Rose Weaver’s Latest Act: New Starring Role, Staying Physically Fit, and Supporting Black Artists
GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle
Rose Weaver’s Latest Act: New Starring Role, Staying Physically Fit, and Supporting Black Artists
The accomplished, award-winning actress had moved back to her home state of Georgia in 2021, but has since come up again for a starring role in Trinity Rep’s production of August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean.”
“I’m in my last quarter — I’ve been saying it since I was 70,” said Weaver, now 73 and in residency in Providence. “I’d planned on commuting back and forth like I did when I worked in LA, but Rhode Island is my home in so many ways.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWeaver spoke with GoLocal about tackling the “monumental” role of Aunt Ester, how she is preparing for the grueling run — and what comes next.
“[Wilson] in one of his interviews said he saw a woman in her early 70s in this role. Phylicia Rashad on Broadway was much younger,” said Weaver, of the former Cosby Show actress’ turn in the role in the early 2000s. “Trinity is making me a fabulous wig. I’ve never been ashamed of my age.”
Tackling Monumental Role
“The character I play is 300 years old,” said Weaver. “The mythology and spiritual journey she takes — she’s ancient and the keeper of our ancestry. She understands history and Africa and being on this land here in this time.”
“She takes this young man on a spiritual journey to the City of Bones. It sounds scary but it’s got a lot of humor in it. Everyone’s the same in the terms of energy, she believes — there is spirit in everything. I’ve always believed that. When I was growing up, picking berries, or just looking up at trees — God is everywhere. Every time I read some of the passages [in the play[, I break into tears," said Weaver. "I read a quote, that if one confronts history head-on, it becomes possible to build a life for oneself, breaking free from the shackles and mindset of the past.”
“Jude has assembled a group of people who are so loving, and that’s refreshing, because sometimes in theater, it’s not [always the case],” said Weaver of director Judy Sandy’s assemblage of the play's cast and crew. “This play has come full circle for me at Trinity. I think it was 2000 — I had just completed my MFA from Brown — that was my last big play there, “The Piano Lesson.”
Weaver is currently spending her days studying the script and rehearsing with the cast, preparing for the show to open next month.
“[Wilson’s] language is so poetic, and underneath the language is so many levels,” said Weaver. “Our job, our task is to understand what he’s talking about — to dig up the metaphors and get what he’s talking about, so that the audience understands it and goes on the journey with us.”
Staying Physically Fit
“I have a partial lung on the right side, because I had lung cancer two years ago,” said Weaver. “I had a wonderful doctor at Rhode Island Hospital. We caught it early, and he took it out.”
“Having enough breath to speak this language is a challenge,” said Weaver of preparing for the role. “You have to have the stamina. You can’t sound out of breath — it has to roll off your tongue”
“One of the rehearsal halls is at the top of the building [at Trinity],” said Weaver. “You can take the elevator so far but then you have to take stairs. I have to pause and catch my breath.”
Weaver said that the theater has still been following COVID protocol — meaning rehearsals have until now been requiring masking.
“If we’re in a big enough space, we can unmask. But right now. to breathe and get enough oxygen, it’s not easy,” said Weaver. “It might look easy. But we’re dancing and singing. It kicks your a-s."
Supporting the Arts
In 2020, Weaver announced she was creating a book of Black Artists in Rhode Island — which is now online and Weaver says she hopes to continue to work on following her latest work at Trinity.
“I’ve got close to 150 artists. As soon as the show opens, I’m going to do some updating. I’m going to send [the artists] individually their own link to edit their own page, so they can send it out. It’s free. It needed to be done,” said Weaver.
Weaver said she had been contacted recently by an instructor at the Trinity Academy for Performing Arts (TAPA) about the possibility of teaching, and while her schedule doesn’t currently allow her to, she was able to refer him to the website as a resource.
“There are a lot of artists who are able and qualified to teach,” said Weaver.
And while Weaver is up in Rhode Island, she will join Consuelo Sherba in Aurea Ensemble’s upcoming performance, “Phenomenal Women” featuring the words of Maya Angelou.
It is the Rhode Island premiere of a full length, dramatic piano quintet by African American composer, Florence Price, only recently rediscovered and edited, and another major, little-known, string quartet of Fanny Mendelssohn, the sister of Felix Mendelssohn. The concert will take place on Friday, April 1 at 8 pm at St Martin’s Episcopal Church in Providence.
In addition to theater and live performances, Weaver continues to land commercial work — she was recently featured in a Xeljanz commercial, for which Weaver was paid $53,00 for three days work — at home during the pandemic.
“Things like that enable me to take more theater jobs,” said Weaver.
And when Weaver ultimately returns to Georgia — filmmaker Tyler Perry’s studio is close by, and Weaver is hoping to continue to work. But for Weaver, it’s mostly about being close to family.
“I’ve been saying it since I turned 70, I’m not afraid to die,” said Weaver. “What one does between birth and death is what’s important. And I want my ashes near my mom.”