He was a man who shone in the perfect light of where he was absolutely meant to be.
And in the 2nd Act of BIG RIVER, as I stood off stage left to watch and hear him sing “Free At Last”, he made me weep every single performance. Every single performance.
Ron Richardson originated the role of “Slave Jim” in the Broadway musical BIG RIVER, and he earned the Tony Award for his inspired performance …..not long thereafter, a couple of years maybe, he died from AIDS…and i will never forget his performance in the show i shared with him for almost two years. As Jim, the escaped slave who shared a raft down the Mississippi River with Huck Finn (played by the marvelous Daniel Jenkins), Ron Richardson gleamed with passion and perspiration as he sang Roger Miller’s song FREE AT LAST, he stopped the show every night …every matinee. His eyes overflowing with tears, his dark mahogany skin gleaming with the perspiration of a show that was ignited by his sheer performance genius.
He gleamed and glowed in the spotlight.
Ron sang that song…inhabited that song….with all the deepest feelings of anyone who was ever a slave under the thumb of a master eager to destroy them…Ron sang for them and for all the members of our audiences who needed to be reminded that autocracy and cruelty are eternal…as eternal as the goodness of the men and women who fight to overthrow despots and demons, to this very day.
Ron sang with the knowledge- the long knowledge- of wounds he lived through as a Black man, a gay man, a sensitive performer, a tender heart…Ron exploded with the experience of his own life, as well as the lives of his ancestors….both Black and gay.
I adored being hugged by him. He always smelled so wonderful…maybe his dark arms enfolding me reminded me of the amazing woman who raised me- Lillie Pearl- in my childhood in Atlanta…all i know is Ron Richardson lives in my memory…and if you want a thrill, listen to the original Broadway company recording of BIG RIVER (that is my voice opening the show with “lookie here Huck, do ya wanna go to Heaven?)…listen to Ron sing his anthem to pain, suffering and freedom….listen to his deep rich voice fly right into your heart.
I think you will cry too.