[Doug]: Welcome to episode 36 of Feeling Through Live. This episode is far overdue because I've been wanting to talk to our good friend and one of the stars of Feeling Through Stephen Prescod for a long time on this, you know, Steven I'm super relieved today. Cause obviously we had some technical difficulties when we tried this at the end of 2020, which was so fitting, right. That the last episode of 2020 would be rife with technical difficulties. But now it's a new year. It's 2021 it's working. And there's actually, before I pass it over to you, there's something that I want to start doing more consistently here in 2021, which is an audio description of ourselves before we hop into things. So I'll start and Steven, you'll follow, be very clear what to do. So,basically what you see on the screen right now on the top left corner, it says Feeling Through Live episode number 36, Feeling Through the year ahead. And then there's three boxes and interpreter box in the top, right? I'm in the top left. It says Doug Roland Feeling Through beneath me. I'm a white male in my mid thirties, a little bit of scruff on my face with a little bit of my living room in the background in a, in a picture frame over my other shoulder. And Steven, why don't you give an audio description of yourself for everyone who's listening.
[Steven]: Hi everyone. I'm Steven Prescod. I have the silky durag on white t-shirt at my home, in my room in Bed-Sty Brooklyn, just, hanging out with you guys.
[Doug]: Right on. Well Steven again, it's so fitting that you are the first guest to 2021 because we have such, and I'm also just starting to get used to saying 2021, you know, like that first week of the year when you're like, am I messing up the year? You know, like when you're like, here it is. So, it is 2021, right. I'm not wrong in that. Is that right? Good. But you know, what I'm really excited about today is a couple of things. One, you know, I'd love to touch base about this past year, cause there's been some, there's some cool stuff to discuss, but it's really a great opportunity to talk about the exciting things that are coming up with Feeling Through a lot of what you'll be participating in. And for everyone to get to know a little bit more about you, because you are not only an amazing collaborator, but have become a really great friend. And also someone who's just has so many interesting things to share. So we're going to get into all that, but just to kind of start things off, you know, I'd love to like kind of just get a quick summary from you of kind of like, as we left 2020, and we're entering 2021, if you can, like whatever kind of stands out the most, if you can orient people to kind of your thoughts and feelings leaving this last year and like what you've entered this new year with.
[Steven]: You know, I feel like with every year there's always like this new beginning, a fresh start and I, that's something that I personally really needed and I'm sure many of the viewers are watching, everyone needed. Cause 2020 was just, it was, it was a lot for us to handle. We got hit with a, with a new norm, you know what I mean? So it was a lot to deal with. And especially as an artist, you know, so, this year, I just want to come in and go strong. You know what I mean? It was a lot of obstacles last year. So this year is like, kind of like picking up where I kind of left off in a way. Yeah.
[Doug]: Yeah. I think that's a theme for a lot of people and will definitely resonate for a lot of people. And, you know, one of the things that is going to be a great place to pick up this year is, you know, there's, there's a lot happening with Feeling Through and you're, you're right at the center of that. And for those of you who have seen the film, I'm sure you were very moved by Stevens, nothing short of, I would say, and I don't use this lightly brilliant performance in the film and, you know, Steven, something that's been so consistent as we've gotten to show this film to, you know, thousands and thousands of people at this point, you know, first in-person and now virtually one of the most consistent points of feedback that I hear is how brilliant you are in the film. And I'm just wondering, like, you know, now that this has been shown to so many people and we've so consistently talked about your, how brilliant your performances and how moved they are by it, what, what are your thoughts and feelings about hearing that?
[Steven]: You know, it's always a great feeling to hear that as an artist. But I can't take that without thinking you guys, you know, especially, you know, you as well, Doug, you walked with me through that whole thing. You really know, like every shot that I was taking, I was like I don't know. Like, I was just like every take. I was like, is it as good as this? Good. I don't know. But like, you always like gave me the confidence and, you know, you always like spoke to me like behind the camera and was like, you know, giving me the green pointers and everything. So it was just like, it just feels good to, to hear that you did a great job, cause you never know what you actually did until it's done. When you do this kind of work. You never know what you, you know, what you put out there. So it was just as good to hear that it's a good family.
