The production of the film “Black And White” gets underway IN Moscow with a less than stellar first rehearsal that is only saved by the star of the Harlem Renaissance performers, Sylvia Garner. Langston Hughes reveals his doubts on the script. Dorothy West receives devastating news from home and then struggles to understand the comfort she finds in Mildred Jones. As the group becomes more comfortable in Moscow, they are surprised with a trip to Odessa, only to learn that the film is in even bigger trouble than they thought.
CAST:
J IVY AS LANGSTON HUGHES
EVAN FRAZIER AS DOROTHY WEST
TARREY TORAE AS SYLVIA GARNER
KYLA LACEY AS HELENE JOHNSON
NANCY GILLIAM AS RACHEL WEST
BREANNA COSETTE AS MILDRED JONES
SUSAYE LAWSON AS LOUISE THOMPSON
BRODERICK CLAVERY AS HENRY LEE
STEPHAN RUMPHURST AS CARL JUNGHANS AND BORIS THE RUSSIAN SARGEANT
HARLEM AND MOSCOW WRITTEN BY ALLE MIMS
DIRECTED BY ARES HARPER AND REGINA GRIFFIN
PRODUCER & SOUND DESIGNER SAM RIDDELL
AUDIO ENGINEERS AARON REPPERT AND CAREY DURHAM.
Full Transcription Below:
Announcer: You are now listening to theGrio’s Black Podcast Network, Black Culture Amplified.
Narrator: Hello, you’re listening to Harlem and Moscow, an original audio play presented by the Griot Black Podcast Network. Harlem and Moscow is a six episode drama with three additional companion podcasts. Harlem and Moscow: Red flags.
Harlem and Moscow is based on a true story. Episode four, Russian reality check. Stars J. Ivy as Langston Hughes, Evan Frazier as Dorothy West, and features Tarrey Torae, Kyla Lacy, and Nancy Gilliam. I am your narrator, commenter, and teller of tales, Jared Alexander.
Last time on Harlem in Moscow. Dorothy West gets to the steamy part of her trip to make a movie in Moscow. Her mother is especially excited to hear the story of a mystery proposal. Dorothy becomes more comfortable in the city with her roommate, artist Mildred Jones, pushing her out of her comfort zone every chance she gets.
Langston Hughes finally gets his hands on the much anticipated movie script. but keeps the content secret for now. Langston and Dorothy also become closer as he waxes poetically about the Soviet Union and their love of Negroes going back to Peter the Great. But, her fantasy of the city is shattered at a party when she is hit with the racist ignorance of their esteemed director Carl Junghans who sees the group as nothing more than primitive set dressing.
We pick up the story with Dorothy cutting the night short and running out of the party.
Dorothy West: I ran out of the room crying. Even with the record playing and Yoong Han yelling after me, I could still hear your voice in my head, Mom.
Rachel West: Take what white folks give you in stride. If you stop to fret over every little thang an Ofe does You would never be happy again.
Dorothy West: It was more than what he said. In Moscow, ever since we arrived, I had this sensation of being seen a certain way.
Like a mysterious fish in a bowl. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying it. Which only made me feel more ridiculous, reacting the way I did. I ran out onto the terrace. Because of course, Carl Junghans hotel room had a terrace. And I heard someone come after me. I found myself hoping it was Mildred. Or maybe Lang had joined the party.
But it wasn’t either of them.
Henry Lee Moon: Hey there. You alright?
Dorothy West: I’m fine, Henry Lee.
Henry Lee Moon: No you’re not. Come here. There, there, it’s alright. Hey, it’s okay.
Dorothy West: He didn’t have to yell like that. He could have asked someone else. And him saying all that comrade business. A comrade would accept a no.
Henry Lee Moon: Comrade is just a word to make people feel like they’re making a difference.
Dorothy West: I hate it here.
Henry Lee Moon: You seem to be having a good time the few nights I’ve caught you and Mil around town.
Dorothy West: It’s different when I’m with my friends, just us. The minute a Russian or a German or whatever he is gets involved, it all turns to dust in my mouth.
Henry Lee Moon: Come on, Dot. You have to admit
Dorothy West: What?
Henry Lee Moon: Everyone looks at us and welcomes us and wants to be seen with us.
They don’t care how yellow Langston is or how silky Mildred’s hair feels. They want us. It’s like the world is flipped upside down here. You have to admit that it
feels good.
Dorothy West: Junghans doesn’t want me. He wants some singing, dancing, African doll. And these white women want some savage, sex crazed machine.
