“I would give it a 10 out of 10. I’m going to Facebook it tonight.”- Nicole. An audience member interviewed opening night of Knock Me A Kiss.
April 5, 2014 opening night audience of Knock Me A Kiss.
“Amazing! I thought it was really well done. Entertaining and funnier than I expected. Love the costumes and just enjoyed the whole thing...My favorite character was Yolande's friend Loneora. I loved her spirit and her attitude.- Ama, an audience member.
Lenora and Yolande
I had an opportunity to catch up with Ashlee Olivia the actress who plays Lenora in Knock Me A Kiss to ask her thoughts and feelings regarding the play.
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| Ashlee Olivia playing Lenora and Toyin Moses playing Yolande. |
Ashlee: What I find interesting about Lenora is her thought pattern, her infatuation with gossip and her sensitive side. She's insecure and wanting but lives in the moment so she doesn't get bogged-down by life. Yes she wants a man and a ring and for a man to give himself to her, but the excitement of the thought and fantasy of these things is so alive in her that she doesn't fret about not having it...at least not in public! Lenora likes: A good time, a handsome man with an ego and a soft side, Jimmy's music, Jimmy's band, Jimmy's hands, his feet, his eyes....Jimmy's kick. Lenora's dislikes: Snakes, amphibian and human. When nothing's goin' on. Two bit scheezuhs. That last brotha she was dealin' with.
Ashlee Olivia as Lenora in Knock Me A Kiss. Photo courtesy of Tomoko Matsushita.
Question: I have notice a little thematic cord with you as an actress Ashlee. You seem to attract roles from days that have gone by; your role as Anna in Anna Lucasta, your One Woman Show about Eartha Kitt, and now Lenora who was deeply entrenched in the Harlem Renaissance. What is it about these types of women from American history that fascinates or attracts you?
Ashlee: Thank you Kellie! I like being able to live in my feelings more. I always like wearing a dress and a heel of some sort; being able to explore the essence of my feminine side; being able to not know so much. And being a real lady’s lady is what fascinates me about playing these women of American history.
Question: Yolande Du Bois has some very interesting notions regarding romance. I'm having some fun with a game of word association with some of the other cast members. So here it goes Ashlee, I say "Romance" and you give me the first word that pops into your head. Ready?
Romance...
Ashlee: Flowers.
Question: Now, how would Lenora respond to the word association? Ok, Ready Lenora?
Romance...
Lenora: YES.
Song In Spite Of Myself
Never love with all your heart,
It only ends in aching;
And bit by bit to the smallest part
That organ will be breaking.
Never love with all your mind,
It only ends in fretting;
In musing on sweet joys behind,
too poignant for forgetting.
Never love with all your soul,
for such there is no ending;
though a mind that frets may find control,
and a shattered heart find mending.
Give but a grain of the heart's rich seed,
Confine some undercover,
And when love goes,
bid him God-speed,
and find another lover.
-Ashlee Olivia's favorite Countee Cullen poem
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| On the set of Knock Me A Kiss. |
Please check out this video link from Melvin Ishmael Johnson from the Qumran Report: A Conversation with Dwain A. Perry and Cast Members from Knock Me A Kiss.
About Knock Me A Kiss
What happens when you mix vision, romance, and betrayal with Harlem Renaissance aristocracy? Why, the marriage of the century of course! Knock Me A Kiss written by Charles Smith is a tale that explores the ideas surrounding romance, marriage, intimacy, and legacy in 1928 Harlem. It is a fictional account of a true event, the marriage of the daughter of W.E.B. Du Bois, Yolande, to the poet Countee Cullen.
W.E.B Du Bois called the nuptials, “The symbolic march of young and black America…a new thing rejoicing in a ceremony as old as the world.”
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| Cast of Knock Me A Kiss Top left to right: Jason Mimms, Ben Guillory, Keir Thirus. Bottom left to right: Toyin Moses, Rosie Lee Hooks, Ashlee Olivia. Photo courtesy of Tomoko Matsushita |
Knock Me A Kiss runs April 5th- May 4th
At:
The Los Angeles Theatre Center
514 South Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
General Admission - $30
*Student - $20 *Senior (60+) - $20 *Veteran - $20 *LAUSD Teacher - $20
Thursdays - $10 (Limited Number Available; No Show April 10)
*with ID
Tickets:
log onto: http://www.thelatc.org
Or, call: 886-811-4111
Content contributor and writer: Kellie Dantzler
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