Maggie Interviews Gail Bean about "Table 17"!

KTWV-FM / 94.7 The WAVE

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00:00The Geffen Playhouse. It's got a new, exciting, romantic comedy. I can't hardly wait to see it.

00:06It begins November 13th and is at the Gilkates Theater and it's called Table 17, starring Gail

00:13Dean, who we have with us today. Welcome, Gail. Hello. Thank you for having me, Maggie. Of course.

00:19I'm so excited to talk to you and hear more about this. Just so in case people don't know,

00:24some people may not, some may. You are kind of known for your standout roles in Snowfall and Pea

00:30Valley, right? Yes, ma'am. And we have Harlem that came out earlier this year as well.

00:37Wow. You've been busy. Yeah. That's a good thing. So this is your Los Angeles stage debut. Are you

00:45excited? I'm so excited. Oh my goodness. The story is so beautiful. It's fun. It's a rollercoaster of

00:51emotions and people are so used to seeing me on their television or large screens. So it's nice

00:56for them to get to see me live and in person. Always. And I love, love, love the Geffen. That

01:02venue is just so historic and charming and old school. I love it. It's just beautiful. So without

01:09giving away too much, tell us about Table 17 and your character, Jada. Yes. So Table 17 is an internal

01:17look at two ex-fiancés meeting for dinner for the first time in over two years. And I played Jada,

01:24one of the ex-fiancés to Dallas, who's played by Biko Eisenmartin. And I have another amazing star

01:31character, castmate, Michael Rashawn, who plays Eric River and others. So Jada is no different to me and

01:40you. She's just our amazing, beautiful girl who is excited about going to see her ex-fiancés.

01:46And whatever may come up in this conversation, whether it's rehashing, whether it's rekindling,

01:52whether it's closure. It's a very fun character. And we get to go on a rollercoaster ride of seeing

01:57their relationship through the years and up to the point that we're at now in real time.

02:04Oh, how fun. What do you like most about the character?

02:07Oh, I like that she is very coy with how she plays surface level of what she's really feeling.

02:13I love that we get to see some of her internal thoughts with the direct addresses to the audience.

02:18I love that we get to see what like a vulnerability side of her, but it comes out a little later. She

02:24isn't very forthcoming with revealing her intimate and vulnerable emotion to everybody and especially to

02:31Dallas. What do you hope audiences took away from this?

02:37I hope it makes audiences think just about how we converse and how we choose to share our truths

02:43with one another. I hope it shows audiences that our partners are not my readers. As much as we expect

02:51them to know us through time, we do have to communicate. I hope they also realize that

02:57therapy is healing, you know, and the importance of self-love, individual love. And I hope they just

03:03have fun and laugh with it and feel good about past, previous, or future relationships.

03:09Do you think there's any age restriction would you recommend?

03:12I don't necessarily think there's an age restriction. I think as far as the understanding,

03:16people who are about 15 to 16 and up have a developed mental to where they might understand

03:21it and get it a little more. Um, I think of course, all adults will absolutely love it.

03:26They'll get the jokes, they'll get the timing, they'll get the emotional moments, but I definitely

03:33think 15 and up is good.

03:35Okay. What's the most challenging part of playing Jada?

03:39I think the most challenging part of playing Jada is the jumping back and forth with so many

03:47different moments in time. Like we get to see, like I said, the stages and the years of their

03:53relationship. So it's, it's that of having to be in the present in one moment and then the past in

03:59the next moment. It's so like, okay, where am I at in the world? But it's exciting.

04:05Is it a two person comedy or are there more to the cast?

04:09So it's three of us in total, Viko Heisenmar and Michael Roshan and myself,

04:14and we just knock it out the park. It goes quick. It's like, you gotta pay attention or you're gonna

04:19miss some vital information, some fun information. Um, but we knock it out with just this three-hander.

04:25I love it. I love that. What else do you want audiences to know before they go?

04:30To talk back. This is a very interactive play. So we allow and encourage the audience to

04:37give us their opinions, be in it with us. You know, it's, it's so many times you ask a girlfriend

04:42or friend for advice. So these are the moments where all three of us are looking for you guys

04:48to engage with us and tell us, you know, what are your thoughts? What do you think?

04:52You know, we need that. We need that advice sometimes in love.

04:55I love that. I love that. Are you married?

04:57I am not married.

04:59Yeah. Take your time.

05:01All right. You're young.

05:03Um, I think that sounds so fun that it's interactive kind of.

05:07Yeah. Right. Um, okay. Now just switching gears a little bit, you have a nonprofit

05:13called above the influence. Is that right? Yes, ma'am. I do that about. It's about providing

05:20the youth with mentorship resources and exposure. A lot of times our youth may not be, um, they may

05:27not have access to certain experiences or just not have access to certain tools and resources to set

05:32them up for future success. So these are some of the things we try to do. We try to make sure they

05:37get to shows. We try to introduce art and experiences in their life to kind of expand their mental

05:42and the emotional vocabulary and comprehension. So that that's, we offer scholarships. We offer

05:49vision boarding and panels. We offer winter resources. We do a lot of things in the communities

05:55in Atlanta, New York, DC, and Chicago. You've got to expand to LA. Oh, LA. Sorry. That's the first one I

06:03said, but yes, LA. Oh, good, good, good. We had some, some students come to previews that have never seen a

06:11play. We offered a scholarship, a $5,000 scholarship to one of our graduating seniors this past year.

06:17I love that so much. That is what every group should be doing, especially these days because

06:22everything's so expensive. There's no way. Yeah. Every kid can see a play, you know, at all, at all.

06:28Some of them, they just never had that opportunity. And we go into schools as well and talk to students.

06:33So I partnered with BAFTA and went into some of the schools here in LA. And I recently saw one of

06:41the students I spoke to two years ago at the Michaud Film Festival when I was being honored.

06:46And he saw me, he said, Oh my goodness. Like when I was in high school, you came and spoke to my,

06:51my class and just helped change his trajectory of his career and his life.

06:56Wow. Didn't that warm your heart? I mean, it had to, had to. Speaking of, was that the NAACP award you got?

07:04Oh, it was not. Another award. I got another award. I got a Sidney Poitier luminary award.

07:12But NAACP award was the very first award I ever received. And I was just, that's a big one.

07:19Yes. They both are. They both are. I made Sidney Poitier and then Oscar Michaud. I just,

07:25I couldn't believe it. It's been truly the accolades that I've received for my work have

07:29been mind blowing. Wow. Well, I can't wait to see this. Um, and it runs through what date?

07:36December 7th is our last show day. Okay, great. Um, just what to find out more about the nonprofit.

07:43What's the website? Dream above the influence.org and dream above the influence on all social media.

07:49So Instagram, uh, Twitter, it's D-A-T-I underscore org, but if you type in dream above the influence,

07:55Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, it'll, it'll pop up. Yeah. And yes, you know, our website,

08:00we post things all the time on our socials. I share things just off of my social as well.

08:05So we're doing things. I love it. What's your social while we're at it?

08:09Gail Bean. Gail Bean on all platforms, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, all things Gail Bean.

08:17Awesome. G-A-I-L-B-E-A-N. Okay. And if people want to find out more about, um, how to get tickets

08:25or the Geffen, you can go to geffenplayhouse.org. Thank you so much, Gail. This has been so much fun.

08:30Thank you. Thank you. And for you, Maggie, I'm going to share a code for 25% off tickets.

08:35It's Bianca S-F-F. So B-I-A-N-C-A-S-F-F. Thank you so much. Thank you.

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