They don’t love you or respect you.
Henry Lee Moon: I didn’t ask them to. I’m not gonna let you pass judgment on me. That’s the great thing about going to the other side of the world. You can leave other people’s opinions behind. You should try it.
Dorothy West: The best and worst part about being in a country like Russia is that no one truly knows who you are. I started to realize I didn’t know who I was either. I didn’t want to be whatever these foreigners thought of me. But I felt different than the girl I had been when we first left Harlem. I could feel the fire in me Henry Lee had been talking about, but it wasn’t quite ready to come out.
The rest of the party passed without incident. We barely had time to get home and sleep it off before Louise was banging on everyone’s door, waking us up for rehearsal. That morning, she was a bit on edge. Langston was still wrangling the script, so it was to be just Louise barking orders without Lang’s charm to soften the blows.
Still, there was a buzz in the room. We were finally holding part of the script in our hands! Of course, it was the part of the script that was nothing but spirituals. Most of us weren’t exactly the church going crowd. CLEARING THROAT
Ensemble: I got shoes, you got shoes, all got shoes. All God’s children got shoes.
Dorothy West: We were all perfectly aware of how terrible we sounded, including Junghans, who had never even heard the song before. It was Sylvia Garner, the most senior of the professional actresses who broke the silence.
Sylvia Garner: That performance reserved us a spot. In West Hell, how are we supposed to make a world class film with a bunch of amateurs?
Dorothy West: Hey, I just got my equity card.
You can’t learn this stuff in some secular rehearsal room. The only place to learn how to sing spirituals is in a church. Unfortunately, Moscow has a real lack of those lately. Shut up and listen. Let me learn you young ones a thing or two. Give me the note. All God’s children got rhythm All
God’s children got wings all God’s children got special shoes on their feet
Carl Junghans: Beautiful! Beautiful! Everyone, just like she does, yeah? Again! Again!
Dorothy West: Sylvia saved the day, or as Sylvia would say, God saved the day. Yoong Han was so impressed, he got her a regular gig singing spirituals on the radio. Although she had to replace words like Lord and Jesus, she did sneak a couple hallelujahs in before they put a stop to that too. After rehearsal, Lang showed up at our hotel room as promised with a bottle of champagne.
He walked us to the smoking lounge. I promise I hate the sMill of smoke as I always have. Lang asked us about our rehearsal as he poured the drinks. We told him about Sylvia’s singing, which was really all there was to tell. We prodded him about the script, but took him two bottles of champagne to finally give his opinion.
Langston Hughes: It is truly and utterly horrible. I’m so sorry to report it, but It’s true. The whole thing was clearly written by someone who has never been to America, let alone the South. The story itself is fine, but the details are inaccuracy after inaccuracy.
Mildred Jones: It can’t be that bad. Give us an example.
Langston Hughes: Most of the movie takes place in Alabama, around a steel mill.
At one point, the owner of the plant throws a party to show how unafraid he is of the coming revolution. At the party, after they get good and drunk, the owner decides to walk up to his maid. His Negro maid. Tells her to put her tray down and he begins to dance with her. Right in front of all his white friends.
I mean really, down in the Bam of all places. They don’t let Negroes sit in the same part of the train as whites, but the Soviets think they spend their nights dancing together? And Russians can never take a note. They must argue about everything and all arguments must go through a translator so they take twice as long, ah, this country, all in the name of revolution.
Dorothy West: I assumed it would need some work, but you can fix it, can’t you?
Langston Hughes: I’ve never lived in the South any more than they have, or worked in a steel mill, or organized a revolution. Which is proving to be difficult.
Mildred Jones: I’m sure you’ll figure something out. Alright, this is getting ridiculous. The last three times I’ve looked over to the bar, that man there has been staring
at me.
Dorothy West: Yet another Russian who’s never seen a Negro in his life. Can we help you, comrade?
Mildred Jones: Oh, God. He’s pointing over here.
Langston Hughes: I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you pop your top. I can’t tell if it’s the champagne or Russia, but I like it.
Mildred Jones: Careful, Lang. Dot’s heart might just stop altogether if you go much further.
Dorothy West: You’re teasing, Mil.
Mildred Jones: I don’t mean to be.
Oh, now you’ve done it, Dot. He’s coming over.
Henry Lee Moon: That’s one big fella.
Boris the Russian Sargeant: Privyet for you.
Mildred Jones: Thank you, but I already have some champagne.
Boris the Russian Sargeant: Oh, no champagne. Vodka!
Dorothy West: If you don’t want it, Mil I’ll take it.