[Doug]: Well, yeah. I appreciate you having faith in the process and being like such an amazing collaborator throughout the process. I mean, I think that's one when you're from the director standpoint, when you're working on something like, you know, nine tenths of it really is a casting it, right. You know, because if you, if you don't cast it right, you can do everything else. Right. And it's just not going to work because ultimately, you know, with storytelling, it's only as, as moving as, as the, as the artists and the performers who are embodying the life behind the story. So, you know, certainly it was, it was a dream to work with someone like you who, it really is. I find unfortunately like a rarity to some degree, as far as you have a poet's heart and it's like the art first, and then all the other stuff after that, and you, the way in which you really invest your heart and your spirit into your performance is something that is really exceptional and I think rare. So I certainly thank you for that, you know, some of the things that, that are really exciting coming up this year and just to kind of give her some of it's a little bit of a recap of last year, and moving into this year, you know, we've won now. I think it's like 16 awards on the festival circuit and w including another win that we just announced yesterday at the Fargo film festival. So it's been really exciting to see that it's been received well in the festival space. And we're really excited to be a part of the Slam Dance Film Festival coming up, where we will be playing alongside a block of other films that are in the disability space. So it's really also exciting to see that there's going to be more representation of people with disability and film, and a larger entity like slam dance is really getting behind that, which is exciting. And a lot of you've probably who follow us, have probably seen us posting a lot about this for your consideration campaign we're doing right now. And, you know, for those of, I think most of you probably understand what that is, but for those who don't, if you do a quick Google of, for your consideration, you can understand what that is. We're, we're not at Liberty to speak on certain specifics of it. We have to say for your consideration, but you know, that for your consideration is a huge thing that we will allow us to take our message of first the power of human connection, and also everything we do around Deaf-Blind awareness on this platform to a whole nother level and a whole larger platform. So for those of you, who've seen that and want to support a really easy way is to do what we've been doing on our socials, that, you know, Steven, you were kind enough to do as well. We're all writing on a piece of paper #FeelingThrough and #ForYourConsideration, holding up that picture, posting it to social media and putting that in the text and tagging us @FeelingThrough. And if you have any questions about that, just go to our social media at Feeling Through, and you'll, you'll see a lot of examples of that. And that's just the way that we can all participate in spreading it out and sharing, you know, spreading out the awareness of Feeling Through and getting it in front of more people. But enough of that advertising, I want to get more into you, Steven, and, you know, Steven, I'd love to like, take a huge step back to the beginning of this process. Cause there's some really fun stories of when we, at the very beginning of Feeling Through and us meeting each other. And you know, one of the stories that I really love that you actually reminded me of a couple of years ago was that, was that the final callback audition of us meeting each other before we met each other in the room. Can you refresh my memory on that one?
[Steven]: Yeah. I remember Googling the director of filling through, because I have no idea where you look like first. And I remember my manager telling me that you got the call back. So because it was first a self-tape audition. So this was the first time I was going to do a face-to-face audition with Doug. So since I knew what he looked like, and I don't think he, he kinda knew who I was. I remember I walked into the elevator in the building and Doug came in and he used with someone else. I forgot who you with. I can't remember. But, yeah, he was standing right there next to me. And I was like, wow, did that rectify here than not? That was like a cool fun fact. Cause I remember you told me, you were actually thinking of me cause you was like, I wonder if that kid is going to show up today. And I was like a pretty fun conversation we had about that. I thought that was pretty cool.
[Doug]: Yeah. And I think didn't you didn't you tell me that you like, asked me what, where the audition was and like.
[Steven]: I did ask you where we, I was like, well, yeah, I did ask you, where is, where do we have to go? You said we have to go over the sign in. It was somewhere, you said we have to sign in over there yet. But like, it was just like, it was dope. I think it was destined. It was like destined for us to work together. Like, you know, how that whole played out.
[Doug]: And it was funny from my perspective, because like, you know, when you're going into like the final callbacks for like the central role of the film, and you don't know who the, you, you really don't know who the lead's going to be from my perspective. I'm like, so in my own world, like nervous if like, are we going to find our Tareek today or not? And it's just so funny that, you know, you were like, I'm so in my own world that I don't realize, you know, I, you know, I don't even like, I'm like, oh, I guess he's auditioning for a cool, like, I'm not really paying attention. And then you were also the first actor up that day. And it was really one of those moments because I've said this a lot about Robert as well as you, but it's so applies to both of you. And the second you opened your mouth at that audition I was like, this is our guy. This is our Tariq. Like, and there's no better feeling when you're casting something. Then knowing undoubtedly that that is the person to play the role. And I had that feeling with you, like 100%. I was like, I guess we'll do the rest of the casting today because like, I want to be fair to people that showed up. But like, I know this is our guy. There's that that's my, my opinion is not going to change. And that's such a great, such a great feeling. And, you know, Julie is asking how many actors made the callbacks. And that's a great question, Julia, you know, I think we saw at least 20 people that day, but, you know, we saw like, well over 40 people for the, for the role of Tareek. And it was really, you know, the hardest role to cast. It was funny going into this process. I thought I assumed that casting RD would be the hardest role to cast because I didn't, I, I wasn't familiar with any Deaf-Blind actors, but that actually played out pretty kismet lately. And in fact, I think it was Aaron who's on the screen signing right now who was in the room when we were casting Robert or when we were casting that role of RDA who suggested we audition Robert. But yeah, we probably saw like 40 people total for the role of Tariq. And, you know, I was really worried about it until I saw you because I, as much as, you know, there were some really great young actors there. Like none of them really felt like they embodied the sentiment like you and Nilam's asking, how do you know which actors a perfect match and, you know, really that it's just a gut feeling. You know, it's just that thing that like hits you in a really intuitive place. And you just know, and that's like, that's the best feeling when you feel that. But, you know, Stephen w as we got to connect more about the role of Tareek, and got to know each other more, you shared some stuff with me about how, you know, people and elements of your personal life really informed, the, you know, you playing to-. Can you share a little bit of what you shared with me about that?
[Steven]: Yeah. I'm big on, you know, living through someone else's experience. And there was some, there was this kid who reminded me so much up to wreak. His name was, is Nixon. I was literally outside walking my dog and this kid, just young kid came over to me and asked for like $2 for coffee. And I was like, how old are you? He told me his age. I think he's about 19. And I was 18. And I asked him, I said, you know, where's your parents, you know, like, what do you need coffee? Like, where's your parents. And he said how he was explaining to me he didn't have any, and he was explaining to me this whole entire situation. So I just told him, you know, spend a night tonight. I mean, you know, and we connected, he told me a lot. It was like, it was a lot that related to what was going on with two week. And I carried that with going into this role, going into that role. Yeah.
