From “Hamilton” and the White House to the Queen City: The Multi-talented Paul Oakley Stovall Talks About His Journey So Far and His Two Shows Headed to Charlotte

When it comes to artist Paul Oakley Stovall, the word multi-talented sounds like an understatement.

 

• There’s Stovall, the actor, who played George Washington in the first national tour of “Hamilton” and thrilled local audiences last year with his show “Love Rules”;
• Stovall, the playwright, who has written five plays and a musical;
• Stovall the producer, who won a Tony Award for Broadway’s “Strange Loop;”
• Stovall the director and filmmaker busy with multiple projects around the country;
• And let’s not forget Stovall, who happened to work in the Obama White House for about seven years — the majority of that time serving as an advance staff lead and media logistics coordinator for First Lady Michelle Obama.

This spring and summer, two Stovall-helmed productions are headed to Charlotte. The first, “Life Rules,” is a cabaret-style show, filled with both familiar and under-the-radar tunes. It plays March 6 - 8 at Stage Door Theater (first performance includes a post-show talkback with Stovall and Blumenthal President & CEO Tom Gabbard). 

 

 

The second, “Immediate Family,” is a comedy written by Stovall and directed by award-winning actor and director Phylicia Rashad (best known for her role as TV’s Clair Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”). It comes July 29 - August 31 to Booth Playhouse.

 

 

We caught up with Stovall in Cleveland, where he is currently performing in the Pulitzer-winning play “Fat Ham.” Stovall talked about his upcoming performances in Charlotte, why the Queen City has become a second artistic home for him, and how he learned to lean into being himself — all 6’5” of him.

 

Interview edited for length and clarity.

 

Blumenthal Art’s Blog: You have a couple different productions coming to Charlotte this year. Could you tell me about “Life Rules” and what audiences can expect?

 

Paul Oakley Stoval:  “Life Rules” will be a followup to the show I did last year called “Love Rules.” It's not just saying life rules, like rah, rah, rah, cheering for life and how great it is, although it does touch on that. It also means the rules of life: here are the rules we must abide by to have a peaceful and civilized and loving world.

 

Like last year, I've chosen songs that are favorites of mine that I think communicate that message and I'm changing my personnel up a little bit. I'm bringing down Yassmin Alers from “The Notebook,” “Rent,” “On Your Feet,” a Broadway star and a good friend of mine and a Chicago actor/musician named Billy Rude.

 

(Paul Oakley Stovall performing at a Blumenthal Business Leaders for the Arts luncheon in 2024)

 

BAB: How many songs does it include?

 

I’m ambitious with about 16 songs. And I have 21 in the basket because I'll end up shaving it down but right now I haven't really locked down the final lineup. But one thing I'll say is in “Love Rules,” almost every single song was recognizable to the audience almost immediately. In ”Life Rules,” I've kind of gone into my personal nerd world: what are my favorite songs. So I'm gonna be introducing the audience to a good amount of songs that they probably never heard before but then I do throw in some Joanie Mitchell, Elton John, Cindy Lauper, Tracy Chapman [and] Nina Simone.

 

Last year, I was doing master classes during the week leading up to it and I ended up pulling some of the youth who came to see the show out of the audience and kind of surprising them and teaching them a quick harmony and having them perform with me. It was such a successful and meaningful, small part of the show that I've decided, this year, I'm going to do it more intentionally.

 

(Paul Oakley Stovall leading an audition workshop at East Mecklenburg High School in 2024)

 

They're going to have a few solos in my show. I want to really feature the young people of Charlotte. I mean, some of the biggest Broadway stars are coming out of Charlotte. What's in the food down there?

 

BAB: Will that be in conjunction with the Blumey Awards?

 

POS:  No, it’s tangential. I come down and do these master classes. I help them with not just singing the song but how do you act through the song? How do you go into an audition room with confidence but remaining yourself? Just helping them understand different techniques because these kids aren't oh-we're-just-having-fun musical theater kids. Charlotte is really turning out some pros.

 

I'm teaching them some of the real life stuff that maybe you don't get to learn in music theory class or vocal class. Some of the stuff like be yourself in the audition and understand that what directors, choreographers and music directors want to see [is] someone that they want to be in a rehearsal room with. They don't want to see a perfect, finished product.

 

(Paul Oakley Stovall leading a Blumey Awards Masterclass in Stage Door Theater in 2024)

 

BAB: What's behind your special relationship with Charlotte?

 

POS: Well, I got to know (Blumenthal’s president and CEO) Tom Gabbard years ago and that's part of it and I got to know (director/writer/producer) Charles Randolph-Wright in the New York theater community and I'm working with his Wright Angle production company on several projects (the company focuses on film and TV projects set in the South) so I often have reason to come to Charlotte. It's really my second artistic home now.

 

(Paul Oakley Stovall with Blumenthal Arts President and CEO Tom Gabbard)

 

BAB: What's your first?

 

POS: Chicago.Yeah, New York has slid into third place but that's okay, they can handle it.

 

BAB: Tell me about “Immediate Family.”

 

POS: So, it's a comedy. It's the first play I ever wrote and, I think, like many new playwrights the first thing you write is what you know. So although none of the characters are based on actual people, they are an amalgamation of people that I know.

 

BAB: So, it's not quite autobiographical?

