- I didn't look at her the entire presentation until I got to "Proud Mary."

♪ Proud Mary keep on burning ♪ And I looked at her and she was smiling and singing along with me.

It was just such a special moment.

- [Woman] A Better World is a special exhibit at the MacArthur Memorial that features a thousand paper cranes and the wish that there would never be war.

- [Woman] I really want the viewer to be engaged and have to think about how they feel.

- [Narrator] This is "Curate."

- Welcome to "Curate."

I'm Jason Kypros.

- And I'm Heather Mazzoni.

Thanks for tuning in.

Hampton Roads has always been a great place for budding artists to hone their craft and ascend to great heights.

- Broadway star Adrienne Warren is now firmly in that rare air.

The Norfolk native grew up singing in church and hoped to maybe play pro basketball one day.

- But her backup plan, singing and performing, quickly came to the forefront.

WHRO's Lisa Godley recently caught up with this rising star and got her to open up about her journey from Hurrah player to Broadway star.

This week's 757 artist is two-time, Tony-nominated performer, Adrienne Warren.

(upbeat music) ♪ When I was a little girl ♪ ♪ I had a ragdoll ♪ ♪ Only doll I've ever owned ♪ I grew up singing in church.

I went to St. Thomas AME Zion Church in Norfolk, Virginia, and I grew up singing with my dad.

- So, just like Tina Turner's real life story, you too grew up singing in the church.

- That's definitely when the music bug hit.

The theater bug came a little later, around six years old.

- [Lisa] Adrienne vetted her first Tony nomination in 2016 for her role as best featured actress in the musical, "Shuffle Along" and in 2020 as best actress for her role as Tina Turner.

♪ Left a good job in the city ♪ ♪ Workin' for the man every night and day ♪ ♪ And I never lost one minute of sleep ♪ ♪ Worryin' about the way things might have been ♪ I couldn't forget that I'm singing 20 plus songs a night and between every dance number I'm doing fight choreography because of the domestic violence within her life which is also presented in the show as well.

- So, how did you train for something so physically demanding?

- I would jump rope to "Proud Mary" to the beat of the music.

My trainer would make me do it over and over again.

And to also, I trained in boxing for months.

I just tried to be as strong as I possibly could as Adrienne, to be the best Tina I could possibly be.

- And according to her mom, being the best she can be is a goal this Hampton Roads native has been shooting for since childhood.

- My husband would sit her in her little seats when she was an infant and he would play jazz and we noticed that she could bounce right on rhythm.

- My parents are huge music fans.

I listened to everything from Bob Marley, to Anita Baker, to Elton John, to Tina Turner, to Yolanda Adams, gospel.

- My husband sings and when Adrienne was little, instead of going to bed, she would lay down on the steps and listen.

And so, he finally told her, Well, come on.

Since you're up anyway."

And he taught her one of the songs that he was preparing and when they sung it together in church, I just bawled.

I knew she was talented when she could harmonize just naturally.

I didn't know what to do with that talent, but I felt like she had something and I was all about, let's get her in dance, let's get her involved and she just awesome.

- I had been dancing and I'd always sung and I was a Hurrah Player.

So, theater is really in my bones at that point and I thought, what better way to continue nurturing this talent, but to go to Governor's School and actually get the training I need to take this further in my life.

And it changed my life.

I learned everything I could have possibly needed to learn to be the performer I am today, I learned at Governor's School.

When you go into the rehearsals, you're held at the standard of a young professional.

And I think because of that, I just fell even more so in love with the arts, even more so in love with theater, and musical theater specifically.

Learning to be a strong ensemble member is like the first amazing lesson you could possibly learn in musical theater.

- Because she was good at being an ensemble member, I think it's also what helps her being a good lead.

And you could see that in her work in Tina and the other things where she's been the lead.

She is a solidifying influence on her cast members.

♪ All the children say ♪ ♪ We don't need another hero ♪ ♪ The way home ♪ - [Lisa] So, what made you decide, Marymount Manhattan College?

- It was New York City.

For me it was just about being here.

My mom took me to New York the first time, 10 years old, and the electricity, the energy, just how vibrant the city was, it just ignited me in a way that I'd never felt before.