[Doug]: And you know, I think that relates a little bit to, after I cast you and we got to know each other, you know, I got to know a little bit more about you and your personal life and your personal story, and it just felt again, all the more, a perfect match. And, you know, I think you also have a really interesting, you know, story, personal story and how it influences you as an artist. So I'd love to, like, you know, maybe if you can kind of go back and kind of walk us through kind of the major bullet points of your life, because I think they're super applicable, or they really are things that ultimately manifest in you being the amazing artists you are. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
[Steven]: Absolutely. Well, I grew up in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn in a one family home. I literally had like the only house in my neighborhood, like all my friends and my neighborhood lived in, most of them live in like buildings, you know, so they had to adapt to like all these other personalities and families and people around them. But I never took it for granted that I was in a, an actual home, like a house. And it was if it was a home and, you know, my family allowed me to express myself and had this crazy imagination. I used to watch like home alone movies and be like, Oh yeah, I could, if anything, I could do this stuff. So I always had this like, creative, you know, think that, like, I just love to just do, but, um, it kind of the spark where acting happened when I was 14, there was a director in my neighborhood named Brooklyn Brown. And, he was casting kids for like a independent film that he was doing called Skittles. And I actually, I got cast there from one of the roles out of like 175 kids that like audition. So that gave me like my acting bias. I was like, yo, this is nice. Like, I want to keep doing this. And my mom, she tried to get me into acting schools and there were like crazy expensive, the ones that we came across. So she couldn't really afford them. And over time, like, I kind of lost the ambition for wanting to become an actor. I was like this, I'm never gonna see myself being like, I, I don't think I'm ever gonna accomplish something like that. I had like low hopes for myself. So then, with that, when no ambition or anything, I just started hanging out with, you know, kids that were born to, and we started doing things that, you know, kids in my neighborhood do when they were born around that time. We didn't have like the iPhones or different things like that to keep us entertained or anything like that. But I found myself incarcerated at 16 and it was what assault robbery. And it was my first offense. I was supposed to serve seven years and I would have came out when I was 22, you know, but I was blessed to have a second chance. And the judge sentenced me to a six months case program. And in that case program, they gave paid internships. They told me the axes, they asked me like, what is it that I love to do? And I told me to always like to dance and act and stuff like that. So they sent me to this place called city kids. And I thought it was like a daycare center, but it was actually a not-for-profit organization. It was like a bunch of kids all over the city, just going there. And, and in the performing arts, they had college prep programs or different types of things. And like, I was just the intern in. And I was like, seeing all the stuff that the kids were doing. I was like, nah, I want to do this. Right. I'm going to stay here. Even after my internship. And the arts saved me, like, it helped me find layers of myself. I was, I felt like I was just in this one box because it was like all I knew. And, and that's why I feel like it's important for kids to like, have the arts in schools, like, you know, to be able to have that self expression, you know? Cause it was ways that I was letting that expression now in terrible ways. I didn't know. I didn't have any great outlet to let that, to let that out. You know what I mean? I always called them misplaced anger. So, you know, I'm always thankful for the artists. Like that's, that's something that saved me that's so I feel so connected to it as why I love it so much. It's like, it's it it's like a healing thing. It's like something I need to cope indirect myself in this world that we live in.
[Doug]: And, and you would use your art to tell your story and share it with a lot of other people. Right. So, so what, what was the next step thereafter after you were kind of introduced? Oh yeah, no, go for it. We're live. So we capture all the little things that happen along the way, but yeah. Tell us about how you, you know, the next step there and how you used your, your art to, to share your story with a lot of other people.
[Steven]: Yeah. So, and the city kids program, I met this artistic director named Moisis Bellisario and he and I connected, he became my mentor and I started like sharing a lot of stories with him about my life. And he said, you know, you want to be an actor, you said, right. And I was like, yeah, he said, so you start writing stories, write stories about your life. He told me to do it first for therapeutic reasons. So I was just like writing like a bunch of stories. And I brought them to him. I bought like two pieces to him. And he said, you know, let's turn this into one main show. And at first I thought it was like a crazy idea. It was like, there's no way I can perform like all these characters. How am I going to do that? That doesn't make any type of sense to me. It was crazy. But I remember for the first open mic that we had, I remember the first local mic that we had. My mom came and I know there's a quick that you're going to show a huge, let me explain that as well.
[Doug]: Right now, I’d love to just get a little bit into what a Brooklyn boy is, so just keep going where you're at.
[Steven]: Oh yeah. So yeah, so the Brooklyn boy. Yeah. When the response that I got, it was like, that was the first time I actually felt validated. I was like, it was wild because I was shy, I was, I was afraid and uncomfortable because I was going to share people, share with people, stories about things that I've done, you know what I mean? And I didn't know how people were going to take that, but the response that I got, he was like, okay, this is something that we need to grow and groom. So, you know, we continue to grow, grow Brooklyn boy. And it just became something that we, that we, a tool that we use to honest and open conversations with kids around the city in schools, you know, it's about a rehabilitation, has gang violence in it. It talks about religion. It talks about like all of these things. It's, it's, it's autobiographical. And also, it's just about like turning pain into purpose. You're not paid 32 characters in it. And it has, yeah, I, yeah.
[Doug]: Yeah. So, and so this is a Brooklyn boy, a one man showman.
[Steven]: Should do theater.
