‘Invisible Life’ The Musical at Apollo Theater

A musical adaptation of best-selling author E. Lynn Harris’ 1994 novel “Invisible Life,” a coming of age story about man who discovers he is bisexual, is being reborn as a new musical featuring a score by Motown legends Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. The musical adaptation, which has been in development for several years, is an Actors Equity approved showcase currently appearing at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, June 25-30.

The musical, and its source material, which tackles issues of race, religion, gay identity and AIDS, centers on “Raymond, a college football player who dreams of becoming a married family man but is seduced into a “Down-Low” romance by the star Quarterback, Basil Hernderson.

Proteus Spann and Javon Johnson, who collaborated on the musical’s book, are directing the showcase.  Spann, who owns the intellectual property rights to Harris’ catalog of books, has been trying to produce a movie version of “Invisible Life” for years. He sat down with BlackEnterprise.com to talk the shift to the stage and why this story is so integral to the lives of black women.

BE: How did you come to acquire the rights to Invisible Life?

Spann: At first I was a fan because I read his book Invisible Life. It answered a lot of questions that I had about sexuality and religion. Then one of my best friends had the chance of meeting E. Lynn and I begged him to introduce me. He finally did after two years. (E. Lynn) and I hit it off as friends.  I had gone back to school for acting and moved to Los Angeles. I was doing casting but I really wanted to be an actor. Lynn lived in LA. MTV had an option on “Invisible Life.” The day I got there Lynn and I were having dinner and the option expired. So, Lynn said you know Proteus you should be producing my movie. Lynn said I will give you the option for free for six months. Two weeks later Lynn called me to say that [Empire’s] Lee Daniels wanted the rights to Invisible Life. So, you can’t have it. Friendship is friendship but business is business. And Hale Berry had just won an Oscar for Monsters Ball which Lee directed. But I knew I still wanted it. I came in with the highest bid and that’s how I got the first option. I quadrupled (Lee Daniels) bid; (actually) it was five times his.

Why is it necessary for you to tell this story?

It resonated with me. I knew the characters. I was experiencing a lot that the leader character Raymond was going through with his parents, family, friends, and the church. Was like part of the story was my story, so, I was very passionate about it. Also, I felt that I really didn’t have a choice. I believed GOD put me here and I was on earth to bring this project to life.  I am also an advocate of HIV AIDS awareness, especially among black women. This story tells the story of how a black woman deals with HIV. It is a message that needs to be told. It is an issue that we are still dealing with. We have the schools. We have the black church. We need black theater. Theater has the opportunity to advocate, to heal, and to make changes.

Lee Daniels is someone whom you wanted to work with?

Yes. I started looking for named producers. But that didn’t [pan] out either. A lot of the producers I went to would only do the project if they owned half of the rights. To me it was like a divorce “I want half.” But they weren’t willing to put up money (just) there name (attached) to the project. They were telling me ‘we want half’ of not only this book but all the books (I owned the rights to). One of the things I did when the option for Invisible Life was up after a year, I started buying the intellectual property rights for the trilogy (Invisible Life, Just As I Am, and Abide With Me) instead of optioning the books. So, I paid Lynn a big amount of money for the intellectual property rights to his books, meaning I own all of the rights other than publishing. No one does that anymore. But that’s how old Hollywood did it. Publishers only own the publishing rights and not intellectual property rights. After about five to six years I brought the rights to Lynn’s entire catalog while he was still alive.

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Tyler Perry influenced you in some way?

Tyler Perry came on the scene and I saw how he controlled his own destiny. It’s great to be young, gifted, and black. But you have to own it and if you don’t own your property you may get nothing. I was concentrating on making the movie. This pre Brokeback Mountain, so, it was very hard to bring this subject dealing with bisexuality, family and religion to the big screen. Then when Brokeback Mountain opened up the doors it became a little easier. Right before then Tyler Perry had made all of his money doing plays.  I realized that I could still get the message of the book through (to the audience) but if we had people singing and dancing on the stage the message would be a little easier [to deliver]. So, I stopped pursuing the movie. It is also very difficult to find a writer who can adapt a story. People brought their own drama. A lot of people were too close to the character because of their sexuality. Another writer didn’t believe in God. And this is a story about family, friendship, God and love. It is an American love story. So, I decided to do a musical.

How did Motown legends Ashford and Simpson come onboard?

I thought who would be the best writers to tell the story.  It was Ashford and Simpson. I wrote a book that was good enough to attract Nick and Val.

They wrote incredible music right away. I didn’t know them but I knew someone who did. He was the person I was looking to bring on to direct the musical, George Faison. He was very good friends with them. So, he made that introduction. I realized that the book that I wrote was not as great as the music. And when you are doing a musical it should be even. So, I reached out to someone who was a better writer than me who came from August Wilson’s camp. I know my weaknesses; I look for strengths in other people. You need a team, especially when it comes to the arts and theater. In any business it’s about great teamwork.

Why did it take six years to bring this musical to the stage?

I brought in an angel investor and I got with Tracey Edmonds to do the movie. When Lynn passed his family decided to challenge my ownership of the intellectual property rights. In America you can take someone to court for just about anything. In Hollywood when you are in any kind of litigation, everybody abandons you. They have other things to do and litigation can take awhile. This one took three years. I lost my financial backer. I had to pay a lawyer which cost a lot of money. I had pawn and sell (items) to fight for my rights. I went into a mental depressi

on. I went into a deep hole. I knew I had to preserver. I prayed a lot. I found inspiration on the internet. You have to stick to it. So, days you aren’t going to have the strength and you are going to want to sleep. So, sleep. Wake up and deal with it, live with it. I had a acting coach who would always say when you are struggling, stay in the fight; smell it, feel, live it. Because you will come out of it and then you will know you can pick yourself up and move on. I never lost sight.

How were you able to find an investor for the musical?

When you have an angel investor or investors, the project is very important but people invest in you because they believe in you. I found someone who believed me and in E. Lynn Harris. I knew of him. How we met was we literally bumped into each other at an Alvin Ailey Dance opening gala. I have eighteen books. This is a brand that has the potential to make millions of dollars. Lynn’s biggest fan base (70%) was black women. Straight black women bought Lynn’s book. In 1995 when Invisible Life came out he talked about the “down low.” His booked exposed what their men were doing behind their back [gay or bisexual men pretending to be straight]. Lynn wrote about the Atlanta housewives, those women, eight or nine years ago in his books. But to be a New York Time’s Bestselling Author it is not just one group or one race it is a whole diversity of people are fans of Lynn’s book. He has a huge following in other countries. I have people as far as Japan who are interested in Lynn’s work. It could be a worldwide brand.

Is the goal to run his other books into plays or musicals?

The goal is to turn them into films. I have invisible life the movie that is ready to go. Another one of his other books “I Say A Little Prayer” is a movie script that ready to go. But my goal with Invisible Life The Musical is that after the Apollo is to do a limited tour for a year and come back to the Apollo next year to put up a full production and then take it to Broadway.  There has never been a musical or a play that has gone from the Apollo Theater to the Broadway stage. I would like to be the first person to do that.