Every Saturday Night (A Harlem of the West Musical)

Jazz and the Fillmore District taking center stage in San Francisco. It's called Every Saturday Night, a Harlem of the West musical. It's playing at American Conservatory Theater through November 1st, and it's based on the creator's experience growing up in the Fillmore and seeing that area change. We're joined now by Daryl V. Jones and Kathleen Ridley, two of the actors in Every Saturday Night. Thank you both for joining us, Daryl and Kathleen, today. Appreciate it. Thank you. Good morning. So, first of all, what is Every Saturday Night about? Kathleen, I'll start with you. Every Saturday Night is a musical about the life and the family of Danny Duncan. His mother ran an after-hours club in the 50s in the Fillmore District because the clubs would close and the black people would come there to spend, like, the rest of the evening into the wee hours, and that was how she supported herself and was able to raise her son and buy her house. And what is your, you're in the play, what is your character? I play Ardella. I play that role. You play that role. And Daryl, what is your role in the play? Well, I actually play a character based on Danny. The name has been changed to Dante. And it is based on Danny's life, but there's a little bit of fiction added to the character as well. Okay, yeah, a little creative license, if you will. Jazz plays a central role in this production. How does it help, Daryl? Tell the story. well it is the foundation of the music that that this story uh that comes alive in this story the story is a celebration of the jazz and the you know the the speakeasy the the after hours in the Fillmore and the the it's such a joyous um score the jazz just lifts you up and even though So, you know, even though things were hard for African-Americans, when that, they had music always to turn to. So these types of environments, these speakeasies, these after-hours clubs, if you will, were there to help, you know, add a sense of normalcy. You know, at least when you're looking at this, it adds that sense of normalcy, happy, playing, dancing, that type of thing, right, Kathleen? It's like experiencing that joy, coming together late at night with all us folks, eating food, drinking liquor, dancing, playing music, and just experiencing the joy and the exuberance. Without having to worry about anything that's going on. Right, in those moments, not worrying about that. San Francisco, it does explore how San Francisco has changed over the decades. Why does the story, Kathleen, feel relevant today? It feels relevant today because we're talking a lot about what we call gentrification now, which in the 50s was the pushing of the black community out of the Fillmore District, and there's still so much with rising prices everywhere, with people being pushed out of San Francisco, of what has been their home and their roots for so long. It's wonderful in this show is that we do have the past in the 1950s, and then we have half of the play is set in the present. So we're reflecting both of those while we're doing this show. Do you hope it somehow leads to some sort of resurgence as the way it used to be, and a celebration of that in the future? I think we hope that people become aware that pushing people out of their communities is problematic. You lose the culture. You lose the culture. It becomes like everything else. Right. I mean, what is now called the West End was at one time the Fillmore, and it was a haven for the African-American community. The Harlem of the West. The Harlem of the West. For some people, you know, someone who loves San Francisco, jazz or musical theater, why should they come and see every Saturday night? They should come and see every Saturday night for the joyful experience, for the music, for the story, to learn something maybe about a community or an area that they didn't know about, and just to commune with other theater goers, experiencing something together. Because we're so separated in society now, I feel like that it's a wonderful place to bring people together. And tickets, you were going to say something, Daryl, I want to get your thoughts. And they should just come because it is a heck of a lot of fun. Looks like a fun, we saw the video just a moment ago. funny yeah not only is it very dramatic at times it's also hysterically funny and the music and singing are beyond compare so the tickets are available now it runs through november 1st right tickets are available now and and and where are you going to get the tickets for those who are watching today sfbatco.org s-f-b-a-t-c-o.org what's it stand for um san francisco bay area theater company and um it's we're performing at the strand theater which is TACT theater which is on mission i mean on market on market the strand theater okay so that's happening right now who wrote the play who's behind the play was written by danny duncan himself and michael gene sullivan right of our bay area uh theater legends so you have these bay area legends that are talking about the bay area and doing it so in art i mean that's got to be something for you both to be performing of something like this, right? Oh, yes, yes. It's a wonderful experience. And the music also is composed by Danny Duncan. Oh, wow. Okay, so it's all Bay Area. Yeah. You've got to get out and see this, man. This sounds fantastic. Kathy Ridley and Daryl B. Jones, thank you so much for joining us today. Every Saturday night, a Harlem of the West musical. A beautiful story. Thank you both so much for stopping by today. And we're hoping our viewers over there get a chance to see it at the Strand Theater in San Francisco through the end of this month. We'll leave you as we go to break with some images of that play that you'll be able to go and see in person over in the Fillmore.