Mildred Jones: I think you may have offended our new comrade.
Langston Hughes: Wasting vodka in Russia is a crime of the highest order.
Mildred Jones: Alright, if Dot tried it, so will I. Woohoo! That’ll clear you out!
Boris the Russian Sargeant: Now we
Langston Hughes: I think he wants you to dance with him.
Mildred Jones: Why not? This isn’t Alabama, after all. Don’t miss me too
much.
Dorothy West: I can’t believe this. Who does he think he is?
Langston Hughes: By the look of all the medals on his jacket Someone important.
Dorothy West: He doesn’t even speak English.
Oh! I think the vodka just hit my stomach.
Langston Hughes: Feeling alright, comrade?
Dorothy West: I feel fine. Actually, I feel great. I feel brave. I have to tell you something.
Langston Hughes: Yes?
Dorothy West: I think, I know, you’re the best Negro writer of our time. No, of all time! And yes, I’m including W. E. B. Du Bois. Yes, I said it, and everybody here heard me say it.
Langston Hughes: Nobody here speaks English.
Dorothy West: I had to tell you, because if I seem nervous or shy, it’s because I would have died to have you read my writing. And now you’re here, sharing a bottle of champagne.
Langston Hughes: That’s very sweet of you.
Dorothy West: I’m sick of sweet! I want to be more daring, and, and forward, and Where is Mildred going?
Mil?
Langston Hughes: Sit down before you fall over.
Mildred Jones: We’re just going for a ride. We’ll be
right back.
Dorothy West: I can’t believe her. To go out alone with a strange man?
Langston Hughes: Mil can handle herself. And I’ll watch after you. I have one more bottle of champagne we can share. Just the two of us.
Rachel West: Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop right now. I can see exactly where this is heading.
I don’t need to hear nothing about my baby lying down with anybody, even if he is the greatest Negro writer of our time. And I am not including W. E. B. Du Bois
in that.
Dorothy West: Mom, nothing happened. We just went
Rachel West: I can fill in the rest of that night just fine. Let’s move on. There is something you have been quiet about in your letters and in your story.
Your father’s passing. You told me it didn’t affect you much. But you must have felt something. What did you do when you got your cousin’s letter?
Dorothy West: Rehearsals took an unexpected pause. Mill was busy with her Boris, and Lang was busy with the revolution! So I was once again spending all my time in the hotel writing when I got the news.
I kept the letter to myself until I ran into Mollie in the lobby. I couldn’t hide that I had been crying. She lent me a couple dollars and gave me some nice words of comfort. I begged her not to tell anyone. Mollie almost kept her word. That night, Mil had gone out for dinner, so I didn’t expect her back until late.
I was getting ready for bed, and was startled when the door opened.
Mildred Jones: Dot?
Dorothy West: Mill? Hold on. I’ll turn on the lamp. What is that box you’re holding?
Mildred Jones: I brought you a slice of strawberry cake. Boris bought it for me. You’re not going to bed already, are you? How are you feeling?
Dorothy West: I’m fine.
Mildred Jones: Dot.
Dorothy West: Mollie told you, didn’t she? I asked her not to.
Mildred Jones: Why would you not tell me?
Dorothy West: I didn’t want to worry anyone.
Nobody’s been around to hear it, anyway.
Mildred Jones: You haven’t told anyone? Not even Lang? Dot, there’s no reason to think you couldn’t tell either one of us. Please tell me now. How are you really? Are you
going home?
Dorothy West: I know my mother wants me to and my cousin, but I can’t abandon this project. The funeral will have to happen without me.
My father was old, past 70 I think. I’m truly alright. Not that I wouldn’t mind a bite of strawberry cake.
Mildred Jones: You grabbed the forks.
Dorothy West: I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to think I was forcing you to stay home with me instead of going out with Boris. I just can’t wrap my mind around why you would spend your nights with this old, fat Russian man instead of me or Langston Hughes.
Mildred Jones: Boris isn’t so fat. I adore Lang, but Lang can’t afford to get me strawberry cake.
While I’m in Moscow, I want to have strawberry cake. What do you want while you’re in Moscow?
Dorothy West: This is delicious, but we can’t eat cake forever.
Mildred Jones: Then we’d better enjoy the time we have. I’ll ask again.
What do you want while you’re in Moscow?
Dorothy West: I want you. I want you to stay here tonight with me.
Mildred Jones: I would love to.
