Queer Voices
Queer Voices
April 15th - Trans Voices and Transgender Wellness Fair, Ellis C. Dawson III from SPAMALOT, and Kendrick Brown from FENCES
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We start this episode with the gentlemen and gentlethem from TRANS VOICES discussing their non-profit and the upcoming Transgender Sexual and Wellness Fair at the Montrose Center on April 19th. Elih, Rene, Robin, and Theo address their community's concerns. Then Brett talks with Ellis C. Dawson III about his part in SPAMALOT, brought to Houston by Theatre Under the Stars. And finally, Brett talks to Kendrick Brown about his role in FENCES, which is opening up at the Alley.
Links:
Trans Voices
https://www.transvoices.life/houston-chapter
TUTS site for SPAMALOT tickets:
THE ALLEY for FENCES tickets:
Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here. Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond. Check out our socials at:
https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/
Welcome And Guest Lineup
SPEAKER_08This is KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, 89.5 FM Galveston, 91.9 FM Huntsville, and worldwide on the internet at KPFT.org.
Meet The Trans Voices Hosts
BrettYou're listening to Queer Voices, a radio show and a podcast that has been an outlet for the LGBTQIA plus community for over five decades. I am Brett Cullum, and in this episode, I talk to a group of guys who run Trans Voices, a nonprofit organization that has a podcast, they have a support group, and they do monthly activities for the transgender community. They are hosting a sexual and wellness fair for the Houston trans population at the Montrose Center this Sunday, April 19th, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. Then I talk to LSC Dawson III, who plays Sir Bedevere in Spamalot, which is presented by Tuts at the Hobby Center. And finally, I speak with Houston actor Kendrick KB Brown, who is starring in the Allies production of Fences. Queer Voices starts with trans voices right now. Hi there, this is Brett Cullum. And I noticed recently a new podcast has emerged in Houston named Trans Voices. And immediately I knew I had to bring them onto Queer Voices because they belong here. Exactly. So we'll be hearing from them as contributors from time to time, I hope, because you cannot have Queer Voices without theirs in the mix. So I am joined by the hosts of this podcast, Renee, Eli, Theo, and Robin. Welcome you all. Hi. Hello. Yeah, hey, what would you do? Say hello and say your name real quick, just so that I can kind of get oriented.
SPEAKER_01Hi, my name is Eli. He they pronouns.
SPEAKER_04My name is Renee, and my pronouns are he, him, and his. Thanks for having me. My name's Robin. My pronouns are also uh he they. Thanks for having us on. And I'm Theo.
From Podcast To Nonprofit Community
BrettI use he, him pronouns. Awesome. Okay, so you all, when I first heard about you, I thought you were just a podcast. But then I saw your website and I realized that you're actually a nonprofit. Tell me about the different things that you do as a group under the umbrella of Trans Voices.
SPEAKER_01So honestly, it started way before our group um initially like took off the nonprofit status. I lived in Conroe, had friends that were both trans mask folks. And um around 2018, 2019, I had a podcast called Trans Brothers Podcast. And then I really didn't like the idea that it was like focused more on the trans mask uh community, and I wanted to like invite everyone. Um, and so I was like, okay, I want to rebrand it to trans voices. We all agreed. And then at that time, um, our lives just got a lot crazy. Um, and we kind of dispersed. And then I met Theo back in 2024, the fall of 2024. And um, he introduced me to Renee and a bunch of other people, and I introduced them to my trans friends that I knew. Um, we just kind of like hung out continuously, and that's the same thing that my friends and I back in 2018, 2019 did, like always hung out, always talked about not exactly politics, but always things that were trans related and our lives and this and that. And it just like felt really good. And so I was just like, we need to start like this back up again. So I at the time when trans voices this nonprofit started, I lost insurance. I lost insurance and I lost my therapist because they didn't take insurance, which uh in hindsight was like, okay, I lost insurance, let me pay out of pocket, but it was just the cost was adding on, and I was like, oh my God, like I can't afford it. So I remember my therapist was saying that, you know, look at like community support groups, like at churches and this and that, the mantra center. And I was like, okay, but all these places, one, I wasn't really cool with the churches, even though they weren't really exactly affiliated with the churches per se. I felt just very uncomfortable walking into a church. And then the other events that I saw, they were a lot again catered towards trans mask or trans femme, or I didn't see a lot of non-barnary groups that I went to personally, but I don't know. I was like, I need support. So I I reached out to Renee and Theo in text, and I was like, I want to start this back up. I need a support group. And then at the time, we had two other members of our board who stepped down for personal reasons, and they were also, okay, I want to do an activity, something physical. And so that's how activity was born. And then Renee, I'll let him take over on that.
Project Day And Creative Empowerment
SPEAKER_05I appreciate that. That's a great segue, Eli. So, yes, basically, I put it like this to Eli. I, from what I can remember, it's that, okay, I'm down to go down this avenue again. Because I'm it's not my first rogue when it comes to doing organizational work, specifically with the queer and trans community. And I was like, this time around, amidst all of these other organizations being built, which is beautiful, they're all important, but I could just foresee people saying, people in our community saying, why do we need another group? Why, why another group? And I could, I had this might be a me problem, but I had this really, I had this fixation on being different somehow in some way. So that's basically where Project Day was born. The condition that I gave Eli was that we I'm down to do this, but we have to have something that sets us apart. And so I created Project Day where it's something it's devoted to an event where we're practicing our expression, the way that we express ourselves as trans people, because trans people have voices and we need to know how to use them, especially at a time like this. So it's about empowerment, it's about tapping into the creative side, bringing it to the surface. So it's about coming together to do something crafty, creative, whether it be like stand up, open my collage's painting, we're gonna do that one pretty soon. We need to do portraits, and so just something creative, any type of way we're just practicing that, and then we're expressing it on a stage to each other. We're practicing it, basically.