[Doug]: And, and then it started as a theater, like you're performing on stage and it's you play 32 characters, it's all autobiographical of different moments of your life that, like you were saying, ultimately tell this story, that you kind of extracting wisdoms from your experiences, many of which were like not, not very good experiences to go through, but how they informed you to like where you are today. Is that, is that kind of fair to say?
[Steven]: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, definitely. You explained that so great. I might take that next semester.
[Doug]: But I have been, you know, it was being in Los Angeles and you being in New York, I know, obviously I would see when I come back, but I, it never aligned with me to see it on stage and then this thing COVID happened, which made it that much harder, you know? Cause I kept harassing you to go, like, you have to let me know every time you're performing that. Cause I'm going to come back just to see that. Cause I really want to see it. And unfortunately it hasn't yet, but what was really cool is you, you had the opportunity to, to finally do film a version of it too, right?
[Steven]: Yes. Yeah, we did. We we filmed like, you know, we filmed scenes and on the street of me doing it as if I would be doing the one man show, you'll just see me playing all the different characters in a way. You know, I do still love the, I love the theater version of it more because I, you know, that was the way the piece was first written and you get to fail the audience, connect with them more. But, you know, I enjoyed it. You know, it was pretty good. And I haven't heard any of the responses, how people felt about it, but I think I heard like a few people said they loved it.
[Doug]: You heard from me, I told you, but wait to get to the, to the, before we move on, because I do actually want to play a clip from the film version, which I like one of the many moments that I love from a BB before we get to that you were talking about how much you loved the theater experience of it and being able to move people. And you know, there, there, there, I know that you got to play it for a number of different people. And to my understanding you did you get to share it also with younger people, in schools like school agents, such as, as an opportunity to maybe perhaps speak to people who could possibly find themselves in a similar situation to you, where there any moments where you had the opportunity to share it with, with kids like that.
[Steven]: Shared with thousands of kids, like all over maybe. Yeah, it was a lot of kids. We shared it with Schrader, with formerly incarcerated youth, you know, and every time after every show, it could be pain is so universal, you know, cause everyone, it doesn't matter the age, the ethnicity doesn't matter. Like everyone found a way to relate to the story. Like they found something in that story that they were able to relate to. You know, I that's like my favorite part of is after the show is like hearing everyone else's story. Like that's, I think that's, that's the rewarding part for me. Hmm.
[Doug]: You know, particularly when you were getting to show it to kids and students and, you know, some you felt, you sounded like they were maybe from a similar, maybe like have a similar kind of experience to you. Did you get any kind of specific feedback from anyone that stands out of like what it meant to them or anything that like rings in your memory particularly?
[Steven]: Yeah. There was one time I performed at my little brother's school and then this young kid, he came backstage crying and he said that his brother had the same situation as me and didn't make it out. Like that broke me like that. I didn't forget that over. Yeah. It was a lot, it was a lot of, it was a lot of people that touched me, you know, but that's the first one I could come off the top of my head. I mean, yeah. Yeah.
[Doug]: What I mean, do you, do you think, you know, I can say from an outsider that like, I can only imagine that this would, you know, as someone who's, who's watched at least the film version of it, that this could have a real impact on someone changing, like a young person changing the direction there, the direction in life for the better.
[Steven]: Yeah. Yeah. It had it hadn't, everyone, like, you know, everyone, it, even mothers, you know, mothers that their sons weren't weren't even there, that day when they came and they said it made them want to even learn how to love their son more. It had other people who wrote me and said, you know, things change with their, with their kids after they saw it. It was a lot of different, different things, the different feedbacks, you know what I mean, different people would come up to the, like, I remember we were doing, like, we had like a home-based theater finally. And like, we're doing shows back to back, like, you know, everyone just came, people came for like their birthdays people came when their anniversaries like, cause he heard about the show with the mouth, you know what I mean? And had, yeah, it was the conversations that I felt like that was, you know, you don't always keep in touch with the people, I haven't gotten a chance to really find out what everyone else is doing. But I always like tried to get people to, I got people to follow me on Instagram. I follow them back and not see them pursuing things that they said they wanted to pursue after. Like, you know, we had those talks, like after, you know what I mean, when they were like asking about like finding their purpose and things like that. And I was just like, yo, just do what you love, just be passionate about life, you know, impact people, just watch how you treat people and all this other stuff. Like those are important, things of life, stuff like that, you know what I mean? Like those are like really great conversations, you know? Yeah. Cause I'm telling you everyone, they, they found they related their stories so much to it. Like they said, they were watching it and they were gripping a chair, like, cause it was taking them back when they were in that same, same exact, you know, scenario or something like that. You know what I mean? So, and then even like the younger kids that didn't have anything to do with that, like the old young kids, the questions that they ask, like, I was like, wow, like you really, like, you really think like that, like, you know, he was like, so how were you able to cope all these things? And I was like, okay, wait. Yeah. It's it's it's those are, yeah, those are there's some memorable experiences.
[Doug]: I'm going to take a quick pause for an interpreter switch. So just hold on one moment here.
[Steven]: Okay.
[Doug]: All right. We're continuing here, and you know, just to one more point on that topic, as you were sharing it with a lot of different people, there was also a pretty notable, guest at one of your performances that I know you've talked about at length and did the whole new circuit on, but can you indulge us and tell us a little bit more about that particular performance?
