A performer since she was a precocious 6-year-old, Felicia Boswell hasn’t had any formal training in singing, dancing or acting, but she manages to nail her performance in the Tony Award-winning Memphis: The Musical. Set in an underground club in Memphis in the 1950s, it’s a story about love, race and rock ‘n’ roll that was 10 years in the making before its opening on Broadway in 2009.
In addition to the fact that she shares the same first name as her character, the electrifying singer Felicia Farrell, they share quite a few other traits. Here, Boswell tells her back story and promises to deliver “excitement” when Memphis hits the stage at Atlanta’s Fabulous Fox Theatre Jan. 31 through Feb. 5, 2012. –yvette caslin
Hometown: Montgomery, Ala.
Resident: New York City
Family ties:
My family had a gospel music group, John Boswell and the True Sounding Boswellettes, that performed on a Christian radio station every Sunday morning. Rosa Parks is my cousin.
Tell us about your character in Memphis: The Musical.
Felicia Farrell is a black blues, gospel and soul singer [who] has dreams of recording one day and having her voice and music heard around the world. She [meets] a Caucasian deejay named Huey Calhoun, who is fast talking, quirky and promises to bring her music to white audiences and white radio stations. Ultimately, they end up falling in love [during a time] when segregation and racism were at their height.
What do you do to get into character?
There are lots of similarities with myself and the character, Felicia Farrell. It is more of an extension of Felicia Boswell more than anything. We’re both from the South, date outside of our race, have a desire to record and have our music heard around the world. Felicia Farrell is living in the day and time of ignorance when it comes to racism. I am from the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s church, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, is right downtown.
Do you ever have jitters on opening night?
I wouldn’t call it jitters; I call it excitement. Your adrenaline is going because you’re excited about what we have to offer. We are really proud of our show, [its] success and what we put on stage every night.
How do you prepare for your performances?
In order to give 200 percent every night, I have to rest and stay dehydrated. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I am very proud of that, so I take really good care of myself.
Tell us about your Broadway experience.
I have done lots of shows. [Just to name a few], I played Aida in Aida; Mimi in RENT in Atlanta at the Atlanta Lyric Theatre last summer, Dorothy in The Wiz, and was cast as Nala in The Lion King, but turned it down for this role in Memphis: The Musical.
How do you decompress?
I pray.
