Taste Test
What is “good taste” anyway? Allow your favorite actor, musician, celebrity, or comedian to let you in on what they’re watching, reading, and consuming.
If you live in New York, you’re liable to encounter Whitney White somewhere. You may have caught her “assured direction” of Bess Wohl’s Liberation at the Roundabout earlier this year, or maybe you went to see Adrienne Warren and Nick Jonas in The Last Five Years on Broadway, which she’s also currently directing. She’s onstage, too, performing in Macbeth in Stride, the “labor of love” she wrote and spent nine years bringing to fruition at BAM. And she’s not done — this fall, she’ll direct Saturday Church at the New York Theatre Workshop.
If not her creative output, you’ll find her posted up on Tompkins Avenue in Bed-Stuy or bopping around the coolest spots in Brooklyn. She knows exactly where to go for everything from jazz to books to Italian food, and she comes by it honestly: “I’m still one of those people that likes to pick up readers like The Brooklyn Rail,” she says.
As busy as she is, White is really just getting started; she’s currently adapting one of her favorite books, Alice Childress’s A Short Walk; getting inspired by the work of New York photographer Bruce Davidson; and standing at the ready for the chance to direct the next big vampire movie.
How did The Last Five Years come about?
It came across my desk and the producers Seaview and ATG were attached, and they were reaching out to directors who were passionate about the show, and I raised my hand. For me, it’s still very common that I have to fight for things or pitch for things. I like to say I’m a retired musical-theater girlie — I guess I’m not so retired — but I grew up in Chicago, and the show actually started at this little theater in the burbs called Northlight. If you were in a musical-theater program in the early aughts or middle aughts, you were singing those songs.
This particular show presents multiple directing challenges — for one, it’s almost entirely songs with very little dialogue, and for another, the only two characters almost never directly interact. How did you approach that?
I also studied opera, and opera is mostly sung through or operetta; go see Porgy and Bess or something like that. In a lot of ways, The Last Five Years is more of a song cycle than anything else. How do you make an event out of something when people are just singing, right, and how do you make actions in there? “Shiksa Goddess” is my favorite example. He’s just singing about his first date and this woman he met, but we made the choice, you know, at the end of the day, he goes to buy flowers and then he sees a vision of her, and we had to carve out those activities so that Nick had things to do.
In terms of them not being in each other’s songs, that is like a mega director challenge. I tried to stay open to possibility. That’s the point of a revival — to be respectful of the past but also open to a new point of view on the work.
You directed Jaja’s African Hair Braiding in 2023, were nominated for a Tony Award in 2024, and this year, you’re working on such a variety of projects, from The Last Five Years to Macbeth in Stride. What are you bringing from Jaja’s to all these experiences?
That’s very meaningful. Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, by Jocelyn Bioh, was a gift that will not stop giving. It is still touring across the country as we speak. Female stories are powerful and universal, and comedy is such a universal language. I also learned that ensemble theater, in which the actors really have to work and shine, is probably my wheelhouse. The Last Five Years is similar — it’s only two people, and they are working that entire show. I had to fall in love with those actors and those characters in Jaja’s. And similarly, I had to fall in love with Nick and Adrienne and make a world for them. I think if you really have a love of performers and you want to make a roller-coaster ride for them, then the work really shines in the end.
Tell me more about Macbeth in Stride, the adaptation you wrote and are starring in at BAM. What perspective were you thinking about?
Let me explain the title — when you’re horseback riding or you’re running with someone or walking with someone, you’re in stride with them. My musical adaptation of Macbeth is focused on me as Lady M, trying to get him to be in stride with me. The whole play starts when she goes, “You can be king if we kill the king.” It starts with this woman’s “vaulting ambition,” as Shakespeare wrote. It also sounds like a rock-album title to me, so that’s why I like it.
This show doesn’t have a big, fancy commercial producer. It’s just something I’ve been doing with my friends and colleagues for nine years. I hope that it inspires people to keep making new work that’s original, because it’s getting harder and harder to do that.
Where do you get your best culture recommendations from?