[Steven]: Yeah. That performance is what actually sparked like one was skyrocketed the whole thing. Because before I did this performance, we only had two pieces to the play and There was like these, there are, so the program that was in Sydney kids, right. It kind of like shut down. And the CEO of city kids contacted the artistic director and asked them, do you have any kids that could come in on do a performance for like some special guests that's coming into town? And he was like, okay but who?
[Doug]: And at this point you don't know who the special guest is?
[Steven]: We all know who the special guests, he doesn't even know. He's just like, yeah, just come. And he's like, yo, Steve, I need you to call me and a few other people. I need you guys to come in and just do a performance. It was, I don't know if he called it an audition or just do like a performance. It was like an audition. I suppose so. I remember we did it, we did it for a group of people first and they loved it. They loved the two pieces that I did and the advocates, they loved them too. But then they, then they wrote the artistic director and told them that they wanted me specifically to be like the, the main performer or piece that would be presented to the special guests that was coming into town. She was like, okay. And then it wasn't till like two days before I think I was told who was that's coming, but then they weren't too sure if there was still gonna come. And they said it was a Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. And I was like, okay, let's say-
[Doug]: And just for clarification, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is who and who.
[Steven]: It's Princess Kate and Prince William. Right.
[Doug]: So the Royal family, just, just so there's no confusion here, Prince William and Duchess, Kate Middleton of the Royal family came to see your show of Brooklyn boy. Yeah. And not only did they come to see it, tell us about what happened. Well, maybe during book more after the performance.
[Steven]: Yeah. So I mean, like, I remember when he told us, you know, when they got, when they got there, like even after the performance or whatever, like we're not allowed to touch them or anything like that, you know.
[Doug]: That sounds very much like a directive you get if someone from the Royal family was coming to see your show.
[Steven]: Yeah. Right. But it was crazy about it. Cause then this show was like, what was it? It was so always so painful because like in the show is like, the profanity has profanity in it. Like a couple of things, like all this stuff that's in it. And they were like, no, you can't see these words in front of the loyal. Like, you know what I mean? So it was like, I had this huge argument, like, no, but that's how it is. Like, that's how the piece is. They have to, they have to see what it is. They have to see like the rail rawness of this piece, if that's what they want. I mean, their entourage desolate before they love it, whatever. Like, why can't they see what it is too? And I fought them on it and we, we, we were able to still do it. And I thought I did it. And after it was done, as soon as it was done, I'm about went to the back and everyone stopped. I'm like catching my breath and the, Moses, he was like, get out here right now. He said, come back out here right now. And like, stand over here. He's about to leave. So I was standing outside just waiting, like, you know, just waiting for him to like make his exit. But before you left, before he was making his exit, he walked up to me and shook my hand. And he was like, he was explaining to me how much the piece touched him.
[Doug]: Who is he here? Just, I want it. Who was Prince William wanted to talk to you and shake your hands. So he was okay with touching at this point?
[Steven]: He was okay, he was just fine with it, he actually explained, he was actually saying that everyone always put their, like, you know, the cleanest, the, their best foot forward. Like, you know, they cleaned the suit. Like, so to get like the realness, he said, like, he loved that. He was able to like experience that. And, and he asked, what was it that I plan on doing with the piece? He said, he, you know, he went everywhere. He met Jay-Z and all these other people. But you know, this was like the most exciting thing he experienced on his visit in New York. So he sat and I was like, where did he was at? What are you planning on doing it? And I said, you know, I plan to like travel to different schools and share with kids. And he was like, Oh yeah. He said, well, I want to help you with that. I said like, like, what do you mean? You want to help him in the ho how are you going to do that? How are you going to help him? He said, I'm going to give you my number. I said, I, I said, and then Moses said, yeah, I have his number ready. He like yelled that out. Cause Moses was listening. And there were like a few reporters, like reading his mouth or whatever, trying to see what he was saying. And he said no, I have another number. And he called his like secretary, his personal handler over in and gave them like a permanent personal number. And then he left. And I remember, I remember going to meet up with friends in the Bronx to go to like a studio session. And I started getting calls from like TMZ and all these other people trying to find out who's this kid met the Prince. I didn't know how they got my number. And you went to my house, like news reporters and everything. It was just, yeah.
[Doug]: TMZ is good man, TMZ I mean, as far as they'd get like surveillance footage, all this stuff, you never know they get it.
[Steven]: I don't understand. I didn't get it. I was, I was like, wow. I was like, what's going on? And then I ended up talking about it on like a few talk shows and things like that. But the, what was the scary thing about it was that, you know, everyone was, was so ready for like a full out, play and only had two pieces of it. Like, you know, and they were like, Oh yeah. So if we can't wait to see this place, so Moses and I are looking at us like, you're, we're in trouble. Like we got to hurry up and do this without that we had five weeks. So within five weeks, we, we, we just went, got creative with, with all the stories that I had. And that's what kind of like pushed us to like finally finish this whole entire thing that we said we were going to do.
[Doug]: And that's, that's a good motivation when Prince William says that he loves it and wants to help you out. I think that'll, that'll give you the motivation. You need to finish up there. I also love the idea of Prince William rolling around New York with this entourage meeting, Jay Z, hanging out with you. I was like, Oh yeah. Okay. Okay Prince William, like, you know, I guess, you know, I love, I love this kind of other, this isn't the Prince, William I guess you see in the tabloids all the time.
[Steven]: Totally different guy. Yeah. Yeah. He's cool. Laid back. He's he's grounded, you know, he takes a lot from his, his mom from what I've heard about her and yeah, definitely. He's gentle, gentle Hardy. Yeah.