SPEAKER_01I'm not gonna lie though, when he was telling me that, like, yeah, I completely agree that we needed to be different, we needed to set a tone. And I thought, I I personally thought our difference was the fact that we were inviting everybody in the community. Like we were inviting not just trans mass people, not trans femme people, not not binary people, but everybody in the community under that umbrella. And I was like, he kept saying this. And I remember one time he literally drew me out, all these organizations and what they do and all this stuff. And I still have that paper. And I'm just sitting there thinking, like, he's knocking my idea down. He has knocked my idea down. I don't like, I know like he, I get what he's saying, but like he's not understanding that like support group needs to be a part of this. And so there was a lot of in my mind, a little bit, not a lot, a little compromise. But I was like sitting there like, he is knocking me down right now. But I he wasn't. He wasn't, he really wasn't. He really wasn't. I'm just I fall under these like rabbit holes and pattern, and I have a lot of anxiety, so let's notate that. So, but no, I I definitely saw what he wanted to do, and I loved what he wanted to do. And that's the other thing is like I was open to like if uh other people that join in the group want to start something, let's do it. What can we provide the community? And I saw that Robin reached out when we first kind of started as like a volunteer. He reached out, he filled out our volunteer form, and I saw his background was audio engineering. And uh I was like, I kind of really want to bring back the podcast again. And I kind of wanted to be like the three of us, Theo Rene and I, because I feel like you know our energies are great. Um, I really like how Theo and Renee are because they've been best friends for quite some time. So they have like this like energy with them, but then I really like how like uh Renee always says things catty. Um he says catty a lot. And so I think he just gives off this energy that like he can like banter with anyone, and I really like that. And then just me, I could be, I could be really quiet, like Theo sometimes. I could be really, really quiet, and then I can go off like this, and I just like I like that. So I was like, I want to bring that back. Reached out to Robin and um, Robin, let's see what you got.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so I I mean I I honestly forget where I first heard of trans voices, but I moved to Houston in February of 2025 after living in Phoenix for almost 10 years. Um and uh so I was just looking for as many queer communities and uh resources as possible after I moved, and so uh found trans voices. And um, I think Theo was the first person I met in this group of people, and then I met Renee and Eli um and just made friends with them all. And I do have an audio engineering background. I went to trade school for audio engineering and um music production, and but I haven't really used my audio editing skills a ton since then. So I thought it would be really cool, and I've always wanted to work on a podcast and I enjoy listening to podcasts. I thought it would be really cool to edit and uh help produce, and uh sometimes I also host as well, although I'm not really like a main host of the podcast, but um, but yeah, it's really fun. And I also really like um finding people in the community to reach out to and hearing their stories um and giving them a platform to like share their voices and it it really connects like with just the name Trans Voices. So yeah.
BrettI can definitely relate to all of this because Queer Voices basically the idea behind this show, and it has been around for over five decades, is the LGBTQIA plus community and getting everybody on. And you were mentioning earlier trans voices as opposed to just trans mask or trans femme. Uh it's so interesting that you have this umbrella going, and and you do, you capture the voices very well, and I love the banter. I think it's really amazing. I've listened to all of your episodes so far. I'm a fan already, a subscriber. It's very cool. But let me break it down a little bit. You've got the podcast, you've got these activity days or project days, that's what you're calling it, and then you've got the support group.
SPEAKER_01We have both a support, a project day, activity day, and podcasts like falls anywhere in between those weeks.
BrettOkay. But your your support group is monthly, right?
SPEAKER_01Is that how it's all three events are monthly. Our support group is the second Wednesday of every month at the Montreal Center from 6:30 to 8. Our um activity or project day is the third Wednesday of every month, and that is at Axel Rad. We've talked a little bit here and there about changing locations, sometimes for future events or whatnot. But mostly for the most part, in the last year, it's always been at Axwell Rad. So shout out to them for letting us use their space. Appreciate it. And um, then our activity day is at various locations, and that's the last Sunday of every month from two to four. And then we try to do the podcast the best that we can. We try to like we use WhatsApp, messaging each other, trying to figure out like when we're all available, can we do this virtually? Things like that.
BrettWell, I noticed you're you're about a monthly cadence with the podcast so far.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so far. Trying to keep it that way, but we're noticing that, like, you know, sometimes we're at the end of the month and we're like, oh man, it's gonna go to the next, you know. So um, but that so far, so far, knock on wood, which I'm not gonna do right now because I have dogs nearby.
Building The Trans Wellness Fair
BrettWell, let's talk about something that's coming up this week. April 19th, from two until five, at the Mantra Center, you are hosting the Transsexual Wellness and Health Fair. So tell me a little bit about that, at that event. That is all Theo.
SPEAKER_01I just run on that. He reached out to me and the group with this idea, and he can take it away.
