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Will Power’s fascinating look at the heretofore untold story of the unlikely friendship between Muhammad Ali and Stepin’ Fetchit had its premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles this past weekend. It was a glittering, diverse, and very enthusiastic audience that came out to support this Debbie Allen directed, first theatre production of LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Company. I will venture to say that many people have never even heard of the actor Stepin’ Fetchit (born Lincoln Perry), so the play illucidates both a forgotten man in Hollywood history and this mostly unknown exchange that took place between two figures in black culture that could not have been more different – at least in how they were perceived. Ali, being a beloved icon with almost superhero status, and Fetchit, known in the African American community as someone to be ashamed of.
The year is 1965 and Ali is training in Lewiston, Maine in the days leading up to his rematch against Sonny Liston. He had taken the heavyweight championship away from Liston the year before in Miami in a huge upset and he expects Liston to come back hungry to take back the title. Ali is in the shape of his life – cocky and seemingly nothing can stop him – and he doesn’t mind telling folks just that. But he’s looking for anything that can give him an edge. Enter an all but forgotten Hollywood actor known as Stepin’ Fetchit. Ali has heard that Fetchit had known the famous black boxer, Jack Johnson, and thinks he may be privy to his secrets including his “anchor punch” that Ali thinks could be his secret weapon that Liston won’t see coming.
And so the two men come together with preconceived notions of each other but as they spar, emotionally and intellectually, they come to experience one another in a new way. Both are figuring out how to navigate their personal and public personas as black men in America. Meanwhile, having converted to Islam, Ali is surrounded by an entourage from the Nation of Islam and we meet his personal bodyman, Brother Rashid, Ali’s wife at the time, Sonji, and in flashbacks, the head of Fox Films, William Fox.
The cast is extraordinary, led by a thrilling performance by Ray Fisher as Ali. Fisher is in actual fighting form and is thoroughly convincing as the champ – from his voice, cadence and physical rhythm to his searing charisma, he embodies the boxer known as “The Greatest of All Time” and the effect is uncanny. My father was an amateur boxer, so Ali loomed large in my childhood and watching Fisher bob, weave, and preen, felt like seeing Ali in the flesh. He gives the audience the bravado we expect from Ali but also beautifully portrays his frustrations and vulnerabilities.
Matching him toe to toe is a staggering performance by Edwin Lee Gibson as Stepin’ Fetchit. When we meet him, he is older, a bit beat down by life and down on his luck. His Hollywood heyday long gone, he seems to have taken on some of the mannerisms of his “shuffling” characters. But in flashbacks, Gibson transforms to his younger self in a moment, and we see a strong and shrewd young man, deftly negotiating his own contract with studio head William Fox. In fact, Fetchit was the first African American actor to ever speak words in a film, was on contract at Fox, and was the first African American actor to make a million dollars. In one heated exchange between the two men, Fetchit says to Ali, “I snuck in the back door so you could walk through the front!”
Also lighting up the stage is a dynamic Wilkie Ferguson III as Brother Rashid, who is not keen on Fetchit’s arrival and does his best to exert influence on Ali, even when it comes to his wife. Alexis Floyd is captivating as Sonji Clay, a woman struggling to stand by her man with a world rapidly changing around her. And Bruce Nozick is a bombastic William Fox.
Allen’s direction is expertly taut and imbues the action with a spirituality and sense of history and purpose. The play is illuminating on multiple fronts, challenging our ideas of our heros, our antiheros, and calls upon us to re-examine our history.
“Fetch Clay, Make Man” plays June 25 through July 16, 2023 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre located at 9820 Washington Blvd. in Culver City 90232. Ticket Prices: $30 – $79 available online at CenterTheatreGroup.org, by calling Audience Services at (213) 628-2772 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office (at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles) or at the Kirk Douglas Theatre Box Office open 2 hours before performances.