[Doug]: And you look, obviously at the end of the day, it's, that's the kind of most buzzy thing that I think a lot of news outlets pulled from it, but you know, what it really is indicative of with your piece is that regardless of who you are, whether it's Prince William or, you know, a kid who's in, grew up in a very similar environment to you and everyone in between that it resonates with everyone because there's very universal themes at play in your story. And, you know, I think this would be a great moment to go into, to a clip from the filmed version of it. So before I do that, could you, could you just set up this, this short clip we're about to play?
[Steven]: Okay. This short clip was actually one of the first two pieces that were, that I first worked on when it was like a theatrical piece. And that piece that you're going to see when I performed it at the open mic, my mom came to that open mic and she remembered me being chased in the house by the cops. That's what you're going to see in this scene. I'm being chased in house by the cops, but she didn't know. She didn't know why I got chased in the house by the cops until she saw the piece that I performed. Oh, wow. Yeah.
[Doug]: Okay. Well, I'm going to roll the clip here and then we can talk about it a little bit more.
[Steven]: Oh, right. She, I couldn't take the gun back down because they were right there in front of us. There were three cops. Two of them were black. One of them were Indian descent. They can't walk into our front yard, flashing their lights. You'll submit here, like, as Ashley says, yes, sir. We live here. Okay. What about this guy? The cop tasted out to me. I panicked. I ran up the stairs. I didn't know what to do-
[Steven]: My aunt heard the noise so she stepped out of the bathroom. What are you doing in my house? What do you want with my nephew? Mister, come downstairs right now. No, stay away from my nephew, Steven don't go downstairs they're going to arrest you. But I didn't do do nothing. No. Stay away from my nephew. You don't belong here. We belong here. He used to come downstairs right now. You want to go to jail son? No, stay away, don't touch him. Steven, if you didn't do nothing, then go downstairs now. Yes Grandpa. I started walking down those steps. And I started thinking about every last freedom that I had left. Receive my praise, oh God, I started thinking about life was over. So I started praying to God, please, please just get me out of this one.
[Doug]: I love that clip. I mean, I love, I love the whole thing, but I mean, that's such a, it's kind of like the climax in a lot of ways of the story. And, you know, I think what's so evident in that clip that is throughout is that as someone who grew up in New York and went to see a lot of theater and in invariably saw plenty, one of one, plenty of one man shows, you know, I think it's a really hard thing to do what you do throughout this piece. That's, you know, very much very clear in this one clip as well of how seamlessly, you can slip into and embody the various characters of your life, all of which you're playing. And I think you do that in such a great way. And I think, I think your movement and dance background really serves you and how fluid you move in and out of those roles. Maybe can you talk a little bit about your passion for dance? And if that, like, if that's served you in any way in this, in this piece here, and obviously you showcase some of it as well, which we, we, we don't get to show today, but can you talk a little bit about that?
[Steven]: Yeah. I've been dancing from, since I was young, my aunt told me that she should just play music and I'll just like move to the sounds and the rhythm of it. Like when it changes, I'll go with it. But you know, to this date, I got more love for dancing. Like I I've gained more love for dancing. You know, they say that the words that you can't say, you put it in a song and the words that you can sing, you dance and like that that's like so true. That's so true.
[Doug]: Time-out for a second. Cause that was so good. Can you say that again? Cause I just want to hear that again. Cause I love that.
[Steven]: Say that the words that you can't say, you put it in a song and the words that you can't sing, you put it in a dance.
[Doug]: Oh, that's so beautiful. You know, I think to anyone like me, who's not a particularly good singer or dancer. I'll try, don't get me wrong. You know, that's something that like, there, there are certain things that can only be, even if you can't do them well, there's certain things that can only be expressed in the, in the ways that you're, that you're describing there through song and dance that I think resonate from, from, for anyone including those who aren't particularly good singers or dancers, but that's such a beautiful, beautiful message.
[Steven]: I feel like everyone could, everyone can sing, everyone can dance, you know what I mean? It's, it's, it's a boat. You have to just do your, do it for you. You know, I, I didn't think I was always the best dancer. Like I grew into the way I dance and I'm like, and, and learning from other dancers and stuff like that. And it just, I felt like that was the fun about it too. Just, you know, seeing the evolution of it, you know, I wasn't always how I dance now just kept just doing it. And that technique was Moses idea with the whole, switching to characters like that, because I, at first I thought that was silly and I didn't want to do that at all. But that was like, yeah, that movement was, I believe that was something that definitely did help me through, to do that. Definitely.
[Doug]: No, and it was so, I mean, you do it so well that it really, you know, I found myself, when I watched the entirety of this really being able to so easily, easily visualize the entire scene and cast of characters just through how seamlessly you transitioned to each one and how beautiful you embodied them. Is this something that, you know, obviously COVID right now is keeping you from doing it on stage. Do you plan to continue doing it on stage once you can, again, and also, do you plan on sharing the film version more widely at some point?
[Steven]: Yeah, well that, that film version was like kind of like a test, like a test run and, you know, there's so like, yeah, those are tests run to, to share it with, a few people to actually help us turn it into a series. So that's something that we actually look into work on and I still would love to do like a huge special in Brooklyn and get like a few of my friends who I play in the show that have not yet seen it. You know what I mean? Like I'm like, yo, I'm talking about you guys, like people know about ya. Y'all got, gotta come see the show. So yeah, something that I do look forward to doing still. So, I mean yeah. To see how that all plays out.