SPEAKER_06All right, so um, I was inspired by some of the past events I've attended in the past. But first, I was just like looking for what we could do for our activity day for the month of April. And I was looking at like all of the national holidays, and I saw that there was this holiday on April 18th, the day before our event of National Transgender Day of HIV testing, which I was like, oh, that's a neat holiday. And I was like, Well, um, if there's any time we should uh do a type of event like this now. And I had attended a similar event that we're putting on in the past led by the transmasculine alliance of Houston, but they were the main ones organizing it, and unfortunately they had a very low attendance in their last event, and I was like, Well, I think all of this information is like much needed in a community, and not just a transmasculine community, and so I wanted to like I guess reimagine this this workshop they called it a sexual health workshop. Um, bring in other collaborators, other organizations from like all the trans mass groups, the trans fem groups, the other trans groups in general in Houston, and then that branched out to also searching and connecting with like health resources. Like we have um midwife who's coming to present. We have like Harris Health, Beef Healthcare, like different health organizations coming to provide resources. Obviously, our biggest contributor is our co-host, uh the Montro Center, who is providing HIV and STI testing for free throughout our event. And they are also leading a small presentation to give further education and resources to HIV and STI preventions, treatments, and care. And then I was like, well, not only being HIV focused, but other sexual health and wellness um issues the community faces, like access to getting gender-affirming um care, wellness exams, cabs mirrors, pregnancy or unpregnancy um care, scar treatments, and other presenters talking about uh preparation for gender-affirming surgeries. So I felt like like sexual health is not often talked about or presented about or given education for. So I wanted to kind of provide that and give a wider audience for these type of topics. So yeah, that's kind of where it came from. It was also heavily inspired by Gender Infinity, which was a trans conference that was held in Houston for a few years until this they disbanded. But they would have multiple workshops of panelists or medical professionals to give information about the topics. And so that it was also inspired by that.
BrettAnd it looks like you have an entire itinerary, basically. It starts at two, and then you kind of got some different things, like you can meet and greet with the orgs, you've got the education things. Are they gonna be like breakouts or is it how is it gonna kind of be structured?
SPEAKER_06I was thinking, so it would be cool later on if this does become a bigger event to have breakout sessions, people to sign up for the different workshops. But for this event, as our first we're gonna try to see about doing just like a one presentation style with four main presenters giving 20 to 30 minutes each, and then they have their platform and then um give their spiel in QA's and stuff during the event, and then having HIV testing on the side and a side room, and then before and after event, it's open for people to visit all the tables of participating organizations and finding out more resources or collecting resources. And there'll be raffles too. Oh yeah, we'll have to do that. What are you raffling off? Do you know what the prices are?
SPEAKER_01We reached out to Plume and Plume sent us a um a package because unfortunately they are unable to attend this event. So shout out to Plume for um our free raffle prize. I I don't know what's in it. They sent it to the mystery. Yeah, it's definitely a mystery. They don't want to uh open it in front of all of us, so we have yet to get all of it together.
BrettIs there anything that I have to register for? If I don't get there right at two, can I still come? I mean, what what's kind of the cave to that?
SPEAKER_06It's a come and go. We just ask for you to be respectful to the presenters when you're quietly coming out.
SPEAKER_01We do ask to pre-register right now because there are organizations that we've partnered with that are asking for that data. So we do ask uh to pre-register. We do have a link on our social media and our website. You can go to transvoices.life and under the wellness fare page, it mentions the registration. Um, it asks questions about your STI, like um like knowledge and like stats and whether you are aware of your stats and stuff like that. So that information is kind of important. We will have a sign on uh sign in like when they do come to the event again for these larger organizations that we've partnered with that are requesting this data. So it is it is very important.
BrettI think it's one of those things we don't have a lot of data around this community. So it is interesting to provide that for these people that are providing affirming care.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yes, definitely. Um, I just wanted to share to answer the previous question about raffles. It's not just from Plume, it's from all of our 24 plus organizations who are helping contribute us in a small way to each of our goodie bags. So it could be t-shirts, hats, it could be small little care packages. It it just depends on which what each org is participating in providing in our uh gift bags, but it is obviously free and whatever organizations can contribute, but it's also an incentive for people to come because we all love prizes. And free stuff.
BrettYou had me at free stuff. There we go. And meeting and greeting with orgs. You mentioned earlier that there are several organizations in the community, and you've got 24 coming to this, right? Yes.
SPEAKER_04I th or right are they all gonna be there in person, Theo?
Where Trans Resources Come From
SPEAKER_06Yeah. So there's gonna be twenty-four, maybe twenty-three in person. Okay. And then it's a great number.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
BrettYeah. It's definitely the biggest collab that we've done to date. Well, did you find it hard to find resources as a trans community? I mean, is it like where do you go when you want advice on therapies or gender-affirming care or things like that? Do you I know I've heard Eli's story a little bit, but Right.
SPEAKER_06For me, I've I've been pretty active in the trans community since 2018, and I've attended a lot of these organizations, and a lot of times it's like just connecting with other trans people and knowing who they go to for medical care or who they go to for therapy, or what products that they use that are affirming to their gender, and just connecting through people that way. Um, but there's also been like like in past events for other organizations where they do provide like workshops or trainings or um I guess like ways to connect to resources. Currently, a really good resource is the trans wellness program at the Montreal Center, and they just hired on Darren and Rashida. If you checked out our last podcast, they can they go in further detail about what resources they provide. But um basically they are located at the Montro Center. If you ask for Darren or Rashida, they can help guide you to either just starting your gender journey, leading you to providers in the area or other services, like if you're hoping to move out of Texas there. They have all kinds of things related to trans people.
BrettYeah, and that's Darren and Rashida at the Montreal Center with the trans wellness program, correct?
SPEAKER_06Yes, that is correct.
BrettYou know, you mentioned one of the things that I wanted to ask you all about. You mentioned a resource that gives people sort of an exit plan from Texas, which to me is like I'm hearing more and more about this. I work with a man who just happens to be trans at my work, and we talk about this all the time about where are we going to go if things get worse? Should we go now? What's what's happening? How do you reconcile being here with all the legislation and all the dis I mean, let's face it, it's discrimination in our state. Like, how do you find the I don't know, the courage and the uh the wherewithal to stay here and kind of fight this good fight? It's a good question.
