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A Talk with the Star Of "Adam" The Play
This one men play was written and will be performed by LTG’s Artistic Director, Reed McCants. We caught up with him to find out why he decided to develop this particular production and here’s what he had to say: I grew up in Harlem during the turbulent 60’s and there were two great men that walked the streets of my community at the same time. They stood out among the many that fought to make things better for Afro-American people. One was Malcolm X and the other was Adam.

There had been several attempts at telling Malcolm’s story. Through the years many great books have been written about Malcolm’s life and struggles. Several films documented the many facets of his life. I myself have traveled throughout the country with a tribute to Malcolm X in the early 80’s.

Adam, on the other hand was virtually invisible. To me that always seemed mighty strange, especially considering the tremendous political contributions that Adam made

in the fight for Civil Rights. Adam became pastor of the largest Black church in America and then went off to Washington as Harlem's first African American Congressman. After 15 years in the House of Representatives, he became a ranking majority member and was finally awarded chairmanship of the Committee on Education and Labor. He became the most powerful black man on the face of the earth. He controlled most of the domestic legislation in the U.S. During his rein he passed sixty laws in six years, without one single defeat, the greatest record, that any chairman has ever had in the history of Congress. If all of that wasn't enough to warrant some type of narrative on his life ‘then something’s definitely wrong with this picture.’

I started writing “Adam: The Life and Times", about five years ago after appearing as him in our first production of “Great Men of Color” in Los Angeles. I did an excerpt of one of his classic speeches, “Black Power” and the audience’s response was so great that I was propelled to write an entire play on his life. After a year of research (Thanks Gil Noble) and a year of writing, it was finally finished and now I present it to New York for the first time and with only one hope, that his story will inspire you as he has done for me, for most of my life.