[Doug]: Well, we have a question that I think actually is a great transition into another chapter of, of what I'd love to discuss today. But actually before I move to that, I just quick, quick question from Julie who asks, were you more nervous than usual when performing in front of royalty?
[Steven]: I think it all added up to the same nerves in a way Fannie prefer for performance because I honestly didn't know how I admire the entourage and everything. Like, you know what I mean? Like it wasn't till like, after the fact, I was like, wow, that was a big, big deal. Like the, the aftermath of it. But I want to say because for every performance, like I treat it as if like, you know, I treated as if like, you know, I want to do my best for them, you know, for the people to love it. So it wasn't, I can't say it was any different from how it would be if I was to perform it for you.
[Doug]: Well, what am I not royalty royalty to you, Steven? Come on.
[Steven]: Of course. Yes. Yes. I'll perform it. You guys are all loyal to me in my performances. Yeah.
[Doug]: Said like the true artist you are certainly. But John asks, and you know, it's a great question to kind of take us into the next phase of this conversation. He asks you, how do you feel when Hollywood casts, actors and actresses who aren't disabled in roles of disabled characters? That's obviously been something that's been, you know, a growingly hot topic in Hollywood, as of late in some productions have, you know, gotten a lot of pushback for, for casting non-disabled actors and disabled roles. How do you feel about that?
[Steven]: First it's unfair, like give everyone a fair shot. You know what I mean? It's everyone is good. Everyone should deserve a fair chance. You know what I mean? Whether you allow them to audition, at least for those roles, you know what I mean? But no, they should. I feel that I like me. I don't try to stay, I stay away from like, you know, seeing how I feel about like, things like that. I am more about what can I do to impact to change that. And I felt like this is a part of it, like, you know, so to be a part of this, that that's, that's, that's where I focus on, you know what I mean? So to change the course of that.
[Doug]: Absolutely. And, you know, I'm wondering, you know, maybe you kind of just answered that, but like, you know, kind of something that's certainly very different, but related when we're talking about opportunities and that there being a disparity between, you know, certain groups of people and their opportunities for, you know, in a lot of things, but we're talking specifically about Hollywood, you know, something that was really big the last few years, you know, I think it was a couple of years ago where, you know, #Oscars. So white was a really big and trending topic and that's something that's obviously applied to many more than just recent Oscars, you know, from the perspective of being a black actor, you know, how would you talk about opportunity and, and, you know, both from just the kind of general macro, Hollywood lens, and also from your personal experience, and what opportunities you feel like you get, or don't get.
[Steven]: Well as a black actor. I mean, like, I feel like this is, it's been great times for now we're black actors. Honestly, I feel like there's so many roles as being written by black actors. I feel like people are looking forward to seeing more black actors on screen than there was before. It's a lot of gray roles as it has been more diverse roles as being written for a black actors that I'm seeing. So, yeah, I'm just, yeah. I always look for like the, the positive, like the, the positive things and things. That's just the way my mind worked. Like, I'm, that's just the way my mind is set up. Like, you know what I mean? I don't, I don't buy into the whole what's going on and how they're, how they choose to go about how they choose to go, whoever chooses to go about things is just, I just focused on what I can do, what I can do to change that in my own life. You know what I mean? To impact others in a way too. Yeah. You know what I mean? I, I love to turn it off. I answered that. Did I answer that?
[Doug]: Absolutely. It's your, that, I'd love to talk a little bit more about your experience in working with Robert Tarango who played Arty, because I think, you know, first of all, you guys had such a beautiful relationship throughout it off-camera, which I think really came through on camera, but I'm wondering if we can kind of just go through kind of your journey from your perspective of working with Robert and, you know, what, if any context or knowledge you had about the Deaf-Blind community prior to meeting Robert, what you've learned along the way, how your relationship progressed throughout? What, what do you have to share about that?
[Steven]: Yeah, well, I do have family that's a part of the Deaf community. So that, that was, I grew up, you know, learning about Deaf people, the Deaf community, and the Blind community too, I've been around like both blind and Deaf. Like that was always something always thought about like, you know, someone's blind and Deaf. And I know we all know of Helen Keller, but it wasn't like click into me when I used to think about that. And then on when this role came up and I saw that a Deaf-Blind, actor's going to be playing it out in a bowl. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. And I was just excited to see what the experience was going to be like. And it was definitely a great experience. Like, although I was a bit nervous because I didn't know what to expect, you know what I mean? You know, you never really know what to expect or anything, but in that scenario, you know, it was, it was great. Like, I felt like, you know, I think for casting, Robert, like Robert was like this great great person for that role. You know what I mean? He, he stuck it out. He motivated me even when we were like out once said that for, I think it was like the third day I remember it was like really colon. And I remember Robbie was like, I remember it was, I forgot he, it was, it was a lot of him, it was a lot on him that date. And they were like, you want to just like, go back to the I'm holding. He said, nah, I'm going to finish the shot. Like, you know, like the Lowe's I go, that's tough. Like that right days is grit is grit. You know what I mean? Like, yeah. He was dope. He motivated me, definitely motivated me to just give them a hall. You know what I'm saying? If he could do, I was like, I got to get them home. And even off of set, you know what I mean? Just like just being in his world and seeing like, you know, how he had to, I was there, I seen him, you know what I mean? Like I seen all the other background actors, there was a lot of noise, a lot of things going on in the South. You see Robert? Yeah. It was, I don't really know how to like, pay a lot of the things into words, but yeah. I heart, I heart Robert, you know what I mean? Yeah.