Dorothy West: Mom, Mil and I The truth is, Mil was there for me in a way Mollie or even Lang couldn’t be. She taught me to ask for what I want. Being with her felt perfectly natural. At a time when I felt lost in a sea of change, Mil introduced me to myself. She showed me what it could be like to live without people’s expectations.
Henry Lee planted the idea, but it was Mil who lit the fire in me. And I’ll always be grateful for that.
The next weekend, Louise said the company wanted to send us on a cruise to Odessa on the Black Sea. We were all excited to be traveling as the leisurely life was getting a bit repetitive without rehearsal. The cruise down the river was bursting with energy. On the third morning, I was on the porch of our resort, lounging in the shade before it got too hot.
Louise Thompson: Good morning. That fan doing
anything for you?
Dorothy West: Good morning, Louise. It’s at least moving, the hot air.
Louise Thompson: Are you heading down to the beach with the others?
Dorothy West: Not today. If I come back any darker, my mom will never let me hear the end of it.
Louise Thompson: You won’t miss much. Just our comrades embarrassing us. Did you see them playing leapfrog yesterday?
Dorothy West: Leapfrog isn’t so bad.
Louise Thompson: Naked? It’s not even a nude beach. I can only imagine what the Russians are running home to tell their relatives about how we behave. My people.
Dorothy West: Why are you so concerned about what they think of us?
Louise Thompson: You’re one to talk, Miss Prim.
Dorothy West: I could care less what some Russian on vacation thinks of me.
This place makes me miss Oak Bluffs. You know, we got a whole beach to ourselves. There’s not a single ofay for miles at my family’s cottage.
Louise Thompson: Not every Negro can afford Oak Bluffs.
Dorothy West: You think Russian peasants can afford to take a pleasure cruise to Odessa?
Louise Thompson: Regardless of where we are, we will always be walking a tightrope as Negroes.
As women. It took years of proving myself. Building the Harlem chapter of Friends of the Soviet Union from the ground up. Even still, Langston will get all the credit, no doubt. I can’t complain though. Without him, we wouldn’t have gotten so many people like you to sign on. Young. Passionate, eager to impress the greatest Negro writer of our time, including W. E. B. Du Bois.
Dorothy West: Please don’t tell me he told you.
Louise Thompson: Alright, he didn’t tell me. And I promise not to tell Du Bois.
Dorothy West: So you use Lang to lure in desperate lovesick actresses like me. What are you using lovesick actresses for?
Louise Thompson: To sell the film. Everyone has their place in the revolution. Some people’s is up on the silver screen.
Other people follow behind with the paperwork. I spent the morning sorting receipts. Take your pick. Here they come. Bathing suits, umbrellas, and not one ounce of shame. Hello, Mildred.
Off for a swim?
Mildred Jones: I never learned, actually. I brought my sketch pad. I want to remember this beach.
Louise Thompson: Who’s that out on the road? Don’t tell me one of ours is just now getting home.
Dorothy West: It’s Henry Lee. What’s he doing down in Odessa? I thought he was sick.
Henry Lee Moon: Comrades!
We’ve been screwed. This paper is from a few days ago. Read the headline, Louise.
Louise Thompson: Black and White, a Soviet film scheduled for production this year. This fall has been cancelled,
leaving its cast of Negro actors stranded in Russia. Where did you get this?
Henry Lee Moon: From someone at the Metropole Bar. It’s a French newspaper for American expats.
Louise Thompson: How would the foreign press know the film was cancelled before us? Boy, while that’s impossible,
what about the bill? Do we just go
back home?
Langston Hughes: Shouldn’t you all be at the beach by now?
Louise Thompson: Langston, look at this. They can’t do this to us. We must get back to Moscow and sort this out. I have to send a letter.
Excuse me.
Langston Hughes: Canceled? Who found this paper?
Henry Lee Moon: I did.
Langston Hughes: Henry Lee, don’t write anything about this until we talk to the Soviets.
Henry Lee Moon: How’s it gonna look when the news breaks back home and the Amsterdam doesn’t have a single story on it?
Langston Hughes: Please, Henry Lee, give me a day or two. Maybe we can fix this. It might be a mistake.
They sent us here so we wouldn’t be able to cause a stink when the news dropped.
Mildred Jones: Maybe the Soviets got tired of paying us to sit around and drink vodka. We’ve hardly spent three days working.
Dorothy West: Lang, is it true? Is the film really
cancelled?
Langston Hughes: I don’t know. I have to go talk with Louise. Excuse me.
Henry Lee Moon: Langston, don’t you run away, you goddamn chicken!
Mildred Jones: Well, I still want
to go to the shore.