SPEAKER_04And personally, I if things continue in the this direction and they don't improve, I definitely don't want to stay here long term. And I was very hesitant to move here in the first place, but for me, it was out of financial necessity because my parents, I, you know, uh needed to move in with my parents, and my parents live here. So um that was the only reason I moved here, but I was very scared to come here. I do think. that it helps a lot that the community here is so large and connecting a lot with the community has helped a lot for me at least to deal with the discrimination. There are some things that community like community only goes so far when your literal rights are threatened. Like I can't get a driver's license. Even though when I lived in Arizona, I had a driver's license that had a male gender marker on it and legally changed my gender marker to male years and years ago. But despite that, when I tried to get a driver's license in Texas with the uh marker male, they denied me simply because of my birth certificate still saying female. So that's an example where um I and I ultimately in this case I decided that I I'm just not going to drive a car while I'm living here because I'd rather keep my license that has my correct marker on it. But it's a very tough, you know, a lot of people don't have the privilege of of making that choice. And it is a very scary time to be living in this state for sure.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. So my favorite thing about what you just said Robin is the last part where it's like this is the this is what we call the invisible struggle the things that people who are not in the trans community would never think about what it was like, you know, to be in this conundrum. I haven't had a hysterectomy yet because I know that you know my natural organs produce estrogen and I know that if you don't if you in Texas given that there's like this that we know that there are people in power who are trying to stop access for hormone replacement therapy for trans people, my thought is that I'm keeping my stuff, right? Because I'm scared that one day they're gonna outlaw us being able to get testosterone. And you know scientifically if we don't have any kind of hormones in our body producing regular, you know, appropriate amounts of hormones for us, it's deadly. And so I'm literally this is not this is definitely another version of you know my body your choice you know so that kind of that I'm gonna make a parallel there between your struggle and mine because I see one. It's like the invisible thing that people wouldn't think of. It's not just about names. It's not just about it it's about a livelihood. Yeah. I just had a stepper to say that.
SPEAKER_04Definitely and that actually reminds me that I was trying to get a hysterectomy here in Texas just a few months ago and it was approved by insurance and everything. But then like a couple weeks before it was scheduled to happen, they the hospital reached out to me and told me that it that they couldn't accommodate the surgery and I I spoke to my surgeon about that and she was furious with them because they basically were claiming that they would no longer do elective hysterectomies. But all hysterectomies are typically considered elective if for example like a cisgender woman gets one. So basically this hospital was denying me um because of me being trans. So they are uh they are taking away our rights to medically transition and and that's a very valid fear worrying about access to like testosterone and I hadn't actually thought about like losing access to that and then how that would be a problem if I did have a hysterectomy but now that you talk about that that's another very valid uh fear to have yeah exactly I don't think enough people in the world know how it feels to have to have to think about those things.
Finding Doctors HRT And Practical Workarounds
SPEAKER_05That's what we call privilege. Yes.
BrettWell it just makes me so angry that the government has any say in any kind of medical or identity thing. It just it goes against everything that I think should be in place. There is a lot to look at with our current politics. My biggest fear though is that if we have this huge migration and there's nobody here to fight these fights, that the ones that are stuck here for some reason or another, you know, they just they get swept into the whole handmaid's tale scenario. It's just it's frightening and it really is. And I always think about like what am I going to do? Like how will I start this like underground railroad for testosterone for people if they do that. Yeah. Because it is it shouldn't be that hard to get it the access to it um and and any kind of gender affirming here. Especially when we're talking about this is your identity. I mean come on this is what your doctor even supports. So I just I don't understand why they would have any say there. But definitely makes me angry. But I am so glad that you are out here to address some of this and to provide people with resources like that. And I think that that's gonna be probably a benchmark for this transsexual wellness and health fair on April nineteenth is that you were going to give people some ideas about where they can go for that. So and it's really hard. How do you find an affirming doctor? How do you go about doing that?
SPEAKER_06You're just asking the community like who they go to is that correct so that's how I I found a lot of providers and I prov I I started creating a list of document of different categories of providers that sir have served the trans community and is well regarded in our circles. And so a lot of it is just word of mouth and then I've just collected the data and created like a document of who these people are and where their office is or where they work and stuff.
SPEAKER_04And another barrier could be insurances of course or wait times like with um some places like legacy I think the wait time can be long. Right.
SPEAKER_01But it also depends so like I know when I first started transitioning I I had blue cross blue shield through my ex-wife who worked with HEB. HE B is actually really get great for LGBT care. And so they paid for like my top surgery and everything. So that was really incredible. But they had um HEB had blue cross blue shield reps that literally were for the LGBT community only and so they helped me find my doctors at the time I found some doctor in spring. But even though they found her she wasn't really super informative of things. And so she mentioned Julia Kovax with Village Medical and I pretty much stuck with her um until I moved out to Austin. And then I still kind of kept her around and I would travel the three hours back and forth if I needed to see her. But I'm right now in my transition that I I don't need to see a doctor except to get testosterone refills and just get my labs done every six months yeah every six months or a year. So right now I just met with another village medical provider because the one out in Austin that I found got swooped up by so funny, the company that I work for which I'm not too thrilled about. So I was like let me go back to village medical that has not been acquired and Covacks as we've mentioned the the long wait list. And so like I went to another provider in Kovax's office and I did ask them hey do you mind taking care of my testosterone like refills my care and she did turn around to me and she's like I'm gonna be honest with you I have no idea anything of this sort and I just turned around to her and I was like girl I just need you to draw some labs and tell me my my numbers that's it we are at the point where I don't need you to handhold me and tell me this and I don't need to educate you on that. I just need somebody to draw my labs and read me my numbers. So I don't think you need like it would be wonderful. It would be wonderful if we lived in a world where they we had more providers that are educated in this but you can all also take what you got and what I've got is a long list of scheduling issues with a provider that does know and is educated. And then I have a provider that works in the same office that isn't educated, but I also don't need them educating me and I don't need to educate them. That's it. So you know it really it really depends on where you are on your transition in your spectrum. I would not say go to that provider that I saw that isn't educated if you're going to start HRT tomorrow. I I don't recommend doing that. But if you're a year maybe two years into your transition three years into your like what you need you just need your labs and your refills. So do what you got to do and find the provider that is willing and they might not be willing. She could have like said no afterwards but after I told her all I need her to do is just draw my lab, she's like yeah I got you and I was like okay girl like we're gonna we're gonna get along great we're gonna have a great relationship and but if she said no I would have respected that and I would have found somebody else but you know there's so much to think about and I I thank you all for kind of going through all of it and being so transparent unintended about all of these issues.
