‘Fearless’: Tymisha Harris stars as Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker. Photo: PBS.
Josephine Baker (1906-1975) was more than a dancer, singer, actress and cabaret performer. She was a pioneering African American woman who never let prejudice and bigotry get in her way. In the 1920s she moved to France, where she became a citizen – and a star.
During World War II, she aided the French Resistance by passing on secrets she overheard while entertaining Nazi officers in Parisian nightclubs.
Orlando’s Tymisha Harris channels this groundbreaking entertainer in Josephine, a one-woman show coming to the Jaeb Theatre (in Tampa’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts) April 28 and 29.
The Texas-bred Harris, who co-wrote and choreographed Josephine, had been on the lookout for a show business legend to inhabit (she is, among her other talents, a professional Tina Turner impersonator).
“I was always an ensemble member of Broadway shows, local dance shows, any kind of troupe,” Harris says, “and I felt that I needed a little something just to see what I could do. It was kind of an experiment.”
Baker, who had last been portrayed in a 1991 HBO movie starring Lynne Whitfield, was ripe for a re-examination. “I do have the characteristics that Josephine put forth,” Harris proclaims – “I’m a singer, a dancer, an actress, a goofball …”
Tymisha Harris. Publicity photo.
Created with Michael Marinaccio and Tod Kimbro, Harris’ 75-minute Josephine – originally subtitled A Burlesque Cabaret Dream Play – was first performed in 2016. Off Broadway, it ran at the SoHo Playhouse in New York City. It has toured the world.
The script finds Harris-as-Baker preparing stories for her autobiography; she talks about race relations in America, the Harlen Renaissance, her personal relationships with both men and women, the renunciation of her U.S. citizenship, her movie career and more. She also performs the iconic Danse Sauvage, in the skimpy “banana” costume for which she was justifiably famous.
Baker was invited to speak alongside Martin Luther King Jr. on the mall in Washington, D.C. in 1963. She addressed the crowd of 250,000 immediately before King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.
You know, friends, that I do not lie to you when I tell you I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad. And when I get mad, you know that I open my big mouth. And then look out, ‘cause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over the world.
“I believe that Josephine wanted to change history,” Harris says. “She wanted people to know that our skin color should not still be determining who we are as a person. I think she really had such compassion for humanity, and wanted us to see the best in people – and then figure out how to deal with the worst.”
One of her goals, she adds, is to remind audiences of Baker’s impressive legacy. She’s afraid it has faded somewhat over time. “Especially in America, where they don’t tend to give Black people their due. Some people don’t want history to be learned.”
It’s a story Harris herself was proud to learn. “It spoke so much to me,” she explains. “Josephine told me that I could come out and do anything I chose to. She told me that I could go out and be fearless. She was the first time I realized that a Black woman could go out there and be fearless.”
Details and tickets are available here.