I am a Brooklyn girlie. I’m still one of those people that likes to pick up readers like The Brooklyn Rail and all that stuff — physical papers. I’m trying to get off my phone as much as possible, and I’m still a word-of-mouth girl. I hang out a lot on Tompkins Avenue in Brooklyn, and there’s so much there, from Macosa to dear friend books. I like to go and have a chat, because you can have a glass of wine and look at really rare books. Also The Word Is Change, a resale bookshop that has events. Sometimes they have political speakers there, and even open mics. Barbès is iconic. Get thee to Barbès and see a concert! On Wednesdays, the Mandingo Ambassadors play, and they are one of the best Franco-African jazz bands ever, you know, and also bar LunÀtico. Get you a cheese plate, get a cocktail, and, you know, go see Noé the Simple Blues Boy or anyone that’s playing there. I saw James Brown’s bass player going there. You’re gonna see me in there with a different wig. My husband and I go there, like, twice a week.
I love Baba Cool in Fort Greene, although I don’t even know if I’m cool enough for Baba Cool anymore. My favorite café is a Black-owned spot, The Council, and he also just opened up a Nigerian restaurant. And I’m scared to shout this out because I need this place and if everyone starts going there, I won’t be able to get a table, but Colonie on Atlantic is delicious.
You’re hopping in an Uber XL. You can bring five celebrities, dead or alive, with you. Who’s coming?
Megan Thee Stallion. Just teach me how to be half of the woman you are. She’s so incredible and empowered in her body and femininity. Shakespeare, I need to meet this dude. I need to ask the tea: Was he real? Is it just one guy? We’re all gonna have questions for him. Trent Reznor — he’s the reason for my season. I think I’ve seen him perform live six times; I love Nine Inch Nails. David Bowie. Michelle Obama. We need Michelle. She is dropping gems. I want all the tea.
What’s the last meal that you cooked for dinner?
There is a really fancy, overpriced but delicious, butcher shop at Grand Army Plaza that I go to. It’s called Prospect Butcher Company. I got a beef-tenderloin log and dry rubbed it and salted it and garlicked it — is that a verb? I garlicked it and let it air-dry and I made it for some of my friends. I was very proud of that beef log.
There are so many components to what you do. You might have different pre-performance rituals, pre-writing rituals, pre-directing rituals — is there any consistent practice that you rely on to get centered, no matter what you’re preparing for?
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If I’m not in my body, I can’t do anything. We live in a world that’s so overstimulating. Music is a huge part of it. I definitely have some tunes that I’ll put on for about 20 minutes and just move around. I’ll stretch, see if my knees are gonna bend. I call it, like, “mom yoga lite.” I do that for 20 minutes, and it’s a mixture of Bauhaus, Trent Reznor, Afrobeats, and Stromae, who’s a French artist. I’ll listen to that and lay on the ground — this is the most theater-y stuff I’ve ever confessed — and I’ll move around and just check in with myself.
I also like to look at a lot of photography, whether I’m directing, writing, or performing. Sometimes if you look at a moving image, your brain will want to copy that too easily. But photo, art can be quite evocative and force you to color in the lines. Right before our talk, I was looking through this book. It’s my favorite thing right now. My partner got it for me. It’s Bruce Davidson’s photography. He took all these black-and-white photos in New York, and they’re so sexy. It’s called East 100th Street.
Has photography always been inspiring for you?
I really attribute it to my mom. We used to sit on the couch together and look through Vogue. Back then, she would collect all these international magazines, and we would scrapbook together. She really taught me. She’d be like, “Okay, this is good taste. This is bad taste.”
My entryway to the world was through my mother’s point of view on images. She would take me to the museum, because my godfather was a security guard at the Art Institute in Chicago. I would get to hang out there. Still images were an early gateway into the art world for me.
What is some of your favorite art that you own?
I’m half Jamaican, and there’s a lot of people that have gone to Jamaica and captured dancehall through the years. My favorite subject right now is island culture, specifically Jamaican island culture and nightlife. But Bruce Davidson is probably my favorite photographer right now. I found a picture of this beautiful Black woman nursing her child, and I used it as inspiration for Liberation, which was just at the Roundabout. I was like, Who did that photo? And then I found his work. I’m obsessed. For my birthday, my partner got me that image. It’s so beautiful.
