NEW: My Most Ambitious Project EVER.
One of America's most gifted actors is daring to transform himself into one of America's most gifted thinkers.
Four years ago, I was on the brink of stardom in a field I'd given half of my life to—until Fate intervened.
At first I was a shy, geeky Army brat. In time, however, I went on to earn my MFA from America's top acting conservatory, and eventually found myself starring Off-Broadway opposite Tony Award-winning actors, starring on Broadway in a beloved British comedy, and starring on TV with veteran actors like Scott Bakula and Jimmy Smits.
The pandemic changed everything.
The entertainment industry imposed COVID vaccine mandates, and on principle I refused to comply.
The consequences were as predictable as they were devastating:
My management dropped me.
My reputation was ruined.
My career was destroyed.
I went from holding my own among some of New York’s best and brightest to waiting tables in Atlanta, GA—from being a rising star to having no future whatsoever.
There were many days where I wanted to end it all.
But then I remembered the old adage:
If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.
In that vein, I’m now endeavoring to pour my 20 years of training and experience into undertaking the greatest acting challenge of my career:
Becoming Thomas Sowell.
Born during the dark days of Jim Crow, Sowell rose from humble beginnings to eventually establish himself as one of the outstanding thinkers of the 20th (and now 21st) century.
Courageously cutting through conventional wisdom, Sowell has spent almost 60 years providing insightful, incisive, and often countercultural commentary on a vast array of subjects, including race, culture, history, and the tragedy of the human condition.
But incredibly, many still don’t know who he is.
It’s time to fix that.
In 1977 the great James Earl Jones brought Paul Robeson to life in the one-man play Robeson.
In 2011 Laurence Fishburne played a fiery Thurgood Marshall in Thurgood (which you can watch here).
In 2014, award-winning actor John Douglas Thompson gave a tour-de-force as Louis Armstrong (and others!) in Satchmo at the Waldorf.
Now it’s Sowell’s turn to be brought to life on stage—by one of America’s most gifted actors.
Together, we can make that happen.
Dr. Sowell has published 45 books, written thousands of columns, and hundreds of hours of his interviews and speeches are available online.
My goal is to:
Immerse myself in Sowell’s life and work
Develop a first draft to share with patrons for feedback
Head back to the drawing board for further development
Hone the piece by touring it around the country
Upload the polished work to the internet, for all to enjoy in perpetuity.
With your support I can finally return to doing what I excelled at for 20 years:
Bringing joy to audiences starved for great entertainment.
But the potential impact of this piece is bigger than myself or Dr. Sowell.
People across America feel alienated from her cultural institutions, and theatres across the country are struggling like never before.
It’s time to change the paradigm.
It's time to challenge the zeitgeist.
It's time to serve audiences beyond NY and LA.
It’s time for a new age of exciting and relevant American theatre.
To join me on the first step of this exciting journey:
Or visit www.sowellplay.com.
What a brilliant homage to a worthy subject! Will you have an opportunity to spend time with Thomas Sowell? If you could film one or more conversations between you two, you could supplement the live performance with documentary shorts and amplify the reach of your project even more!
What a great, terrific, outstanding, brilliant, fantastic project. Will contribute to this. God bless you Clifton, God bless you. Thomas Sowell is a national treasure!