BrettAnd I definitely think you know this I just got so excited when I found your podcast. I got so excited when I realized that you were doing a support group activity days project days this transsexual wellness and health care it's going to be at the Montrose Center but is it do you know the rooms that it's going to be in it's in room 106 and 107 combined across on the first floor across the elevators. Okay. So really easy to find it's right when you walk in you don't have to wander around looking for okay well it starts at two runs until five is that right it could be a I mean it's it's free to for people to linger a little after five if needed um to connect with the orgs and ask questions and whatnot.
SPEAKER_06But yeah.
BrettYeah.
SPEAKER_01And we can find transvoices at transvoices.life correct yeah and that's where I can connect with all of your support group your podcast your wellness fair your project days everything else you could even go on our website to our Houston chapter information and literally see our Google calendar which is updated with all of our events and activities and collaborations that we do with other events and organizations and sync that calendar to your device so you don't even have to check our website and stuff. You could literally sign up go on our website click the little sync button onto the Google calendar it syncs up to any device and uh you can just get notified that way and be like I have something this evening I've I've got to go to Transway.
SPEAKER_06Yes I've got to go to the support group right now. You're more of an Instagram person like I am versus website and calendar checking we post all our event flyers on Instagram and that's a good way to stay connected and we also have a newsletter that we send out at the beginning of every month with uh the flyers and information of all our upcoming events and a summary of our past events too.
Spamalot Roles And Tour Life
BrettWell I know we dove into some really serious stuff and I think it's a serious time and it's a sobering time for our community but I am just so glad to see you out here and I'm so glad to hear your voices. The podcast is so much fun. The episode on intersectionality and uh the holidays all of that I just so wonderful to hear this. So I'm so excited to possibly partner with you all have you as guests do whatever I can to bring you in because I think uplifting your voices just helps queer voices and so I really appreciate it. And we will definitely see you on April 19th. Awesome thank you so much. Yes thank you hi there this is Brett Cullum and I am joined by Ellis C. Dawson is coming to Houston with a tour of Spamalot sponsored by Tuts. Now it runs April 15th through the 26th at the Hobby Center. It is a musical version of loosely I guess Money Python and the Holy Grail and likely one of the funniest shows that you will ever see so welcome Ellis thank you for joining me to talk all things Spamalot thank you so much for having me. So tell me who do you play in Spamalot?
SPEAKER_02I play a plethora of characters actually just three I play uh mainly Sir Bedevere um but you meet me as Mrs. Galahad Dennis's mother who then turns into Sir Galahad um and then I also play the Concorde which is Glancelot's Concorde so but you mostly see me as Sir Bedevere but all of the nights we play multiple roles which is very Monty Python esque very spare of that of that genre.
BrettSo tell me um Els, how did you end up in this show?
What Monty Python Humor Is
Pandemic Pivot And For The Boys
SPEAKER_02Did you go through a normal audition process or I mean I did I did prior to booking this show I was doing an out of town tryout at the old globe of this show trying to come to Broadway called Regency Girls which was directed by Josh Rhodes. I was in the ensemble and I understudied Nick Walker who was Sir Galahad in the recent revival of Spam a lot on Broadway and we were backstage and Josh Rhodes directed Spam a lot and was going to direct the tour and we were uh backstage and Nick said hey have you ever considered being in Monty Python Spam a lot and I was like I don't know that's the show for me but I mean I'm open to it and I and I didn't really think much of it and I did the show and I was hoping you know the director Josh liked me. I was like I hope he likes me because he's really awesome a great director and then a few months later I got an appointment uh for the tour and I was like oh okay and then um yeah and then a few callbacks later I found out I booked the roles never say never never say never was this ever on your radar though a Money Python show? No not at all. I mean prior to this my last show was Hamilton. I did Hamilton for two and a half years very different. Very different um yeah I just never especially being a um a black man that uh like uh I know and I also was a genie standby so I know James Monroe Eigelhart who was the genie who won the Tony was King Arthur and I know Nick who is black was Sir Galahad but it just didn't I was like I don't I never saw myself in this shot I'd never seen the movie but uh I'm glad that Josh Rhodes and the uh lead producer uh Jeffrey Finn did to take a chance um on me and I got to learn a lot. I was out of the night I think I knew the least about Monty Python. Um so I had a lot of catching up to do. So I was uh I was like building the plane as I was flying it uh but they were so gracious in helping me learn about the style of comedy that it is but it is such a joy to do every night uh it's really really fun and and there's a lot of improv so it's great it's great to be a part of improv is a scary word um so it's it's kind of fun I mean what do you how do you describe the the humor of Monty Python if like somebody was not even familiar with it how would you describe it to them? I feel like it's a little bit of everything. You have there's um there's a a few like highbrow jokes there's some lowbrow jokes there's some stuff in the middle so I think there's stuff for everybody. There's potty humor. So it's a wide array of comedy it's flick it's really goofy. It's a show where you can just like come in and turn off your brain meaning like the woes of the world of everything that's happening around us and just sit and enjoy and allow yourself to be surprised by the antics that are happening on stage. Well tell