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[0:00] Donnie L. Betts: Fresh for your ears, tell everybody. It's the new podcast from the producers of Destination Freedom Black Radio Days. Produced and hosted by Donnie L. Betts of No Credits Productions comes The Eclectic. Interviews with difference makers, artists, authors, bold thinkers, people we love who get stuff done. Our guest is Allison Semmes.

[0:21] Donnie L. Betts: Oh, one of Allison's latest achievements is being part of the cast of Harmony, the new musical by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman. She portrays the artist and activist, the icon, Josephine Baker. And we'll talk about that a little bit later. Let me tell you a little bit about Allison first. Allison Semmes is a multi-genre singer-songwriter and Broadway actress. She studied music at the University of Illinois Champaign Urbana and then musical theater at New York University, where she received her Master's in Music.

[0:49] Donnie L. Betts: Now she's done tours of Motown the Musical, portraying Diana Ross, and in Book of Mormon. Other theater credits include Little Shop of Horrors. This woman is amazing. She's recorded and written with Stevie Wonder, performed with Erykah Badu, and one of my all-time favorite tours, Kurt Elling's with The Big Blind with Dee Dee Bridgewater at Jazz at the Lincoln Center. That's some heavy, heavy duty there. Hope you enjoy.

[1:20] Donnie L. Betts: Allison, welcome to the program.

[1:23] Allison Semmes: Oh my God, it's such an honor to be here. Thank you, Donnie, for having me.

[1:28] Donnie L. Betts: Absolutely. Now I always like to start my interviews the same way. It's for my mentor, Dr. Vincent Harding, who is a colleague of Martin Luther King Jr. He always liked to say, tell me your full name, your mama's name, or your daddy's name, your mama's mama's name, or your daddy's daddy's name, and where you spent your childhood.

[1:47] Allison Semmes: Absolutely. I, you know what? I was raised, I'm not just myself, but I'm my mother's daughter, I'm my father's daughter. So this makes so much sense. This is just natural for me. So my name is Allison Semmes, daughter of Adrian Semmes and Emmanuel Semmes, granddaughter of Queen Davis and William Davis, and also granddaughter of Margaret Sims and Clovis Sims. I'm from Chicago.

[2:17] Donnie L. Betts: Beautiful, beautiful.

[2:19] Allison Semmes: South Side, yes.

[2:21] Donnie L. Betts: South Side. Tell me about that experience growing up on the South Side of Chicago, because it's known as a musical hotbed.

[2:28] Allison Semmes: Absolutely. Well, you know, I was born in a musical family. My mother, her father actually pressed records for DECA Records. So he had all of the masters, and my grandmother played the organ. And so they had kind of like a, I don't want to say speakeasy, but they would have all the Chicago musicians come by and they would listen to the latest records and they would play organ. There was a bar in the basement. So there's been music and fellowship just in my blood. Even on my father's side, my grandmother, she served in World War II with the Six Triple Eight, which is an all-Black women's army corps. Yes.

[3:09] Allison Semmes: And she played organ while she was abroad. So she also taught music in Chicago as well, so it's just all in my blood, you know.

[3:23] Donnie L. Betts: Oh my God. It's all in the family. You're giving me chills with this history that you're talking about that your family has. Now it's time for you to tell their story too.

[3:35] Allison Semmes: Now we're gonna talk about other things, but let me just tell you right up front, it's time for you to tell that musical history of your family, because that crossed all kinds of boundaries there.

[3:44] Allison Semmes: Of my family, I would love to. And I feel like every single time I step foot on stage, I'm bringing everybody with me. It's not just me portraying these women, but it's not just me. It's my grandmother, it's my mother, it's my father, it's, you know. But to actually tell the story of my family, I mean, how can I get that started?

[4:12] Donnie L. Betts: I just want to put that on your mind, okay?

[4:14] Allison Semmes: Okay, I love that.

[4:15] Donnie L. Betts: Yeah, put that in your tool and your suitcase of things that you still need to carry with you. As you said, you carry your family with you every time you step on stage, but maybe you want to open that suitcase up and pull out a pad and start writing and jotting down those notes. Here's my story. Here's my musical journey, but here's my family's journey as well too, which makes me, as you said, who you are. So again, I thank you for sharing that with us. The audience is gonna be really, really excited about hearing that.