♪ It was so entertaining ♪ ♪ When the boogie started to explode ♪ ♪ I heard somebody say ♪ ♪ Burn baby burn ♪ ♪ Disco inferno ♪ - [Lisa] You've been performing in New York City for over a decade now and experiencing phenomenal success, but you say a lot of it came quite unexpectedly.

- George C. Wolfe was the director of "Shuffle Along," and so we workshopped that show for months without having any idea what we were working on.

I think there's a lot of beauty in just kind of showing up in the room and doing your best and then kind of watching it grow and evolve into this masterpiece that was "Shuffle Along."

I sang two songs in the show and was on stage for maybe not even 15 minutes.

So, I thought there's no way for me to possibly get a nomination.

This is just nuts.

And I saw my face pop up and my name being called and I just screamed very loud and probably woke up everyone in my apartment building.

And I just thought, how is this possible?

It was the year of "Hamilton."

So, it was like a crazy year for Broadway in 2016.

I was asked to go to London to start doing a workshop for the show.

I didn't even think that I would end up doing the role really.

I thought they'd hire Beyonce.

- And after all that rehearsal, you finally get to perform and it's in front of Tina Turner.

What was that like for you?

- I didn't look at her the entire presentation until I got to "Proud Mary" because I thought if I don't move forward with this project, I wanna at least be able to help my unborn children or grandchildren at some point that this happened.

And I looked at her and she was smiling and singing along with me.

And it was just such a special moment because it gave me permission to just be myself and enjoy this presentation, enjoy this moment.

And at the end of the presentation, I just fell at her feet and bowed and just started crying and she was unbelievably gracious and loving.

I'm so grateful for her and she's taught me so much.

♪ Rollin' ♪ ♪ Rollin' ♪ ♪ Rollin' on a river ♪ I have a nonprofit, Broadway Advocacy Coalition, that does a lot of work in social justice and racial justice through the actual communities and beyond.

To get to be of service in this time is a blessing.

It's something that I don't take lightly and it's so needed.

And I'm grateful to be an amplifier in that way.

I feel like I've been placed on this planet to tell the stories of our ancestors.

I'm a storyteller and I'm grateful for the biographical work that I've gotten to do thus far.

And I hope to do more in the future.

♪ Oh how I love you baby ♪ ♪ Baby baby baby ♪ (upbeat music) - [Jason] Learn more about our 757 featured artists at our website WHRO.org/curate.

- [Heather] You're looking at works currently on display at the TCC Perry Glass Wheel Arts Center in the NEON District of Norfolk.

- [Jason] We want to thank Tidewater Community College for providing a backdrop all season long.

- This past summer, we remembered a somber milestone, the 75th anniversary of atomic bombs being used to end World War II.

- The MacArthur Memorial in downtown Norfolk marked the occasion by paying tribute to a courageous girl who folded 1,000 paper cranes in the hopes that her wish for a better world would be granted.

(light music) - General MacArthur was a veteran of World War I and World War II.

He was somebody who believed that there was no substitute for victory.

But when the peace came, that was also a very important victory that you had to win.

Onboard the USS Missouri on September 2nd, 1945, as he's accepting the Japanese surrender that's going to end World War II all over the globe, he says something very interesting.

- It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion, a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past.

- And so he was very committed to the idea of peace, peace with Japan, peace all over the world.

(light music) "A Better World" is a special exhibit at the MacArthur Memorial that features 1,000 paper cranes that were folded by students in the Hampton Roads area.

(light music) There is a Japanese legend that says, "If you fold a thousand paper cranes, you're granted a wish."

And there was a young girl.

She was at Hiroshima the day it was bombed.

When she's about 12 years old, she's suffering from leukemia and other issues and she decides to fold 1,000 paper cranes and make a wish for a long and healthy life.

She makes more than 1,000 paper cranes, but sadly she dies in October of 1955 because of the radiation poisoning.

(light music) In order to have this 1,000 paper crane exhibit, we've partnered with schools in Elizabeth City, North Carolina and Norfolk Public Schools here in Norfolk, Virginia.