me a little bit about you Alice how did you get into acting and singing what was the start of all this yeah I I want to say I was a shy kid I feel like this is like everybody's story. Shy kid and I grew up singing in church and my mom says I sang before I talked so I knew they knew I had the gift for singing and then maybe about when I was 11 or 12 uh we got a new pastor of our church and his sister was a drama teacher and she decided to put on like a Christmas play and it was a it was like a a version of the best Christmas pageant ever and I auditioned uh to play one of the siblings and they're supposed to be really like tough and bad and whatever and I tried and she like you're not good at that but go outside look at these side this is like the nerdy character because really funny and I was like okay well I guess I'm just gonna put on my best impression of Steve Urkel so I did that and uh thought it was really really funny uh I did the show and then she put me aside afterwards and like have you ever thought about did you know you could sing and act and dance all at the same time it's called musical theater. And I was like oh no I didn't know what that was and she showed me some videos and she introduced me to community theater. Community theater was a huge part of my life um and then I started taking it more seriously I went to performing arts high school that turned into me going to college for theater I got an agent and then it's and then I've been working rather consistently since uh 2016 once I graduated college. So it kind of it was like one thing after the other it kind of just kept happening and before I knew it I was a full blown I'm proud of being a thesmian. I noticed you gave me that date 2016 what was the pandemic like for you uh 2016 I had the pandemic what happened okay so 2016 I graduated college the end of 2016 I booked Aladdin the first national tour I did that until 2019 and then I did an out of town trial to the show at ART Moby Dick and then the world shut down and it was obviously a very hard time but I got to sit down with myself and be like okay what else do you want to do? And I weirdly enough started writing um and within that time created a very popular web series a black queer web series called For the Boys that I shot with my writing partner in the middle of the pandemic there wasn't a vaccine. We were all Broadway actors out of work and like we don't have anything to do so let's let's do this and I got a group of friends together. It's like Sex in the city meets insecure Easter's insecure like black and fear 20 somethings in New York City and we wrote that and uh weirdly it was a time of discovery for me. I learned that I really wanted to tell stories that um that really showcase people who were like me I I didn't see myself on television and I wasn't in the web series. I was just the creator and the director so yeah it was a it was a strange but really fruitful time. It's strange to say that because I know it was such a traumatic time as well. Yeah. And is that something we can still see what's it called it's called For the Boys. Yes it's on YouTube. Funnily enough it got the attention of Coleman Domingo and this was right before he won the Emmy and he reached out to me and my writing partner and he got us in contact with Sarah Jessica Parker's production company which is Pretty Matches and his production company Edith Production and her production company Pretty Matches they teamed together with me and my writing partner. We pitched the show to a whole bunch of networks in 2022 sold a show in 2023 to Showtime and then the writer strike with actor strike happened. It went pretty far but then Harry Mount bought Showtime Skydance had the merger they gutted their comedy department and it's it's a little it's a bit of a different landscape works aren't too keen on buying a show about a black queer that is about three black queer men right now. But it was a crazy experience I sold a TV show while I was the handle musical it was insane but uh that all actually came from the pandemic and it it really sealed my passion to create and uh uh step outside of just acting you guys always make me feel so bad about the pandemic because I swear I think all I did was watch Tiger King and drink a lot of wine. That is okay. Listen we we all cope with it differently I think I just was like I don't know just sitting still for that long I had never done that before so like it was just like this like fight or flight of like what am I gonna do what am I gonna do? And that just kind of happened. I mean also while I was in the pandemic I perfected a fried chicken recipe.
BrettI fried chicken like every day you got me at that extreme so let me ask you going back to acting do you have any of your uh do you have any favorite roles that you've played?
SPEAKER_02I mean I used to Mr Hamilton my gosh yeah I was a standby for um Aaron Burr, George Washington uh Lafayette um slash Thomas Jefferson and uh yeah I think Aaron Burr is just I think one of the best written roles in musical theater and the canon I think there's like very few that line up it's like one of the best and to be able to step into those shoes when I was able to was just insane. It's my favorite experience ever.
BrettOh I would kill to be on that show. That's an amazing experience. So what do you want to do next? I mean what's after how long are you on this tour? It's it's a while.
SPEAKER_02Yeah we're on the road for a year and we started in November so I believe I'm done in November as of now I really want to just create like I I'm a multi-hyphen it so I do a lot of things. I also do photography. I did that full time as you can tell I don't like sitting behind a desk from me telling you like I do this and I do that. So um I just want to create really I don't actually know what's next moving back to New York after being a waste so long yeah and continue to write and and things like that.
BrettLet me ask you this are you do you have a partner or anything like that? No I don't maybe that's next up on the agenda. No we'll see yeah well Ellis thank you so much I am so excited to see you in Spamalot. It's one of those shows that just it's so much fun. Yeah I mean it's just it's one of those that like and and right now I feel like the world probably needs that a little bit.