[4:46] Donnie L. Betts: Let's talk about some of the other things. What was it? You know, people always like to say, what was it like to work with so-and-so? What was it like to work with so-and-so? But I'm gonna ask it anyway. What was it like to record and write with Stevie Wonder?

[5:00] Allison Semmes: Oh my gosh. Well, I had the opportunity to meet him when I was on the tour with Motown the Musical, and we met in Detroit. That was the opening night of Detroit, and he was just so warm. And he just, I don't know, he just felt like family. There was something that was so familiar and comfortable about him that, you know, in spite of the fact that he is this living legend, yes.

[5:27] Allison Semmes: Yes, he just felt so real and just down to earth and, you know, cracking jokes and so kind. He felt like family, and so we stayed in contact from that, and he's been a mentor, he's been a friend. It's just, it just feels so, he's just so kind. I don't know, and I still had to pinch myself like, no, no, no, this isn't family, this is the Stevie Wonder. But also just seeing him in action when he's recording or when he's writing or practicing, he truly is a musical genius.

[6:10] Allison Semmes: The music just flows through him. It's such a blessing to see him just completely surrender to this force, you know, of music. It's really inspiring.

[6:28] Donnie L. Betts: Oh, and if you're listening, God, please don't make it hard for us to believe the things that we see.

[6:39] Donnie L. Betts: Tell us should we run away, should we try and stay? Or would it be better just to let things be living here in this moranda?

[7:01] Allison Semmes: But it's taught me to, so it's real, it's real, it's that we must look inside to find a world love. And now I know you want your family's background, your musical background of your family. But sometimes, you know, growing up in a musical family, you may not believe be there to follow that in their footsteps. What made you decide that this is what my journey needs to be and wants to be?

[8:08] Allison Semmes: I, you know, I have to blame my parents because they, and I say that in love because they saw my mom, you know, saw me singing around the house. I was harmonizing with the vacuum cleaner at age like three. I was dancing around the house, and they were like, we need to put this child into somebody's, we need to put her into a choir, dance classes, and so they just, they saw this, my mom says, the gift, you know, and just nurtured it.

[8:49] Allison Semmes: And my mom is a teacher, she's retired, but anytime she sees like a gift in her students or her children, like she'll say, okay, let's jump into it fully, let's learn it more, you know. So she put me into choir, she put me into ballet class, church choir, children's choir, ballet, all of the things, Kenwood Academy concert choir. And then when I wanted to major in music, she said, of course. You know, both of my parents were so supportive. I'm so blessed for that because I know that's not the case with everybody.

[8:49] Donnie L. Betts: That's right, it's so true. Now something you've done too is you played a lot of icons, female icons, Diana Ross and different folks like that. Now you have an opportunity to play a real icon, not that they're not, but Josephine Baker, who also was an activist, as said in the introduction. Let's talk about Harmony, the new play that you're doing, the new musical that you're doing, but it's based on the unbelievable story, true story by the way. Harmony tells the tale of very successful entertainers you never heard of until now. You are playing one, Josephine Baker. Did you know much about her life before you took on this role?

[8:49] Allison Semmes: Absolutely. Josephine Baker was actually one of my first book reports in grade school. It was Ella Baker and Josephine Baker, and so I remember going to the library and, you know, this was before Wikipedia.

[10:39] Allison Semmes: Maybe I'm using myself, but no, you're not. But I remember going to the library and just reading about this woman in grade school. I'm like, what? What is this? Is this real? So she was floating around, like I knew of her. And then as I got older, you know, I saw the movie and even playing Diana Ross, I looked up, well, who inspired Diana Ross? And it all went back to Josephine Baker. I saw that she, you know, she's from the Midwest and she left America because of the discrimination. She felt free and liberated as a liberated Black woman in Paris. I remember visiting Paris for like a few days, and something inside me stirred. I just felt liberated out there. I felt it. I don't know. I can't put it into words; it's all a feeling, but I didn't know about her.

