James told the crew to get her some fuzzy slippers to wearbetween scenes

Tag : foot slippers
Mr. Sensitive & Ms. Feisty
How Harpo and Sofia of 'The Color Purple' keep it real --- onstageand in life.

By Wendell Brock
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/28/08
She cooks him macaroni and cheese and red beans and rice. He givesher foot rubs and arranges her dressing room with her leopard-printpillows and knickknacks.
Felicia P. Fields and Stu James are not a couple in real life. Butthey've been playing one onstage since James was cast as Harpo,opposite Fields' Sofia, in the national tour of "The Color Purple."
That was nearly 16 months ago.
Today, the Tony Award-nominated actress and the Atlanta-born actorfuss, finish one another's sentences and tease each otherconstantly. "We the husband and wife all the time," Fields jokes.
It's 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, and they have just sat down to lunch atMary Mac's, one of Fields' favorite Atlanta restaurants. He wantsto be at the bank in an hour. She plans to have dessert.
In the musical that runs through Sunday at the Fox Theatre, Fieldsand James are the unalloyed crowd favorites. Offstage, they areaffectionate but not romantically attached —- just goodfriends trying to endure the loneliness of life on the road.
He's single. She's a divorced mother of two college-age childrenwho are back home in Chicago. She's an Aries; he's on theAries-Pisces cusp. She's sensitive about her middle name. (It'sPearl.) He's hung up on age. (We'll just say he graduated Atlanta'sBenjamin E. Mays High School in 1985 and leave it at that.) She hasfried shrimp and oysters. He has grilled tilapia.
Like Harpo and Sofia, who are always breaking up and making up,James and Fields have a definite yin and yang thing going. They saytheir offstage chemistry is what allows them to capture the passionof Harpo and Sofia so convincingly each night.
'I'm so glad we connect'
"What do I always tell you?" Fields asks James, then holds forthfor another minute before letting him reply.
"She told me from day one when we started working together thatthis is a partnership," he finally answers. "Woo! I'm so glad weconnect and that we care about each other because if we didn't,that would be a hard role to play."
No kidding. Fields remembers the time another actor playing Harpohad girlfriend problems. She thought it was affecting hisperformance.
"When I got off that stage, I said, 'Don't you evah!' " Fieldsrecalls, sounding like the fiery Sofia. " 'You and that heifer willnot mess up that show! This is where we draw the line. And whateverproblems you have with her, you take it to her. Don't you bring itup on this stage with me'."
The actor ended up knocking on her door in the middle of the nightto apologize.
Perhaps this was a cautionary tale for James. "I would be afraid togo onstage with her every night, I really would, if we didn't havea connection," he says. Instead, he treats his stage wife like aqueen. Example: Fields has been having trouble with her feet, soJames told the crew to get her some "fuzzy slippers" to wearbetween scenes. The other night, to his delight, she forgot aboutthe slippers, and when she propped her feet in one scene, therethey were —- leopard print and all.
Before each performance, "He comes to my room, takes my feet, haspeppermint lotion, rubs my feet down, puts the Band-Aids on theside of my feet, then puts my stockings on," Fields purrs. "Whocould buy this, OK? Who could buy this?"
"She deserves it," James counters. "She's a very generous woman.She gives and gives."
A role to love
Being in Atlanta has been emotional for Fields. It reminds her ofthe 2004 world premiere of "Color Purple" at the Alliance Theatre.She was stressed because she'd been losing her voice in workshop.
"I can remember running down to my dressing room, crying like ababy. When I could see the people jumping to their feet, they willnever know what excitement it was for those of us who had beenthrough such a long journey with that show."
Her fans have been the payoff.
She remembers one lady who "had been diagnosed with cancer andsaved her money to come. So I stood out there talking to her forthe longest because she was like, 'I meant I was coming to seethis'."
In "The Color Purple," Sofia fights back when Harpo hits her andlater gets beaten up for insulting the white mayor's wife. Sofia'sstruggle has inspired some women "to take a stand" against theirown abuse, Fields says. When people ask her why she's stayed in theshow so long, she responds: "What else could I do that would giveme the same uplift?"
Lessons and laughs
James didn't catch the acting bug until after graduating fromMorehouse College with a degree in finance and working at anAtlanta bank. His first Alliance gig was "Cotton Patch Gospel," andhis first Broadway show was "Rent." (He played Benny.)
The last time James played the Fox was with the Atlanta Boy Choir.Now that he's sitting on Harpo's porch, he feels like he's comefull circle. And he's learning from his onstage Missus.
"He ain't good at taking notes," Fields ribs. She then proceeds totell him that he's not pausing long enough during one stop-actionsequence.
"I do it," James says. "It's just not the same way that you do it.... It's just not the Felicia P. Fields way."
Suddenly, it's like Harpo and Sofia going at it.
"We are going to do a long freeze tonight," James says. "I'm notgoing to move until you move."
"I'll kill you," Fields snaps, laughing so hard she almost wheezes.She's going to finish that peach cobbler now. His trip to the bankwill wait.
Stu James file
Personal: Born Stuart James Lowell Flemister in Atlanta.
Morehouse man: Sang in the Glee Club and earned a degree in financefrom the prestigious college. "You couldn't pay me a million bucksto go back into [banking]. It's not in me."
Family: His parents, Wilson and Shirley Flemister, his 98-year-oldgrandmother and his four siblings all remain in Atlanta.
Felicia P. Fields file
Personal: Based in her hometown of Chicago. Divorced mother of two.
Professional: She's been a mainstay on the Windy City stage foryears. Originated the role of Sofia in the Alliance Theatre worldpremiere of "The Color Purple" (2004). Nominated for a Tony Award(2006). Left the Broadway cast to open the tour in Chicago in April2007.