NaTasha Yvette Williams is coming home and bringing her talented voice to the Cape Fear Regional Theatre stage.
She can’t wait.
“I’m super excited to come home and sing a little for my hometown,” says Williams, who is scheduled to perform in “Sounds of Home: An Evening with NaTasha Yvette Williams” on the stage that helped launch her Grammy-award winning and Tony-nominated career.
Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $37, with military and student discounts available. Visit www.cfrt.org or call 910-323-4233 for seat reservations.
“I am elated at the idea of it all,” Williams says. “My first performance was ‘Razzle Dazzle,’ and I was 13 years old. I was encouraged by my then-junior high school vice principal, Reginald Ennett, to audition, and the rest is history.”
It’s a history that has taken Williams to Broadway, where she in February earned the statuette at the 66th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles for her performance in the Best Musical Theater Album category of “Some Like It Hot,” a jazz musical adaptation of the 1959 film starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. She also was nominated for a Tony for her performance as Sweet Sue in “Some Like It Hot.”
While the theater on Haymount Hill is dear to her heart, so is Shiloh United Church of Christ in Vander.
“I grew up in Eastover and went to Armstrong Junior High and had an awesome music teacher, Mrs. Susan Williams,” says Williams, who resides in Mount Vernon, New York. “The great choral tradition continued at Cape Fear High School with Betty Neill Parsons teaching music. I absolutely loved music and they nurtured every impulse. I attended Shiloh United Church of Christ in Vander, and I sang in the choir and was in all the plays and skits. Shiloh primed me as an artist.
“But the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, then the Fayetteville Little Theater under artistic director Bo Thorp, really helped grow my love for the theater. I wanted to be in every show, and that enthusiasm was birthed right on Haymount Hill.
“Also at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, I got to watch and learn from Sharon McNair, who also taught at E.E Smith High School,” Williams says. “Bo Thorp directed me in ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ and Ray Kennedy directed me in ‘Beehive.’ These were two of my favorite productions at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre.”
Williams is a talent with a powerful voice and an equally powerful persona. She holds an undergraduate degree from N.C. A&T University (1992) and master’s from Michigan State University (1995). A founding member of Black Theatre United, Williams has performed on stage and in film, according to her biographical information, to include her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in “A Night with Janis Joplin” and roles in “Porgy and Bess,” “Chicken and Biscuits,” ‘Waitress,” “Chicago,” “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” and the Broadway production of “The Color Purple.”
She has appeared in films “Run the World,” “Partner Track,” “Harlem,” “New Amsterdam,” “The Good Fight,” “Godfather of Harlem” starring actor Forest Whitaker, and “Better Nate Than Never.” Williams has shared her voice with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony and the Naples Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.
‘We are thrilled’
Now, she is coming home to share her voice and her story with Fayetteville.
“We are thrilled to have Grammy award winner NaTasha Yvette Williams return to the CFRT stage,” says Mary Kate Burke, the theater artistic director who succeeded the late Bo Thorp. “She got her first break here when Bo Thorp, our founding artistic director, recognized what a powerhouse vocalist she was. Audiences may remember her from CFRT productions such as ‘Razzle Dazzle,’ ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ ‘Beehive,’ and several (Cape Fear) river shows. Since then, she has appeared in numerous Broadway productions like ‘Waitress’ and ‘Some Like It Hot.’”
Williams may know the lights of the Broadway stage and the glamour of Hollywood, but Burke will tell you Williams never has forgotten her hometown or the theater, circa 1962, atop Haymount Hill.
“She always remembers her theatrical home, and just after winning her Grammy, she and Cumberland County Commissioner Glenn Adams came to CFRT and spoke with some of our young performers about the hard work and tenacity it takes to follow your dreams,” Burke says. “NaTasha underlined the importance of having a theatre like CFRT, where there is a core belief in helping people find their voice and discover their dreams. In turn, NaTasha continues to pay it forward. The proceeds from this concert will go to helping youth of color do technical internships on Broadway. By giving back, we build a better tomorrow.”
Jenny Beaver deViere, president of the CFRT board of directors, shares in Burke’s enthusiasm.
“We are so excited to welcome NaTasha back home this weekend,” deViere says. “I can only imagine how special it is to come back as a star to your home stage. The CFRT has always done such a wonderful job at cultivating young talent and catapulting their success to Broadway and beyond.
“As an institution, we have enjoyed watching the success of so many young actors and actresses fulfill their dreams, and like proud parents, we beam to see them back home visiting the stage and the community where they got their start.
“We can’t wait to welcome NaTasha home, and we encourage those in our community, who not only love theatre but appreciate extraordinary talent, to join us this weekend,” deViere says. “It’s not every day we get a Grammy winner and Tony-nominated actress to share her story on our stage.”
Epilogue
For Williams, returning to the CFRT stage this weekend will be nostalgic and somewhat emotional.
“Coming home is great.,” says Williams, a 1988 graduate of Cape Fear High School. “It’s home and lots of people I love are there. My dad, the Rev. David Williams, will be there and I’m sure a few teachers and church members. Although my mom, Bronnie Williams, passed in 2017, and subsequently my beloved aunts Christine, Lois, and Bessie. So, a little sadness will creep in as well, as I will miss their physical presence. But there will be joy in knowing that they were my biggest cheerleaders, and I know they will be there in spirit.”
Truth be told, Williams is a bit nervous about the weekend.
“It’s humbling to perform in front of people you know, and it’s a little scary in that some people I know and love will get to see me for the first time outside of church,” Williams says. “So, I would like to live up to their expectations. Overall, though, I’m just happy I get to come back to my community and be welcomed. So many deposits were made into me as a person and an artist, and I’m grateful I get to come back and say, ‘thank you.’”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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