Interview by Allie Jemison, Cliff Lummus and Kat Reynolds
Written by Kat Reynolds
Gracefully balancing a cup filled with coffee, an iPad and a shoulder bag, Eric Jordan Young greeted my classmates and I with Southern hospitality rarely found in a New Yorker. We caught up with him the last week of his month-long run of “Sammy & Me” at the Tony award-winning Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.
After performing on Broadway and the Las Vegas Strip in large productions like “Chicago,” “Suessical” and “VegaS! The Show,” I was certain Young would have a great take on big theatre versus small theatre. Here is what he had to say:
How is “Sammy & Me” as a one-person show different from “Chicago,” “Seussical” and “Rent?” Wow, that’s the first time anyone’s ever asked me that question. It’s different in that so much of the storytelling is based on me. I have to create the tempo of the show. The way that it’s different from doing “Chicago” or “Seussical” is that I can kind of rely and depend on other people to be there to help me storytell and, [in] this situation, it’s just me by myself. But the intent is the same, because once you’re a storyteller, you’re a storyteller. [Regardless of] the size of the cast or the size of the show, you have to commit to telling the story.
It’s also different in that I’m the writer of the show and it’s my personal truth, so it’s a lot more … it’s very cathartic, and the emotional connection that I have with the show is so much deeper when I complete it, so I’m not necessarily physically exhausted — I’m emotionally exhausted.
Do you feel like you’ve reached that big thing in the sky, or are you still on a small stage and trying to get there?
I think in my business you’re always trying to get there. I mean you win one Oscar, you win one Tony award or you win one Emmy, you want another one after that. Soul searching and the desire that you had to aspire for the greatest things possible never end.
I’ve been on Broadway, I’ve done some television shows, I’ve played Vegas, I’ve done some national tours, I’ve just recorded an album. I’ve just been able to work and meet with so many different people, but at the same time, I am on the Hertz stage and it is small. But the experience that I’m bringing along with me is big, and the storytelling aspect of the show might be small to a small audience in this space, but the universal theme of the show is big.
I mean look at Sammy. He was this really pint-size man who was, what, 5’4”, and he was able to share so much light with so many people in the world. This small individual who has the bigger-than-life hopes and dreams and abilities to conquer the world, and that gets him the title [of] world’s greatest entertainer.
How did the performances change from city to city, or big stage to small stage, big crowd to small crowd? How much personalization is there to each performance?
I find that differences in the audience from city to city have been profound because the first city that I did it in was my hometown, and those people know me. I was very, very scared, but I was embraced by those audiences whether it was a good play or it was a bad play. But thank goodness they liked the project as much as they liked me.
When I went to the next city, I went to a town I was familiar with because of my relationship with the college in that town. So they did the same thing, and had a really great reaction. But it was a bigger audience, and it was a much more enthusiastic response in terms of how I was choosing to celebrate someone who was such a huge American icon. Here [in Atlanta] I think that people appreciate the fact that I’m being an artist. I think they do appreciate that, but I also think that it’s not so much about the talent that’s on the stage, but it’s more about the sharing of the talent. I think that the Atlanta audience appreciates when people come out and bear [themselves].
After you graduated with a BFA, did you move straight to New York City? What was the transition like?
Amazing. I was ridiculously ambitious. I made a decision in seventh grade. I saw a production of “Dream Girls” in Buffalo, [New York]. It was the first national tour of “Dream Girls”. I got in the car with my parents afterward and I said, “That’s what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to be in the entertainment industry.” My dad was like, “Well, if you work really hard and you study, then maybe you can…” and my mom was like, “Well, who do you want to play?” I said, “Curtis Taylor, Jr. — the mean manager.”
My first audition after graduation when I moved to New York, a friend of mine had called and said, “There’s a tour of “Dream Girls” — it’s non-union, but you know it’d be a great way for you to get into the city.” I went to the audition, and I was just excited to be auditioning in New York and to audition for the chorus. I got a call back and it wasn’t until halfway through the callback that I realized I was up for the lead role, and within three days I got a phone call and I got Curtis Taylor, Jr. in “Dream Girls.”
Were there any small experiences in your life that have influenced you in a very big way?
Yes. I was doing “Chicago” on Broadway in 2001, after September 11, and George Hamilton was playing Billy Flynn in the musical, and I was his understudy at the time, and we kind of became friends backstage. We went out to lunch one day, and he said to me, “You remind me of Sammy Davis, Jr., and you really need to pay attention to that.”
In keeping with the Big and Small theme, for “Sammy & Me,” what is the smallest and biggest crowd you’ve performed to?
The smallest crowd was last Thursday — the smallest crowd ever was for a student matinee and some of the schools didn’t show up, so I did a student matinee for about 17 kids. The largest that I’ve ever performed it for? I did a benefit performance in Niagara Falls, and I think it was almost [one] thousand — a very big proscenium stage and, until this moment, I hadn’t really thought about that in a while.
If a young child wants to be a star, what is some advice that you would give?
There’s a huge responsibility that comes with the words we choose. So, I would say be yourself. And in finding out who you are, which takes a long time, honor your choices and honor your thoughts and beliefs and desires to be the best that you possibly can be.
It takes a long time for us to figure out who we are. It just does. Some people are gifted enough to know exactly what they want to do very early, and I think I’m one of the fortunate ones who was like, “You know what, that’s what I want to do.” And I’m still able to do that. It’s impossible not to.
For more information on Eric Jordan Young’s upcoming shows, events, and album releases, visit www.ericjordanyoung.com.