Dorothy West: We just found out we’ve lost our jobs.
Mildred Jones: We have plenty of rubles. If you need to, your family will send you money.
Dorothy West: I’m not worried about the money. I came here to be an actress. What about our reputations? Our names were in the paper back home. What does this mean when we return to Harlem with nothing to show?
Mildred Jones: You can’t tell me Russia has given you nothing. At the very least, it gave you me, right? I thought you had left people’s expectations behind. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, it won’t magically resolve itself because we skip a day at the beach. Are you coming?
Dorothy West: I never went down to meet her. And no one played leapfrog that day.
That’s when I started truly missing home.
Rachel West: I was concerned when I got the news. And even though I wanted more than ever for you to come home, I knew you would be okay. You and your fire burn through your letters. You’re not a little girl who needs her father to come rescue her.
Dorothy West: There were times I wished father was there.
He always gave good advice. I don’t regret anything that happened after the film was cancelled, but maybe if I had just
Rachel West: Shoot. I forgot your cousin was coming by. She has big dinner plans tonight.
Helene Johnson: Hello! It’s Helene!
Rachel West: We’re in the kitchen.
Helene Johnson: Oh good, Dottie, you’re still here.
Rachel West: Of course. My baby’s here to stay and she was just telling me about Odessa. Can you believe while we were fretting about how Miss Dottie was going to get home, she was off on a pleasure cruise. With her friends?
Helene Johnson: The papers made it sound like you were
prisoners of war.
Dorothy West: I wrote to you both as soon as we got back to Moscow.
We had to take a boat and a train
Helene Johnson: Before you get into that, can I borrow your steady hand?
I’m introducing Willie to my mother at dinner, but I put a little tear in my dress. I want everything to be perfect.
Dorothy West: Let me see.
Rachel West: With all the ups and downs of this trip, I can’t help but wish you had ended this year abroad with a proposal as well.
Lord knows you went through enough to earn one.
Dorothy West: To tell the truth, there was a proposal on the trip. In fact, there were two.
Helene Johnson: Whose proposal?
Rachel West: She didn’t tell you either. That makes me feel better.
Dorothy West: I don’t need to tell both of you every little thing.
Rachel West: Well, Miss Dorothy, Traveler Extraordinaire has secrets now.
If we’re taking a pause on the story, help me up. I’m going to splash some water on my face.
Dorothy West: Yes, ma’am.
Helene Johnson: What in the hell proposals are you talking about?
You told me Langston never asked.
Dorothy West: Where does mom keep the needle and thread?
Helene Johnson: You’re avoiding the question. I won’t forget about this, and neither will your mother.
Dorothy West: You have no idea how right you are. This is a beautiful dress. I’m sure he’ll love it.
Narrator: Still ahead on Harlem and Moscow.
Henry Lee Moon: Cancelled! The film has been cancelled! Why can’t you say it?
James the Translator: What a shame. Not many genuine Negroes in the Moscow theater.
Langston Hughes: Shit!
Louise Thompson: She took a drink from a bottle thinking it was wine. Turns out it was formaldehyde.
Langston Hughes: To the revolution! The revolution! Woo!
Henry Lee Moon: We won’t stand by and let them lie to us.
Rachel West: And if he doesn’t beg to wed you on the spot, get a new man.
Dorothy West: He only wants to marry you because you’re beautiful.
Mildred Jones: What would you have me do? It’s not like I can marry you.
Narrator: Thank you for listening to Harlem in Moscow. An original audio play presented by theGrio Black Podcast Network. Harlem in Moscow was written by Alle Mims and directed by Aries Harper and Regina Griffin. Sam Riddell is the producer and sound designer. Our audio engineers are Aaron Reppert and Carrey Durham.
With music by Transitions. We’d like to thank our amazing cast. J. Ivy as Langston Hughes. Evan Frazier as Dorothy West. Tarrey Torae as Sylvia Garner. Kyla Lacey as Helen Johnson, Nancy Gilliam as Rachel West, Brianna Cosette as Mildred Jones, Susaye Lawson as Louise Thompson, Broderick Clavery as Henry Lee, and Stéphan Rumphurst, who played the roles of Carl Junghans and Boris the Russian Sergeant.
Harlem in Moscow continues with Episode 5, Russian Reckoning. But first, if you’re dying to hear more on the real story and the real people, check out our companion podcast, Harlem in Moscow, Red Flags. Harlem in Moscow is such a powerful story that few people know about. Please rate, review, share, and tell a friend about this important adventure in Black history.
