THE BEST OF TASTY CLIPS: J. Alphonse Nicholson’s trek from ‘P-Valley’ to ‘Lanterns’
By Bill Vaughan
Entertainment Writer
When actor J. ALPHONSE NICHOLSON consented to this interview, he was in the throes of the SAG-AFTRA strike, so we couldn’t talk at length about his breakout role as Lil Murda in the controversial Starz series “P-Valley” from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Katori Hall. Nor would he go into his supporting turn in the Netflix hit movie “They Cloned Tyrone” starring John Boyega and Jamie Foxx.
Since it was a few years back, he also couldn’t possibly know of his currently airing projects including a part in the Hulu/Disney+ drama “They Fight” with Wendell Pierce and Samira Wiley; as well as his pivotal role as John Stewart Sr., father of Aaron Pierre’s superhero character in the highly regarded new HBO series “Lanterns.”
What the North Carolina native was enthusiastic about promoting was the West Coast premiere of “Freight: The Five Incarnations of Abel Green,” a timely and timeless theatrical journey written by Howard L. Craft that was staged at L.A.’s Fountain Theatre.
In the one-man show, Nicholson reprised his off-Broadway, tour-de-force star turn as five versions of an African-American everyman who travels through time in different incarnations, including a 19th Century minstrel, a faith healer, an FBI informant, a struggling actor and an out-of-work mortgage broker.
“It is one of those shows that requires every ounce of acting ability you have,” he told Tasty Clips of the play’s fourth iteration. “That’s the part that I love — bringing all of me to the work and hopefully changing at least one person’s life when they come to see the work.”
With the maturity that has come into his life since he first starred in the play 10 years ago, Nicholson claims to have a better feel for who each character is.
As he explains: “Even going back to the 1910s as a minstrel performer, you understand a gentleman who’s doing something that he probably really doesn’t want to do but doing to survive. He puts himself in an odd position to make things happen. We all know a guy like that within our community.”
In addition to regional stage theater and off-Broadway work including a stint in the Roundabout Theatre’s Tony Award-winning production of “A Soldier’s Play,” the former drummer can also count among his credits the BET+ thriller “Wake” and his portrayal of NBA superstar Chris Paul in “The Sterling Affair,” a mini-series about the scandal which plagued Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (Ed O’Neill) with Lawrence Fishburne as coach Doc Rivers.
Nicholson is also a brand ambassador for the L.A.-based Black-owned cannabis company Ball Family Farms through his friendship with CEO Chris Ball, who was given a social equity license after going through the process of being indicted in 2016.
The two collaborated on a strain called The Phonzie (with his face on the packaging) created to help him deal with anxiety and to focus on set.
“It was important to me that we spread the word about the medicinal properties of it,” he added while likening the product to a cup of tea. “Not that recreationally isn’t fine. Now it’s in 107 dispensaries on the West Coast and it allows people to know that Black men who are incarcerated for this deserve to be free because there are so many white corporations that are benefiting from this now. It’s been a wonderful journey into the industry for me, and I plan on having that as my retirement.”
For 12 years, Bill Vaughan has kept Wave readers up to date with the latest news in entertainment. To contact Vaughan, visit his social media pages on Facebook and Instagram or @tasty_clips, on X @tastyclips, and on LinkedIn to William Vaughan.