This was right at the start of the pandemic though.

And so, only a couple schools were able to get us their cranes before they closed and went to teleschool.

And so, then we had a number of families across Hampton Roads that heard about the project.

And so, you have parents teleworking, kids being homeschooled, folding cranes together to send to us to be part of this special exhibit.

This exhibit is a symbol of this idea that now we want to see a lasting peace and that out of great suffering, out of the carnage of the past, we can have a lasting peace for everyone.

- The MacArthur Memorial plans to exhibit the display through the end of 2021.

Artist Emily Reed loves animals.

They are the inspiration for her work.

Her bright, colorful paintings show the joy she finds in sharing her life with creatures of all sorts.

(light music) - As a kid I always loved animals and as an adult always enjoyed art.

So, I paint animals in acrylic and usually in bright colors and lots of patterns.

I paint in the studio in my house.

So, I'm usually painting right on the floor and my house is in my farm.

So, you know, I got animals all around me which is kind of funny.

Once you get a couple animals, people ask you if you'll take more and if I can give them a home that they live harmoniously with the other animals, I usually say, "Yes."

I'm a little bit bad at saying, "No."

I have about 40 animals that live here that were all in need of homes and are all kind of supported by my artwork.

So, the animals I live with inspire my artwork.

And when I sell my artwork, it allows me to provide a home for my animals.

So, it's kind of this cool relationship that we share.

We can help each other out.

I have three dogs and a pigeon.

I have like 22 chickens.

And two emus and two alpacas.

I have two donkeys and a mini horse.

And I have three mini pigs and three goats.

Right now, alpacas were kind of popular and they've got, you know, their crazy little cartoony faces.

So, those are good ones to paint.

I've painted the pigeon, Tubbs, a couple times and my tortoise, Phineas.

The donkeys have made it into a couple paintings.

There's two things that happen when I paint.

I either know what colors I'm gonna use and I paint the background first or I know what subject I'm gonna paint and I sketch that out right onto the wood.

And I like to leave all my mistake lines or my contour lines so I have lots of little shapes to paint and add pattern to.

And then I guess I just keep painting until it feels like it's done.

The energy, I guess, from my artwork is usually a happier one.

I don't have anything that's too somber.

And I'm just unable to really paint when I'm, you know, if I'm stressed or if I'm sad or if I'm just a little bit down.

So, most of my artwork I think just expresses like a more positive energy.

I generally paint in large format, which to me is like four feet by six feet, or three feet by four feet.

But I also painted a large mural, which is a really large format, downtown for the Reno Mural Expo.

And I'm kind of excited because not everyone buys art and not everyone can buy art, but it's a way to kinda get my art into their lives.

(light music) I feel like the connection that I have to our natural surroundings really influences the way I paint.

Around here we get colorful skies in the morning and at sunset and looking at Mount Rose.

The colors on Mount Rose are so amazing and also in the desert after it rains, the sagebrush looks extra fresh and the rocks have other colors that kind of pop out.

(light music) I'm just moved by our colors and our natural beauty.

And I don't paint realistically, but I hope that the feelings that I experience seeing these colors, that someone might experience them looking at my artwork.

(light music) - A Florida photographer uses her portraits to tell stories of hardship and triumph over it.

And ultimately, to help us see beyond our differences and find the humanity that ties us all together.

Meet Jess T. Dugan and explore her exhibit, "To Survive on The Shore," which was featured recently at the Frost Museum in Miami, FLA. - My name is Jess T. Dugan.

I'm a photographer who works primarily with portraiture and often within LGBTQ communities.

I'm here at the Frost Art Museum because my exhibition, "To survive On This Shore: Photographs and Interviews With Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults" is on display in Miami.

In this exhibition, one of my missions is to educate about issues faced by transgender older adults.

- Jess is more than on the rise, she's really quite established now as a photographer who has very much a humanitarian view of different communities.

- I feel that photography is a very powerful storytelling vehicle.

And so, I often have my subjects look right out at the camera because I really want the viewer to be engaged in a moment and a relationship with them and to be met by their gaze and have to think about how they feel being in that situation.

