In this Episode of Art is Awesome, in partnership with the Svane Family Foundation, Host Emily Wilson spends time with Artistic Director of San Francisco Bay Area Theater Company - Rodney Earl Jackson Jr.
Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Emily & AIA is glad to partner with The Svane Family Foundation's Culture Forward initiative — a $5 million grant program to support arts and culture projects in downtown San Francisco.
In this episode of *Art is Awesome*, Emily chats with Rodney Earl Jackson Jr., a San Francisco native who grew up in the Fillmore neighborhood and went on to perform on Broadway. After years on Broadway, Rodney and his co-founder Marcelo Javier — a Latino actor who faced similar typecasting — returned to San Francisco to start SFBATCO, driven by a desire to "expand the canon" and create opportunities for artists of color beyond the narrow roles available to them. The episode highlights their current production, *Every Saturday Night*, playing at the Strand Theater on Market Street. The play is a celebration of Black joy and culture rather than trauma, exploring themes of homeownership, displacement, and honoring the past while reconciling with the present. The production marks SFBATCO's first downtown show and their first all-Black cast.
About Artist Rodney Earl Jackson Jr:
Rodney is the Artistic Director & Co-Founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre (SFBATCO). He made his Broadway debut in “The Book of Mormon” and was last seen at American Conservatory Theatre & Arena Stage in the co-produced production of “Toni Stone”. Prior to that he traveled North America in the first national tour of “Motown: The Musical.”
A San Francisco native who built his love and foundation for art and theatre in public city organizations such as SFartsEd, San Francisco Recreation and Park’s Young People’s Teen Musical Theater Company, and the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts’ where he graduated from the theatre department. He holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama.
Other theatre credits: Berkeley Repertory “Ain’t Too Proud: the life and times of the Temptations”, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company “I, Too, Sing America”.
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Follow Rodney on Instagram: @RodneyEarlJacksonJr
Visit SFBATCO's Website: SFBATCO.org
For more about Every Saturday Night - CLICK HERE
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About Podcast Host Emily Wilson:
Emily a writer in San Francisco, with work in outlets including Hyperallergic, Artforum, 48 Hills, the Daily Beast, California Magazine, Latino USA, and Women’s Media Center. She often writes about the arts. For years, she taught adults getting their high school diplomas at City College of San Francisco.
Follow Emily on Instagram: @PureEWil
Follow Art Is Awesome on Instagram: @ArtIsAwesome_Podcast
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CREDITS:
Art Is Awesome is Hosted, Created & Executive Produced by Emily Wilson.
Theme Music "Loopster" Courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
The Podcast is Co-Produced, Developed & Edited by Charlene Goto of @GoToProductions.
For more info, visit Go-ToProductions.com