Throughout March and April we’re introducing you to all the remarkable artists who are working together to bring Playing Hot roaring into reality. Today we’re featuring Roi King, an entertainer in the truest sense of the word who has been developing Playing Hot with us since 2015. Read more about Roi below and grab your tickets to Playing Hot today!
Pipeline Theatre Company: Why are you working on this project? What drew you to Playing Hot?
Roi King: Other than the obvious reasons of it being a brilliant, beautifully written story that needs to told for jazz? History. It’s one of the most “woke” pieces of work I have had the pleasure and blessing to be a part of.
PTC: Talk to use about jazz. What’s your relationship to the music?
RK: I was raised listening, learning about, and loving Jazz. Thanx to my Dad, Mother, her brothers, Billie Holiday, and Tower Records. It always been constant staple in my life.
PTC: What’s the most important element of this project to you?
RK: Through Playing Hot, people will learn and come to understand the origins of Jazz. This is another part of black America’s history that needs to be told so we know who we are as a people here in these Americas.
PTC: When did you first start working on Playing Hot?
RK: I think I started in a workshop reading in 2015. Boy!! Has it been a wonderful journey of growth for the work and myself as an actor. The many incarnations and characters I play, I believe I played or read almost every character. It has been an amazing opportunity to experience as an actor. Thanks to Kevin and Jaki!
PTC: Tell us about your characters in Playing Hot and where you see yourself in them.
RK: OK! So there was:
WESTMORE: a fun loving, hard working family man. My likeness – the love for family and the need to leave something for the son he loves, like my Dad wanted for me.
DOOKY: sidekick co-signer in da Barba shop. My likeness – I’m the co-signer for most of my friends. “Right Roi?” Me: yup!
ROBICHAUX: a fly-Ass “success” that’s too kool for school. My likeness – I’m already fly I’m working on “success.”
Roi is currently in the writing stages of a one-man show based on his experience being a teenage Black Single father in NYC. He’s also working on a poetry-short film. To follow his progress on these projects you can visit his website, www.roiking.net and follow him on both Instagram and Twitter at @roiking. And don’t forget to catch him in Playing Hot, grab your tickets here!
