The star of ‘P-Valley’ discusses the art that inspired him.
It ’s impossible to face away from the screen when Nicco Annan is play Uncle Clifford onP - Valley . As the nonbinary owner of the strip club The Pynk — who this season tops his getup with elaborate , rhinestone coated masks — Annan ’s performance combines his natural endowment for music as well as a soulful geographic expedition of southerly queerness and longing . Annan has been play Uncle Clifford sinceP - Valleywas creator Katori Hall ’s playPussy Valleyon stage and he also appear in her Pulitzer Prize winnerThe Hot Wing King . " She writes for the people of the South , the American South , the Black American South and for the LGBTQ community to amplify their voices , " he say . " And it ’s one of the things I line up it ’s a delight and an honor to work with an artist , to be able to partner with another artist that your values count . "
Annan uprise up in Detroit where he was inspired bylaudedhigh school theatre educator Marilyn McCormick at Cass Technical High School . He then attended the conservatory programme at SUNY Purchase before operate as an actor , dancer , and choreographer . Here , he walk us through the culture that have shaped his piece of work and his own identity .
James Baldwin and Zora Neale Hurston
Before the silver screen , for me , were the language on the Thomas Nelson Page of James Baldwin and Zora Neale Hurston . Even in mellow shoal , I think of being aware of , " Oh . There ’s some black-market queer multitude out here . What ’s that about ? " And the fact that they were not define by their homoeroticism , but more so by their Blackness and their humanity . I think that because people can see your skin , they can not see , needs , your identity . And I pronounce needs , because we know that ’s not always the case , but it was for me .
Gene Anthony Ray inFame
InFame , the movie , the first thing , away from it being a school of performing arts and the dancing , acting , and medicine , I was scheme and really moved by the former Gene Anthony Ray . He play Leroy in the movie . And he was this Black urban kid from New York City . And he was just sound at dance at the parties , and he was not a prepare dancer . But his eccentric , and his portrayal of Leroy Johnson intrigue me so much . Because he was this pitch-dark urban boy , he was not a traditional dancer size in that he was n’t really passing thin . He was extremely athletic . And I had this thing , when I was a Kyd , where the great unwashed thought that I played football because of my size and my build . And they were like , " Oh , you should be a football game player . " But then , I would take tap grade , and they were like , " But you ’re unspoilt at tap saltation . " And I was like , " Yeah . The charabanc of the football team is in reality the tap terpsichore teacher . So , permit ’s get into it . " So that movie , and then when it turned into a series , I just was in love with it . I watched it all the clock time . And it was something that gave me hope .
Israel Hicks and SUNY Purchase
So I came from Detroit directly to Purchase . The doyen of the program was the late , great Israel Hicks . And he was a human race , a teacher , and a mentor to me . He helped influence me as an creative person . But also , I ’ll say this , he help to shape my fire . And when I say that , I intend , I came this 18 - twelvemonth - honest-to-god kid that just was sparking , I knew that I was festal . But I also make love that I was Black . I also knew that I was into Greco-Roman dramaturgy . I also knew that I had a strong initiation in the drama of theater of operations . So I was draw in to August Wilson , of row ; to Lorraine Hansberry . I was appeal to international artists . I recall we did a Nigerian play calledMorountodun . And my father , and my kinsperson , is from Ghana , but I had never had the chance to be able-bodied to join my ethnic identity with my artistic voice . And to do so in a place , as a festive man , was something that gave me an additional expansion and a grade of sureness .
Vanessa Williams inKiss of the Spider Woman
One of the display that really got me — now , this is n’t needs a queer thing but — Kiss of the Spider Woman . In high school , [ my instructor ] Marilyn McCormick brought a group of the students from Detroit to New York and we sawKiss of the Spider Womanwith Vanessa Williams . And to see her play Aurora and to see her thing , and dancing , and be this goddess , yet still be envenom , the widow wanderer . It was so fascinating to me . And the complexity of homophile relationships or fag relationship , to me , it fascinate me . It was something that I discover intimate , even at a young eld . But it was the trick of all of the song and the terpsichore , and how terpsichore can really be incorporated . I choreograph a lot of straight gambling or film that does not take euphony . It is what we call " psychological gesture . " So being capable to use the body and movement to recite our taradiddle and how we find , I think that ’s a part of what our dance palace culture , in the queer community , embrace the trend . You do n’t always have to be a trained social dancer , it ’s about how you’re able to use your body to create shape to narrate storey .
HBO’sDef Poetry Jam
When that was going , that really bring to life again , and matched again , my love for lit with the perform artistry . I was one of the nonmigratory choreographers at Dance Theater Workshop in Chelsea , New York . So , we were in our older nance community down there , but I subsist in Brooklyn , but I was in Chelsea every day . And it was a partnership between Dance Theater Workshop and Urban Word NYC . So that show , Def Poetry Jam , really sparked a slew in me . And I was directing and choreographing a series of one person shows . So these would be a grouping of six masses that would get the opportunity and support to have their plays produced . Oftentimes , because we were in Chelsea , we really focus on amplifying the Black and brown , and queer infinite , and those stories .
Club culture and Karen Covergirl
I was from Detroit , but I pass the unfeigned grownup developmental days here , in New York . A daddy culture thing for me was the social club and nightlife . That ’s where the music was . That ’s where the dance was . So I had three clubs that were my right-down front-runner : It was Octagon , The Warehouse and Escuelita , and we call it Esco ’s , for unretentive . And I think back , at Esco ’s , there was Karen Covergirl . She reminds me a little bit of Vanessa Williams inKiss of the Spider Woman , now that I ’m telling you this . She ’s no longer with us , but she was a beautiful entertainer . And I retrieve first examine her at the puff shows that we had over at Escuelita . And she was a womanhood of a trans experience , an entertainer , and so beautiful . And she had a subtlety to her that was so powerful . And I think that is where I see and experienced thing that imprinted on me . That masculinity and femininity does n’t have to be draw down anyone ’s pharynx . It just is . So , as a gay gentleman’s gentleman , you could just be you playing a non binary character who can just be .
Destiny’s Child
Destiny ’s kid was doing college tours [ whenThe written material ’s on the Wallcame out ] , and they had come up to Purchase during , what we called , Culture shock absorber . And Culture Shock was this big Spring festival that was magnify the queer space , it was magnify the Black Student Union and Latinos Unidos , all of our groups . I was emceeing Culture Shock that yr . I remember meeting Beyoncé and Kelly and Farrah . They call me over and were like , " Come on , Nicco , we demand you to implore with us . " And so , we prayed together . So to see their rising as a chemical group and of form , as private women , it really was like , " Oh , you ’ve been on the flight your whole life . And you did n’t really know . " I just say to all of the people wish , " Let ’s just keep living . permit ’s just keep doing what we do , being who we are because , as that album says , the writing is on the bulwark . "
Metro Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro Goldwyn-Mayer
Photo by Paul Bergen/Redferns