So I dove deeper into her story when I was preparing for the role, and every day, I'm just so honored. In the story with the Comedian Harmonists, their history was completely wiped away by the Nazi regime. They were the superstars that no one knew about because of that. This is the reason why we have the musical to tell their story. But also when they met Josephine, they're showing how famous they were, you know, the fact that they were performing with international superstar Josephine Baker and Marlene Dietrich, and all of these celebrities at that time knew them. Her being in the show is to show the level that they were in America as well. But then also, as I'm doing this role, I'm studying more about her, and I'm just like, this woman is so extraordinary; she needs her own musical.

So I'm putting out little reels on Instagram every week of just tidbits of this woman's life because it's just so extraordinary, you know? While I'm telling her story on stage, let me tell more of her story on my social platforms as well.

[12:26] Donnie L. Betts: Beautiful. Thanks for doing that. You know, when you give shout-outs to icons like that, that life and legend lives on for the next generation.

[12:26] Allison Semmes: Absolutely. We've been speaking with Allison Semmes, who's now starring in Harmony, written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman. The musical is playing at the Barrymore Theater. Please, please, please step right up and go see this production and see this amazing lady, Allison Semmes, as Josephine Baker.

[12:26] Donnie L. Betts: We've got Harmony, got Harmony, Harmony, Harmony, got troubles disappeared in what you do. This one to get the one to see first. It's very timely. I think a lot of people have been saying about this production, it's very timely in the times that we're living in now. What else can you tell folks about Harmony?

[14:26] Allison Semmes: Absolutely. I think the timeliness is so important. You know, there's a term, Sankofa, and I believe it's a West African Adinkra symbol, and it represents "go back and get it," meaning looking back. When we look back at the past, we remember—I'm paraphrasing—but if we go back to the past, we can learn from it. Yes, so we know Sankofa, exactly. Even though this isn't an African-American story, this is a level of Sankofa where we're looking back at what happened to the Jewish people during that era and how we can learn from the past, you know? Let's not forget what they went through, you know, so that we can create a better future. I feel really honored to be a part of, you know, at least suggesting that to the audiences.

At the same time, what makes it even more personal is to tell the story of this iconic woman, Josephine Baker, and how she not only... I wish that the story doesn't really get into her activism, but we can tell that the fact that she's even working with these Eastern European men, you know, as a Black woman in the 30s and 40s speaks volumes. The fact that this woman was international, she was a humanitarian; she saw beyond race. But at the same time, she stood up for that racial freedom, for that racial liberation. She had a rainbow tribe to show the world that children from different countries can actually live together as a family. She even took over when she returned to the U.S.; she was working with Dr. King very briefly, and Dr. King's wife spoke with her about even taking up the mantle of leading the movement when King passed.

There's so much information about this woman and the passion that she had. She escaped the violent St. Louis race massacre riots; she saw that as a baby, she escaped and ran. In her autobiography, she said, "I have just kept running, and I never looked back." She didn't want to ever see that, you know? She was running to this freedom to find this liberation. She refused to perform for segregated audiences, and when she came back to America and Miami...

[16:52] Donnie L. Betts: I'm giving like the whole—I'm giving her a whole life.

[16:52] Allison Semmes: No, this is all great. This is part of your embodiment of this kind of woman who is very important to history, not just history in America, but history in Europe, as you just mentioned. I'm just so glad that Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman wrote this for us to discover this group, who have basically been wiped out because of the Nazi regime. But now the audience can get a sense of who they are. The history is very important to me. That's why it's so important that this musical production is where it is now and at the time that it is now, and you are part of that production.

[18:04] Donnie L. Betts: Allison Semmes, thank you so much for talking with Destination Freedom Black Radio Days, The Eclectic.

[18:10] Allison Semmes: You're welcome anytime. Please join us anytime you want to talk about anything.

[18:14] Donnie L. Betts: And again, thank you for being part of The Eclectic, now playing at the Barrymore Theater. It's produced by Donnie L. Betts and No Credits Productions, LLC. You're listening to The Eclectic, the series mixed by Maurice Smith, aka Reese. Please subscribe to our podcast at Spotify, Radio Public, iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Facebook at No Credits Productions LLC, Instagram, and on Twitter at Donnie Betts or at The Eclectic, The Podcast. I'm Donnie Betts. Talk to me soon.