Why Comedy Theater Matters Now
SPEAKER_02Yeah I say it's like it's um very Early on in the process, we had tour. We had tour. We had press. And I said it's it's like a bomb right now. Like we all need this. It's theater feels like church in the sense that it's just a communal experience. We all come for the for the purpose to feel something. Um and it's and specifically in this show, you come to laugh. Like there's not much plot. You know, it's it's a bunch of things kind of put together. Um the plot is super it it's linear in the fact that it's like, you know, King Arthur is in search of a holy grail, that's what it is. But along the way, he meets this group of characters, um, that are just so out of this world, and I think it's my favorite thing, you know, performing eight times a week indeed Dante. Um and there are times where, of course, I'm like, oh my gosh, I just would rather be in bed watch I would be in bed watching 90-day fiance. But I get to the theater and we hear that overture play, and then Major Attaway, who's our King Arthur, comes out and with the little coconut with uh Blake Siegel, who's our cassie, and then you just hear this uproarious applause, and then I'm like, let's do it, let's go, let's go. And every time it doesn't fail, every time he breaks the curtain, um, and they start applauding and they start laughing, and it's like, okay, and then as soon as I make my first appearance, I play Mrs. Galahad, so I wear this 20-pound frock with boobs, and I have this uh wig, and of course I have facial hair, so it's very funny, and I walk differently, and I speak in this really high nasal voice. As soon as I say my first line, it's a lot of laughter, and it it's like, oh, this is why I do what I do, this is why I do what I do, and specifically I'm so blessed to be in the show. We are we are in uncharted territory in the country. So to to be there, and it's it's really powerful when it all lines up and you know, there's some shows, some nights of being in Spamalon where we're all on the same page, the cast, the crew, the audience, and it's like it's all right there. It's just it's such a beautiful experience, and I think that's why people should come see the show. I love leaving the stage door, and people are like, I needed this, I really, really needed this. And I'm like, I I'm so glad that I get to be a small part of that.
BrettWe're glad to see you. I can't wait. Spam a lot. It's sponsored by Touch. It's coming April 15th through the 26th at the Houston Hobby Center. So come say hi to LSC Dawson at the back thing. We can find out about your web series and we can we can all rally and and petition Coleman Domingo to make this television show happen. But in the meantime, just break legs doing like bad drag in Monty Python.
SPEAKER_02Yes, thank you so much.
BrettHi there, this is Brett Cullum, and the Alley Theater is going to be producing August Wilson's Fences. Opens April 17th, runs through May 10th. It's gonna be on the big stage, the Hubbard Theater. It's directed by Eileen Morris. And today I have a cast member with me, uh, Kendrick or KB Brown with me. So welcome, Kendrick.
SPEAKER_00Oh, thank you. I appreciate you for having me. Thank you. Thank you so much.
BrettWell, okay, so fences.
SPEAKER_00Who are you playing in this? Uh I'm playing the role of Lions. Oh, yeah. Yeah, this is this is like my second time playing it. Uh, and this is one of my favorite plays. So I'm very, very excited to be at the alley with this one.
BrettYeah, I was gonna ask you what it means to be doing, I mean, August Wilson at the alley. That is just it's a great combo. Um, but what does it mean to you to be sharing this piece with the alley?
SPEAKER_00You know what? It actually means a lot, and I'm gonna tell you exactly why. Because in high school, ninth grade, the first play I ever read was Fences. In our English class, GT Honors, English, I want to say one or two. It was the first play I ever read, and I didn't know that theater was written like this. I always thought about just Broadway and musicals and things like that. That was my aspect of theater at that time. Because I wasn't even in theater at that time. So fast forward, then it goes to my senior year, I've still never seen a play. So the first play I ever went to was Jitney at the alley. And now, full circle now, I'm at the alley playing Fences, the first play I ever read with some of the actual cast members that were in Jitney at the time of that show. I saw my senior year in high school. It's like the biggest blessing in the world. Like, it's like it's crazy. It's like the theater gods were here for me on this one. You know what I mean?
Black Theater Community And Career Roots
BrettThat is crazy. Well, you know, I saw all my sons, I think it was the first play that I saw, and I saw it at the alley. So maybe one day I'll get to be in North Miller. I'll just like maybe it's like a karmic circle, but that's amazing. No, I know speaking of theaters, you were with the ensemble and you've done some stuff there. What does black theater mean to that community? I mean, what is it that makes it special for them?
SPEAKER_00You know what? For me, what I really learned working there over these many, many years, it's a family. The community is a big, big, big thing. Like my they know my wife, they know my kids, I know other people's spouses, their kids. It's like a big community. It's not just theater, which is a big part of it, but we always congregate, talk. It's like a big, big, big, big community. And that's one thing that I really, really, really love working at the ensemble because, you know, that community is something that we really, really need, especially in these times. And to go to a place where you can feel safe, to have a good conversation, you feel secure to talk about whatever's going on with people that understand where you're coming from is just it's just a good feeling. So working at the ensemble has been an ultimate blessing for me, especially since it's been the beginning of my professional career.
BrettYeah. When did you start with the ensemble?
SPEAKER_00Actually, in 2007. My first show was One Monkey Don't Stop No Show. Yeah. Uh, and I won my first Georgia Award. So I was, I was, I was super, super excited. Super, super excited. So ever since then, I never never stopped.
BrettYeah, is this your first time to be on the the big alley stage? It absolutely is. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Oh, awesome. Tell me a little bit about the audition. What was it like auditioning for this?
SPEAKER_00Uh well, uh, I got the audition notice maybe two weeks ahead. Uh I prepared for a week. Uh, I went over the lines, I knew it seen. They sent it to us, they sent us the sides, and I memorized it. I went through it, made sure I was ready, I was prepared. Like I really, really, really wanted this role, especially at the Alley Theater in Houston, being that I'm from the city. I really, really wanted my people to come see me on one of the biggest stages in in the world. So I I really wanted it. I prepared. Once I went into the audition, we had to re uh record it so that everybody could see it. Uh, we read through it, and once we read through it, I honestly felt like, you know, uh this was maybe a calling that was gonna come my way. And I'm so thankful that it did.
