Q&A with Robert Townsend
 
Lin.:  What does the show consist of?
Robert:  I love gospel music and I love theater both of them together and I call it the musical theater of hope of because I wanted to include issues from everyday life, things people are going through all across America in everyday life.  The stories have twists and turns.  And I wanted to give them some hope.  I auditioned 3,000 people here in Atlanta and I cherry picked the best singers and so I have all these incredible singers.

The first special is three different stories and incredible singers.  And I have a special appearance by Howard Hewett he does one of the scenes and it's his first time acting.   So I've got these three stories of hope done in a theatrical way like kind of like a play, but not really and then there's singing.

Lin.:  So you have these stories about people's lives presented to inspire hope right?
Robert:  We created different scenarios.  One of the stories that was taken from life, where a woman who killed this man who molested her when she was a child.  So I created a court room scene where her attorney talks on her behalf. 

Then there was another story about a singing group called the Sparrow Sisters who were a big when they were kids much like The Jackson 5.  And now they all come together.  That's a story about healing and family.  Then there's the story that Howard Hewett is in. He plays a man who has been going back and forth to the doctor because he has cancer and has been getting chemo.  So he gets all of his family together because he has some news to share with them.   All the stories are different.

It's really kind of grounding.  I don't think gospel music theater has been done like this.  We're normally used to seeing gospel music done in concert. 

Lin.:  What made you go off in this arena?
Robert: I went to church while growing up.  And as a kid I always remembered   my mother playing gospel music in the house...like Shirley Caesar, and Dorothy Norwood's   song "The Denied Mother."  That song was real visual and that picture stayed in my head.  I wanted to do something with those pictures of faith.

And today, if you watch the news, it's so negative and it causes people to be so fearful. I said, "I've got to do something with my talent to give something positive back. And this is my way of doing that in a very visual way."

Lin.:  You worked with Bishop Eddie Long, Pastor of New Birth Baptist Church in the Atlanta area.  How did that come about? 
Robert:  We formed a production company called Bell Town Productions, which is a combination of his initials BEL and my last name TOWN.  How the partnership started is that we had my Web series Diary of a Single Mom last year at his church and over 5,000 people came to the screening.  There was a discussion about television and all the negative images on TV.  Rather than complain, we decided to do something to take back the airwaves.  A partnership was formed.  I create content with the web series and TV/Film projects.  And Bishop and I work with New Birth in getting more of the faith based community involved.
 
Lin.:  How did you end up with Gospel Music Channel?
Robert:  Because it has gospel music in it, we approached Gospel Music Channel even before we shot it.  They were skeptical because it had never been done before.  And as soon as they saw it, they loved it.  And instead of the original 8p.m. airing of the show on October 25th, they decided they would air it again at 8:30p.m.  If people tune in when it first runs this Sunday and tell Gospel Music Channel they really like it, then Gospel Music Channel will ask for more.
 
Lin.:  Do you think Hollywood is now more receptive to faith based TV and Film entertainment that they have been in the past?
Robert:  To me great movies always have an ethical code.  The good guy always wins and the bad guy always loses.  And I don't think that some films weren't branded faith based is that they just had good old fashioned morals and values.  I think now, more people know that they need God. 
 
Lin.:  Especially since we're going through a recession right?
Robert:  You need hope and faith and you need it all.  That's why I think a show like this, when people see it they will say, "Hey we need more of this!"  This show is good food for the soul presented in an entertaining way.  We're planting good seeds that people will want to reach out and help someone, volunteer somewhere.
 
One of the films I directed was The Five Heartbeats.  My character "Duck" had a falling out with his brother played by "Leon" over a girl.  Years go by.  Finally we speak and "Leon's" character had named his son after my character.  In real life, a guy stopped me on the street and said, "Mr. Townsend a similar thing happened to me and my brother like in the film.  The Five Heart Beats changed my Life.   My brother and I had a similar thing happen between us and after the movie, I reached out to him."
 
And there are other parts of the series that will be on the DVD, dealing with such issues as divorce and forgiveness.
 
So I think, sometimes when we watch movies and TV we can see our own lives. 
My hope is that people will watch Robert Townsend's Musical Theater of Hope, have discussions within the family about the characters and their issues and lives will be changed.  I can't wait to hear the response from the show!