More Than A Banana Dance, Deborah Cox Is Josephine Baker

Photo by Paul Tate dePoo III 

When you hear the name Josephine Baker, a few things come to people’s mind, such as banana, dance or french ingenue. However, she was so much more than something pretty for people to gawk at. The actress, singer, dancer broke barriers and blurred color lines with her success overseas becoming one of the most decorated entertainers of her time. With a story like that, this show can’t just be done small scale. “You have to really visualize, you really have to see—you have to be in the room. It deserves a Broadway stage,” says Deborah Cox, the Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling recording singer/actress embodying Josephine Baker in Asolo Repertory Theatre’s world premiere of the new musical Josephine. “She is one of our icons and that deserves recognition.”

Deborah Cox in Asolo Rep’s production of JOSEPHINE. Photo by Paul Tate dePoo III

The new musical revolves around Baker’s stint as the star of the Folies-Bergere in Paris from 1939-45, her scandalous affair with Swedish Crown Prince Gustav IV, and her service in the French Resistance during World War II. Featuring a book by Ellen Weston and Mark Hampton; music by Stephen Dorff; and lyrics by Emmy Award winner John Bettis, with direction and choreography by two-time Tony Award nominee Joey McKneely.

Broadway Black recently sat down with Ms. Cox to talk about Josephine’s legacy, what she hopes for Josephine’s future, and why she’s an “unsung hero.”

Broadway Black: Why did you choose to take on this project?

Deborah Cox: Well because I was going to be originating the role. I pick roles and I chose projects that I’m passionate about and this one has been near to my heart for a long time. And because I think that the story is one coming of age story that really changed the game of her time. A black woman, a woman who’s fearless, head on, and faced all types of adversity and became selfless, became this war hero. There’s just so many things we learn about her character and her vision for herself and of herself that I don’t think has ever been captured in a production.

BB: Josephine is really known for her dancing and I imagine the role is physically challenging, how did you prepare for that?

DC: I did a lot of pilates, a lot of ballet (laughs). Normally if I have a show I don’t have to warm up an hour before. I can do 20 minutes and be good. With this show, I have to warm-up and hour before because I’m a dancer now and I have to think like a dancer.

BB: So have you found anything that you found shocking, or something you and Josephine had in common?

DC: I feel like there was so much emphasis on banana dance and those sorts of things. We all know she used her sexuality but she did so, to get certain things done. She knew that it was going to distract people, but it was very clever because she got a lot of things accomplished and it was right under their noses. I think that is a testament to this woman’s fearlessness and ferociousness. To be able to go out and singlehandedly do so many things to get her point across, to access her vision. What she felt for humanity, human rights, and civil rights— knowing she came from such poverty here in the US. Even her rise to stardom in such a short time and the things she accomplished in that time. She was a pilot — I mean she was a pilot for God’s sake! Most people don’t know, she came back [from France] and spoke in Washington with Martin Luther King Jr. 

Cast of Asolo Rep’s production of JOSEPHINE. Photo by Paul Tate dePoo II

BB: Right? And an international spy!

DC: Yeah! You know, I’m just in awe of her legacy and what she’s done and in that time.

BB: Baker had an amazing career and she reached international success and you’ve also done the same with your music career. You’ve also landed roles on Broadway in Aida and Jekyll and Hyde and you’re doing The Bodyguard musical this summer. What made you want to pursue musical theater?

DC: Well a lot of people don’t know that’s where I started. I went to a performing arts high school and I did tons of productions like Oliver and Mama I Wanna Sing, where I started in the chorus and this was all before I had my recording career. I’ve paid my dues. I always had an affinity for musicals. For all of it: singing, acting, and dancing. I fell in love with shows like “Fame” where they showed off these triple threats. So in the interim while doing regional productions, I was also working on my demo to get a recording deal and I got the opportunity to sing background and then it just snowballed from there.

I think it’s also tough to find projects that fit you, that you can really shine in and I think this story, in particular, has all the attributes of that just a compelling well written story. You know, it has all the makings of a compelling Broadway musical because the spectacle and it shows the essence of Josephine, she was larger than life. Her persona was just electrifying. Harry Belafonte came to our reading and said he’d known her and said we really captured the essence of the woman.

I was so nervous about creating this caricature, I didn’t want to do that. I really wanted to have the essence of her, so having someone who knew her say that made it that much of an honor.

Deborah Cox in Asolo Rep’s production of JOSEPHINE. Photo by Gary W. Sweetman

BB: Josephine had a hard time for her style of dance being too risqué and today there is a lot of respectability about what women can and can’t do with their body and expressing their sexuality but I feel like Josephine truly embraced her sexuality in a way that was transcending. What is it that you think makes her so confident and in turn where does your inner confidence come from?

DC: I just lose myself in the art. I find when I’m having the most fun, that’s when I’m my most uninhibited. And for her I think she just loved performing, she loved dancing. She saw herself as a work of art. Art is something that is not profound, you cant even put it into words what art means. In a way, she just created this idea that this black woman from way across the pond was creating art in her own unique way. That’s what drew people to her.

BB: What do you want audiences to take away from the show?

DC: Knowing whatever the dream is, no matter how big the dream is to be inspired and know you’re going to have to fight for the dream. That’swhat Josephine did. She fought to not go back to that poverty and to continue to live.

BB: Besides Josephine and The Bodyguard, is there a dream role you have that you haven’t done yet?

DC: Oh my gosh. I’m doing it now. I couldn’t think of anything else. Josephine is one of the unsung heroes. Someone who never got her just due here.

Josephine will run until May 29 at Asolo Rep Theatre’s Mertz Theatre (5555 N. Tamiami Tr.  Sarasota, FL  34243). Tickets are now available for purchase here.