BrettWell, yeah. Tell me about uh who else is in this cast?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, Morris, uh, who's playing Bono. Uh, of course, my guy David Rainey, who's playing Troy, uh, Michelle Elaine, who is playing, well, I'm forgetting character names right now, Rose, and then my uh Amari Patton, who is playing the role of Corey, as well as Mila and Paisley, who is playing the role of Raina, the young girl. So uh it's a great, great, great, great cast. Like I said, I've worked with David before, I've worked with Alex before, I've worked with Michelle before. This is my first time working with Aramie, but he's an awesome, awesome actor. Very, very dedicated and detailed. Love working with him. And then I've taught Paisley, so it was wonderful. And this is my first time working with Mila, the young girl, and and then they're wonderful, wonderful, joyous, joyous, joyous children to watch.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I forgot, I forgot my guy uh Timothy Eric, who's playing the role of Gabriel as well. Uh Timothy is every movie. That's my guy. That's my guy every day. Yeah, thank you, Carol.
What Fences Says About Family
BrettYes, yes. So, you know, we're talking about this play, and and you and I, I mean, obviously we're like theater uh nerds, if you will. So we know we know fences, right? Yes. But if you were gonna describe this play to somebody that had never seen it, what would you say it fences is about?
SPEAKER_00I would say it's a story about family, uh a struggle, how to get through those struggles, uh how to deal with, if I couldn't find a better term, some demons that we deal with, traumas that we may have had growing up that come back and deal with us even in our adulthood and how we approach things. It's just a it's a gambit of like family interactions and things that you experience on highs and lows of friendships, marriage, and just community. So, you know, how you deal with workspace and dealing with the times that we're in, how race plays within the fact of ideology and how you think about things. So it's just a a gambit of a family dealing with all those issues. That's what I would say.
BrettWell, how did you get into acting growing up? Like you mentioned that you read this was like one of the first plays you read, but Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Advice For Young Actors
SPEAKER_00Like, so I wasn't actually a football player. Uh so uh one of our football teammates, he was in a play, uh, Miss Everett's boys at the school. So I went to see the play, and I was looking at the play, and I'm like, he's good, but I think I could do this better than him. So then I was like, all right, any audition that comes up next, I'm gonna go ahead and try this out. And once I uh went to an audition, I actually made it. And then once I made it, I got into the class and I had a great teacher, uh Ezekiel Morgan, when I was in high school at Realer Ridge. Uh and and he would do monologues in the middle of all this chaos and make all the chaos stop and pay attention to him. So I was very, very attracted to how he could use his voice, his tones, his colors, his vocal variety and control a room, even in total chaos. So I loved it, and then I I kind of grew into it and and then just indulged my life into making sure theater was top priority as far as my craft is concerned. Yes, sir.
BrettDo you have like a favorite role you've done? Is there one that you look back on and say, wow, that was that was awesome?
SPEAKER_00You know, honestly, I've done I've been in the piano lesson. Any August Wilson piece I've done, yeah. That that seven guitars, now fences, this any August Wilson piece has been awesome. But my first, my first actual professional production of One Monkey No Stop, No Show at the Ensemble, I would have to say that's my my best experience as far as getting into the professional world and seeing how it goes and and the joy that people have coming to work, which is something that I love even coming to the alley. Like everybody loves coming into the space, getting to work. We really love it. So it's something that I I enjoy. So that's what really got me into theater.
BrettYeah. If there's a little Kendrick out there, what would you say to like a young actor? What would you, what advice would you give them?
SPEAKER_00I would say take your life experiences, indulge in them, enjoy life, because those experience, experiences relate on stage. Take anything, observe, sit down, be quiet, listen, and take in because all those things that you can take in, you can use for roles, uh, different aspects of personalities that you want to be. So all those things played into helping me become a uh an actor. Like I would literally sit on a bench in a park and just be quiet and observe and just watch, take in voices, taking noises, how people react to the noises and sounds and things. And and I use those things on stage with like little nuances, even when I don't have lines or or I don't not important, but I'm there. It's something that has to keep my mind focused or the audience, like, why is he there? What is his point? And those little things of seeing and observing help me on stage. So those are things I would tell a young, a young actor.
BrettIt's so funny how it's about listening. It's so funny how it's about taking in the other stuff around you. I think everybody thinks of it as like this, you know, I'm the spotlight, I'm this, I'm that. But they always tell you every acting teacher I've ever had, acting is reacting. So we're we're gonna be excited to see you react to August Wilson's fences at the alley, April 17th through May the 10th. Kendrick Brown and a cast that is just stacked. I mean, I cannot believe how many people are in this. It's gonna be amazing. So thank you for taking the time to talk about it. I'm excited. I um just when I saw this on the season, I was like, yes, yeah, it's time to bring this. Yeah, me too. Yeah, yeah, long overdue. So I'm excited to see it. But thank you. Thank you. I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_00Have a good one.
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SPEAKER_08This has been Queer Voices, heard on KPFT Houston, and as a podcast available from several podcasting sources. Check our webpage queervoices.org for more information. Queer Voices executive producer is Brian Lavinka. Deborah Moncrief Bell is co-producer, Brett Cullum and David Mendoza Krustman are contributors.
Ghost of GlennSome of the material in this program has been edited to improve clarity at runtime. This program does not endorse any political views or animal species.