[Doug]: And that totally, you know, again, came through on screen and because of your relationship screen, I, you know, just watching from afar, watching the evolution of your guys' relationship and really bonding with each other was a special treat on top of everything else. That was so great about making the film. And, you know, you had mentioned, Helen Keller, and I don't know if you've heard about this, Steven, some of you watching right now, or we'll come to this later, might've seen this, I learned about this a couple of days ago, or maybe a few days ago. It got lost a little bit in all of the madness that happened a couple of days ago at the Capitol, which I won't even open that Pandora's box right now, but there was a, it started trending mainly on TikToK with younger people. This whole thing that Helen Keller didn't exist, that she's made up. That she's a myth. And you know, I don't know if it's hard to tell I, again, I'm not on TikTok. I was reading articles about it. It's hard to tell if, you know, it started a little bit ingest or as a joke and then took on a life of its own. But I ended up reading like a medium article from a teenager that said, you know, yeah, it just doesn't seem like someone who's Deaf and Blind could have been an author and done all those things. So I don't have to choose to believe that because that's like one of the privileges of our generation is that we don't just believe everything we're told. And you know, though, it's good for everyone to do their own research. You know, I think that's exemplifies something that's become deeply problematic over the last four years of people picking and choosing whatever they choose to be true and just disregarding things that they choose to not be true, whether they're based in fact or not. And you know, for anyone who's watching who might be entertaining, I don't think anyone who watches this would entertain that. But Helen Keller was a very real, there's a lot of video footage and many other documentation of all the steps of her life that there's many places you can go to validate that and find that out. But more importantly, I think it speaks to a topic that is something that we try to address often on this platform is about the diverse capabilities of the Deaf-Blind community. Look, if, if you don't know anyone who's Deaf-Blind, you've never interacted with that community. I can totally understand how given the little bit of knowledge you have and the lack of representation you see in media, how you might make a Romanian assumptions that Deaf-Blind people can't do certain things. But once you start to learn about the community, you realize the diverse capabilities of many, many people in that community that can do, you know, anything that you can can be done. There are people who are Deaf-Blind that can do those things. Obviously everyone is in a different situation. Not all people can do all things that goes for everyone, but the Deaf blind community is a community that has diverse capabilities. That's more than capable of having Deaf-Blind people who are authors and activists and Harvard graduates and lawyers and everything in between. And I think this is a great opportunity for people who haven't maybe had the opportunity or taken the time to learn about the Deaf-Blind community to learn about the diversity of this community. And the, you know, many of the beautiful people that make it up, you know, we encourage people to feel free to watch, you know, the number of previous episodes. We have a Feeling Through live that feature people who are Deaf-Blind talking about the many things that they do, and certainly seek out other sources, you know, obviously go to helenkeller.org check out Helen Keller services, you know, go to many other organizations that deal with Deaf-Blindness. They're more than happy to supply information on that, but yes, Helen Keller was a real, she's not a myth. And let's hope that that is something that dies out quickly. And that, you know, one of the things, one of the beauties of the Feeling Through experience and the fact that we're able to, you know, take it into lots of different high schools and middle schools and universities that we've already done in moving forward, we'll continue to do will certainly continue to educate people on the diverse capabilities of the Deaf-Blind community. And the fact that Helen Keller was real. So that's, that's where we'll be doing our part. And Steven I love to hear about how you're doing your part in sharing your story and sharing your poet's heart and artistry with so many people. And, you know, before we sign off and, you know, I know we're going to have a chance to talk to each other in a lot of different formats coming up with our, you know, for your consideration campaign going on in the different, different places. We'll be having conversations. But before we go home, I'm just wondering, do you have any, anything closing thoughts that you'd like to share today?
[Steven]: Well, I could, I mean, since you mentioned the Capitol, I could mention that. I don't know. I could mention it. I just feel that all with that, you know, I feel, I don't know, I don't, I don't know how everyone, I don't know how everyone is feeling about it, but I feel like we should just continue to focus on bettering our communities. How are we going to impact our community, save our own communities and not focused on the chaos that we can change right now? You know what I mean? We just continue to just focus on what we have to do. Like, I feel like that's the most important thing and yeah.
[Doug]: Yeah. I mean that's a beautiful sentiment to end on and, and, you know, just to extrapolate from that, I think, you know, what you and Robert exhibit in Feeling Through is a beautiful example of the power of human connection, despite whatever differences we might have. And that's something that we certainly that's important to us here Feeling Through in something that we continually try to put out as well. So, those are beautiful words to end on there. And thank you Stephen for joining us today. You'll, you'll certainly be back on here and talking with me in other formats soon, and I'm really, really looking forward to that and really just want to take one last opportunity to thank you for, for being here and just being, being such an amazing person and collaborator throughout this process and, and being someone who breeds such beautiful life into Feeling Through it, to really make it what it is and for everything that comes from that. So thank you so much.
[Steven]: Thank you for having me Doug. And thank you guys. Yeah.
[Doug]: Yes! Thank you guys. Obviously thank you to our interpreters as always, and to all of you who tuned in we're back in 2021, we'll be back next week. Same time, same place. Tell a friend, share this link with people. Let's spread the word. Let's make this even bigger in 2021 into a great year ahead. Bye. Everyone Later, everybody take care.
