February 7, 2007

Culturally Speaking…

By Oliver Ragsdale, Jr.
President, Arts League of Michigan

With… Reuben Yabuku, Artistic Director, Buku Productions

 Culturally Speaking (CS): How did you get into theatre?

Yabuku (Y):  During my eight years at WJLB radio, I really enjoyed doing the voice for commercials and wanted to do it as a “seen” actor.  I went to the Detroit Repertory Theatre (DRT) and learned the craft.  Soon, I was on the stage.  Then in 1988, I was asked to direct my first show, DRT’s production of George Wolfe’s Colored Museum and I’ve never wanted to be on the stage again.  We created Buku Productions in 1990 and remounted Colored Museum as our first production.

 CS: What is your creative inspiration?

Y:    It’s music.  I’ve always loved music.  I constantly have a beat in my head.   I direct with that beat.  I love the stories that songs tell and how songs can tell stories.  Think about the Luther Vandross song, Dance with My Father.  What a great story!  You see it.  You feel it.  You live it!  I want to tell stories on stage with the same passion that you find in a song.  I love artists who can interpret the words like Ray Charles did on the song It’s Not Easy Being Green.  There was Kermit the Frog’s version and Ray’s version.    It’s the same music and the same words, but they’re different songs!    I want that passion in my work!

 CS: What’s your greatest accomplishment?

Y:   Being able to look forward to the next thing being better than the current thing!  As artists, we are never satisfied with what we’re doing.  We always want it to be better.

 CS:  What are you most proud of?

Y:    Our Donnie Hathaway Tribute Concert.  It had been in my head for fifteen years.  I had done a radio play of the concept once, but to put it onto a stage!  Wow!  Having nurtured it for so long, it was like…it was born like a child.  Now it was LIVE on stage!  It will always be near and dear to my heart.

 CS:  Is there a Reuben Yabuku style?

Y:    I hope not.  In my mind, there is no Reuben Yabuku style.  I don’t want to work in a single box or be associated with a single type or style of work.

 CS:  What’s the greatest challenge you face?

Y:    Getting the general public to understand and accept that “Made in Detroit” is a wonderful thing!  The work that so many do here in Detroit does not take a back seat to any traveling shows or visiting artists.  Traveling shows have large marketing budgets that support them, and that’s a challenge for our home grown talent.  But there is lots of great work and activity going on in this town that is created by and featuring our fantastic local artist community.  I’ve learned that people know great work when they see it.  We just need to get the word out!

 CS:  What’s in the future?

Y:    To do a lot of different work with great variety.  I want to do more dance on stage and to include dance in my shows.  I love dance and wanted to be a dancer so now I want dance on the stage.    I just want to do lots of different kinds of shows.

Buku Productions will present Let Nobody Turn Me Around at the Millennium Centre in Southfield, February 9 – 11.  This play with no dialogue, but lots of songs, dance and mime, chronicles the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Tickets are available at Ticketmaster (248/645-6666) or the Millennium Centre Box Office (248/796-5191).