It was 2013, and Amber Iman was about to make her Broadway debut in a starring role as music legend Nina Simone when the show’s producers called her in for a meeting. They wanted to know if she would go sing at Black churches in Harlem to promote the show.
“我说，'我不认为你们都不了解黑人教会如何工作，”“亚特兰大本土召回与她的Nob Hill酒店房间的纪事中的电话交谈。
黑色教堂，iman向生产者解释，有自己的歌手，不要让某人离开街道 - 即使是一个很快百老汇明星 - 只是驾驶们。他们的回答？“事实上非常重要，他们说：”好吧，我们派出传单，但黑人不读。“那是我对百老汇的介绍。”
Recounting the moment, Iman laughed ruefully and with a lilt of triumph. She was feeling inspired: In a few days she would take the Golden Gate Theatre stage in the dual role of Mrs. Fezziwig/the Ghost of Christmas Present in“圣诞颂歌，”在12月26日的百老汇的主持下运行。这种郁郁葱水生产的歌曲填充适应狄更斯经典荣获2020年百老汇的奖金。
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它的旧金山演员不仅提供了当地人才的壮观（它拥有七位演员称呼湾区之家），也是希望那些像Iman一样的希望的迹象，在剧院行业寻求范式转变。虽然狄更斯圣诞节的眼镜往往倾向于采用白色演员，这个“卡罗尔”的领导者，包括魅力电视老将Francoise Battiste作为Scrooge，是人们的颜色。为了他的信誉，这位适应背后的作家杰克·索恩（Jack Thorne）长期以来一直以其沉思的铸造而闻名，坚持认为残疾儿童在举行的伦敦和百老汇运行中扮演小蒂姆。
仍然没有拉伸属性的一些公司lusivity progress — and similar changes happening on Broadway — to Iman’s steady track record of leadership.
Her 2013 Nina Simone show, “Soul Doctor,” flopped. But Iman’s career, as anyone familiar with her powerful voice and presence could have predicted, took off. “Soul Doctor” earned her a nomination for the prestigious Clive Barnes Award. Iman then returned to Broadway in the star-studded revival of “Shuffle Along” and joined the first national touring cast of “Hamilton.” Bay Area audiences will be seeing a lot more of her: After this four-week stint in “A Christmas Carol,” she’ll return in March to star in Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s “Goddess,” a new musical about an alluring jazz club singer set in Kenya.
但在所有这些学分中，占着重要的违规成就。在2016年，Iman和其他五名演员创立了百老汇倡导联盟，在剧院中讲述种族主义。他们的教育倡议已经多样化和巧妙，包括与哥伦比亚法学院的合作，其中参与者，学生和法律专家共同努力，为更多的政策创造倡导的表演。
谋杀乔治·弗洛伊德后，BAC举办了一个在线活动，吸引了超过5,000名戏剧领导者，其中许多人承诺反种族主义承诺。伊曼和两位女演员随后在百老汇推出了黑人女性，这是一个突出黑色女性铸造董事和技术人员以及女演员的竞选活动。
今年9月，BAC被授予特殊的托尼。
“It’s a performative gesture,” Iman acknowledged, speaking shrewdly yet hopefully. “We’ll know whether it’s more than lip service in the coming months as theater reopens and people are being more vocal in work spaces that could be toxic and harmful. It’s going to take time to see.”
Iman was immersed in the theater world from an early age.她长大了一个独生子女，由女演员母亲和一个在建设中工作的父亲抚养。
“Any rehearsal hall or TV studio my mother went to, I was always with her,” she said.
她参加了一所磁铁高中，以追求数学和行动人才，然后选择在霍华德大学学习音乐剧。一位教授让她度过一个学期的学习爵士乐，一个不寻常的策略，因为假设未来的角色需要传统的（阅读：“白色”）百老汇声音。“但是我做了对我说话的事情有意义，”伊曼说：“我想做的事物。”
这spectacle-laden“圣诞颂歌”,编织with traditional carols like “Joy to the World” and “Silent Night,” doesn’t call upon Iman’s jazz skills, but her depth of interpretation isalsoa special asset, according to director Jamie Manton, who calls working with Iman “an utter joy.”
“Amber commands this role with majesty and precision, finding a depth that is rooted in powerful truth,” he said, noting that Iman’s Ghost of Christmas Present “fights on behalf of social and economic injustices, challenging Scrooge’s blindness when it comes to his own sense of responsibility and accountability.”
对于她的部分而言，伊曼在大流行关机后很兴奋地回到舞台上。她实际上是第一个在宽敞的女性在雪地关闭后再次在百老汇表演，在4月份举办一个妇女秀作为纽约歌迷节的一部分。The experience, she said, was “terribly frightening” because of general fear about the coronavirus and the pressures of being tested for COVID daily — she worried that if her test came back positive, she’d have to send the audience (and the extensive tech staff) home.
In San Francisco, too, COVID protocols to keep everyone safe bring stress, but she is relishing the chance to watch her “amazing” co-star Battiste shine as Ebenezer Scrooge and to be part of a committed cast.
“To walk out onstage and see their faces — it’s such a blessing to be back in the theater,” she said. “It’s really important we don’t take these moments on stage for granted and use every opportunity we have to be storytelling vessels, especially to tell a story like this one about redemption and second chances.”
Just beyond “Carol’s” monthlong run and New Year’s lie rehearsals for “Goddess” at Berkeley Rep, with director and creator Shaheem Ali, composer Michael Thurber, and playwright Jocelyn Bioh. Iman’s voice turns light and buzzy as she anticipates it.
“这是一个展示第一次为我写的，”她说。“这是一个创造性的梦想团队。我认为音乐剧，这个节目将改变游戏。这将允许年轻的孩子们的彩色，年轻的黑人孩子，在一个音乐中看到自己，以便我认为我们在很长一段时间内看过。“
与此同时，她说，她在百老汇的Bac和黑人女性的工作将继续下去。“我们没有在那个19个月内生存落后。”
“A Christmas Carol”:到12月26日。金门剧院，1泰勒圣，S.F。56-256美元。www.broadwaysf.com