I want them to reflect on their own assumptions about the person that they're looking at and for the act of viewing the photograph to be a really energized, engaged one, rather than a passive one.

I want them to be in a moment with them and look them right in their eyes and feel this very human connection that I think makes it very difficult to discriminate against someone or to be hateful towards someone if you've really come that close to understanding who they are.

I made this project in collaboration with my partner, Vanessa Fabbre, who's a social worker and assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis and her research focuses on the intersection of LGBTQ communities and aging.

So when we met, we realized we had overlapping interests from working within the trans communities and we decided to create this project that had both the portrait and the interview narrative from each person.

- And it is funny because, you know, there's always this conversation in museums about how much text do you want in your text?

You should be looking at the work.

But I think in this exhibition, the stories, they enhance the work of art.

They are a necessary component.

- The portraits immediately capture people's attention, but then the stories allow us to talk about some of the other issues.

Some of the things like housing discrimination, or employment discrimination, or fear that people have about growing older as a transgender person, or conversely, joys that they experience, or triumphs of their life.

One of the subjects in the exhibition, Justin Vivian, identifies as non-binary and she spoke about her decision to take estrogen being motivated in part by wanting to have a medical record of her transness because she was worried if she grew older and lost her ability to advocate for herself that she would end up being treated as a man.

(upbeat music) I met Susie and Cheryl a few years ago and it's been really great to get to know them because there's such love between them.

And there's such a groundedness and commitment that I think is really amazing.

- All we do is go out in public and just be public.

You know, don't hide 'cause we're proud of who we are.

We love each other.

We're not interfering with anybody's lives.

We just wanna live our life the best we know how and to show everybody it's okay.

- Having their story and reading about how they were together before Susie transitioned and their marriage has morphed and changed, but they're more committed and in love than ever before is really beautiful and really exciting and I think it gives a lot a hope to people who may be struggling with that question.

I think there is this focus on youth and there's not a lot of representations of transgender older adults.

And so, they wanted to share their stories and provide a kind of roadmap for what a life could look like for younger trans folks who, in most cases, have never seen an older transgender person.

They've never seen an image of what it might look like to grow older.

And so, I was incredibly moved by the extent to which people wanted to help others by sharing their own story.

(upbeat music) - [Heather] You can find more "Curate" content on our website, WHRO.org/curate.

There you'll find all previous episodes spanning more than four years worth of great stories about amazing artists.

- And you can follow "Curate" on social media.

We're on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

- We're going to leave you tonight with more from Adrienne Warren.

- [Jason] Thanks for joining us this evening.

I'm Jason Kypros.

- [Heather] And I'm Heather Mazzoni.

We'll see you next time on "Curate."

♪ Only doll I've ever owned ♪ ♪ Now I love you just the way I loved that rag doll ♪ ♪ Only now my love has grown ♪ ♪ It gets stronger in every way ♪ ♪ And it gets deeper let me say ♪ ♪ And it gets higher day by day ♪ ♪ And do I love you my oh my ♪ ♪ Yeh river deep mountain high ♪ ♪ If I lost you would I cry ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you baby baby baby baby ♪ ♪ When you were a young boy ♪ ♪ Did you have a puppy ♪ ♪ That always followed you around ♪ ♪ Well I'm gonna be as faithful as that puppy ♪ ♪ No I'll never let you down ♪ ♪ 'Cause it grows stronger like a river flows ♪ ♪ And it gets bigger baby and heaven knows ♪ ♪ And it gets sweeter baby as it grows ♪ ♪ And do I love you my oh my ♪ ♪ Yeh River Deep Mountain High ♪ ♪ If I lost you would I cry ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you baby baby baby baby ♪ ♪ I love you baby like a flower loves the spring ♪ ♪ And I love you baby like a robin loves to sing ♪ ♪ I love you baby like a school boy loves his pet ♪ ♪ I love you baby river deep mountain high ♪ ♪ Baby ♪ ♪ Oh baby ♪ ♪ Oh baby ♪ ♪ Do I love you my oh my ♪ ♪ River deep mountain high yeah yeah yeah ♪ ♪ If I lost you would I cry ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you baby baby baby baby ♪ (upbeat music)