a one stop shop. It's not just a concert. It's not a play. It's not just the storytelling. But it's thought provoking. Everything that they said plus more. It's a great date piece, not just for man and woman but for girlfriends as well.

Married But Single Too opens February 14th at Music Hall Center in Detroit. For more information or tickets, visit www.jecaryous.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.