 

POS: Oh, absolutely not. Well, in a sneaky way it is because I've lived parts of every one of the characters lives. An audience will, of course, look at the lead character, Jesse, and think, “Oh,  that's probably the life that the playwright led” but, in fact, there's a lot of me in Ronnie and Nina.

 

It’s the third major production. Smaller companies around the country have been picking it up but this is the third big one that Phylicia has directed. It was 2012 at the Goodman, 2015 at the Mark Taper in LA. And as any piece of work sometimes does, it gestated for a while.

 

(Immediate Family production photo)

 

I went to work for the Obamas for years and Phylicia and I were doing other projects here and there and then “Hamilton” came along. After I finished “Hamilton,” Tom and Vickie [Gabbard] took me to dinner on our closing night and he told me he always wanted to produce it but the time and political climate did not allow at the time that he wanted to do it.

 

Sometimes, it just doesn't happen for many different reasons.

 

And he said, I think the time feels kind of right now, what do you think? And I said, well let me talk to Phylicia and see. And she was all about it. We're all in new places in our lives. I'll probably make a few changes to the script. The world has changed and it's set in present day.

 

(Paul Oakley Stovall with Phylicia Rashad)

 

Phylicia’s very busy with another project right now but I think it's unspoken between us that I am not to touch that play until we get in the rehearsal room just because some things may land even better left as they are.

 

BAB: You mentioned that you’ve known Tom Gabbard for a while, how did you meet? 

 

POS: We met through Steve and Ruth Hendel, who are two Broadway producers/investors/Tony Award winners and they were on a show with Tom. They introduced me to him as I was working on a new musical and he put some investment money into the development of that musical.

 

(Paul Oakley Stovall as George Washington in Hamilton)

 

He's just always been a supporter of mine. You know, we hang out when we can if we are in the same city, go to see a show. Over the years [we’ve] gotten closer and closer and when “Hamilton” came to Charlotte, of all the cities on the tour, it felt great to be there knowing that that was Tom's place.

 

I shot one of my short films in Charlotte. In fact, it's called “Charlotte” (part of Stovall’s Sci-Fi series, “Tulsa,” available on Amazon Prime) and he helped me with locations and helped us with some equipment to just make the film even better so, of course, I gave him a producer credit on the film.

 

BAB: You’ve done so many different things. What inspires you to dive into a project?

 

POS: Usually, it surprises me. I'll wake up and go, oh that's what I want to write about. The musical that Tom was helping with was loosely based on my time working for the Obamas and a specific trip that we took to Ghana and some of the things that I discovered there about what I didn't know about history and also things I discovered about myself, and what it is to be a Black American and be disconnected from your origins.

 

(Paul Oakley Stovall with former First Lady Michelle Obama)

 

Now, with the Phillis Wheatley project (“Written by Phillis”), I was approached by (Artistic Director) Alex Burns at Quintessence Theatre Group and commissioned to write the piece about her so I was kind of honored to be asked and took it on. I have projects about Paul Robeson and Andre Leon Talley that I'm currently working on. And, of course, the musical that Tom helped me with years ago is now ready and I'm just in search of a world premiere.

 

It’s called “Alkebulan: The Musical.” Alkebulan is the original name of the continent we call Africa. The musical is about everybody's journey to name themselves and to either reclaim their original name or to decide what their name is and tell people this is what I choose to be called. And I think the search for the self is in that place: what do you call yourself? People won't know. You have to teach people how to treat you.

 

BAB: I'm super curious about your Instagram handle — Tall Power Paul.

 

POS:  I'm right at 6’5”.

 

BAB: Did somebody give you that name or did you give it to yourself?

 

POS: Oh, I gave it to myself. You know, this goes back to the musical and a lot of the core values of my plays. I’ve fought this label for so long. “Oh, you're so tall” or if I haven't seen someone for a while, “oh, did you get taller?” and you know that can make you shrink.

 

Anything about you that is unique sometimes you want to shrink it away. You're a redhead and in school kids make fun of the kid with red hair or freckles. You're this, you're that and you want to shrink away the thing that is actually your greatest gift. So I got to a point in my life where I said, you know, Tall power Paul, yeah I like that. That's what I'm going to call myself and embrace my height, embrace, you know, what makes me who I am, what separates me from the pack.

 

BAB: Is there anything you want to add that I didn't ask you about?  

 

POS: Just that I love my mom and I think about it all the time: she's made me who I am. She's a voracious reader and a teacher of 27 years and she has taught me so well in these more recent years, since we lost my dad, that there's a difference between being alone and being lonely.

 

Like, you don't need the noise around you all the time and it's almost like she's getting to have a return to her girlhood, being an only child and spending time with her own thoughts and I just love that. And that's what's informing me as an artist, that I'm okay with quiet, spend time with my own thoughts and realize what's important to me.

 

Even the song choices for “Life Rules,” I was just thinking of all these big, hit songs and then one day I thought: what do the rules of life really mean to you, Paul? You're going to call it this catchy little title but what does it actually mean to you, or you're a fraud?

 

 

And suddenly songs in my little trunk of memories that I hadn't thought of in a while started popping back up and so that's what the audience in Charlotte is going to get. They were so welcoming to me last year with “Love Rules.”

 

They're going to get to see more inside of who I am as an artist and why I love being in Charlotte so much.

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Want the chance to meet Paul before his Life Rules performances? He will be our guest at our next FREE Community Cue lunch and learn event March 5th at 12pm at Stage Door Theater! To register, CLICK HERE!