What is your comfort rewatch?
You want me to be real? The Vampire Diaries. All seasons. Even after Elena left, I was still into it.
Were you ever on Tumblr? The Vampire Diaries community there was massive.
I used to love Tumblr. I think Tumblr was the greatest of the internet babies, actually. I used to ship Bamon. Oh my God, I’m outing myself, but here we go. Bamon was the people that shipped Bonnie and Damon becoming a couple. It’s still a crime. Julie Plec, make it happen.
Also Blade — I guess I have a vampire thing — and Queen of the Damned. I just rewatched Queen of the Damned. It’s also Lady Macbeth; I’m playing Black Lady Macbeth, so those are my references.
What’s something that you’ll never ever watch, no matter what?
It’s a more political answer: I can’t watch the tape of George Floyd. I’ve been thinking a lot about this — every time we look away, does it make it easier for that kind of thing to happen? Should we be looking, or should we be looking away? If you are going to watch these violent moments, what’s our responsibility? I do a lot of political theater; I did a show called What to Send Up When It Goes Down, and it was all about celebrating and remembering Black lives who’ve been lost to racialized violence. I think that my political act is theater, but is that enough? What is the role of media if you go on a news station’s website and before you even click it, it’s playing? I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I don’t know how I’m gonna deal with it, but I’m sure I’ll do a show about complicity and viewership.
What’s the best piece of gossip you’ve ever heard?
There’s nothing better than family gossip. I’m not going to divulge it here, because I don’t want my relatives to get me. I’d like to be invited back for Thanksgiving. But you hit a certain age in your family where you can hear the gossip, and I’ve hit that age, especially since I’ve had a child. Every holiday, when the elders are joining, I just get my little drink and I get very quiet to listen to shocking revelations of the generational past.
What’s your favorite game to play?
I’m such a loser. I used to play Mortal Kombat for Nintendo 64 so much. That was my game. I wanted to be Katana, homegirl with the knives and the little purple outfit. I like to play Batsu. There’s a crazy Japanese comedic show in the village that was here last year, and they have a card game, and it’s all about humiliation. If you get four or five fun people together, that’s a fun one.
What do you listen to when you’re alone?
The song I’ve had on repeat the most the past year, to get me into a more focused artistic space, is “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” by Bauhaus. Bela Lugosi was this actor who played Dracula. It starts out with this kind of medium to slow tempo, stripped down, punk reggae, drum beat. The extended version is quite long, but it has such a vibe, and they’re playing with dub a little bit — dub is a Jamaican style of music with a lot of reverberation. But the song is so moody and vibe-y, and I listen to it every single day. It puts you in a mind space that I find helpful.
Vampires again — I’m connecting the dots!
Someone needs to let me do a vampire film. I know that Sinners just came out, but I think that I could be the yin to Ryan Coogler’s yang.
What’s a book that you couldn’t put down?
The most recent one that I really, really loved — I’m working on an adaptation of it, actually — is Alice Childress’s A Short Walk. It’s about this woman who grows up in South Carolina. She leaves her husband and then migrates to New York and becomes a card player. It’s really about a woman’s self-actualization, but it starts in the early 1900s. It spans the migration. It’s like The Color Purple and Cabaret and Sex and the City all in one.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I’ve ever received was from Phyllida Lloyd. She said, “Whatever you do, you have to keep yourself together.” I really think that’s great advice: Keep your mind, your body, your spirit together. You are in charge of looking after yourself. Working in entertainment and theater, you’re surrounded by so many people, but often you really have to look out for yourself and your own well-being.
Lots of people out there hear the word “musical” and are immediately out. What’s the one musical that you recommend for someone who needs a little convincing?
Hair is a masterpiece, and I think that it has enough of everything for everybody. It has rock and roll, psychedelics, politics, sex. Give it a try.
What do you listen to in the car?
Rap or Brazilian funk, right now. Brazilian funk is such a collage of different types of music, like electronic and reggae and Afrobeats and anime music sometimes, guitar music, and then really distorted vocals.
What show is your partner not allowed to watch without you?
The White Lotus. I think all of America was on White Lotus. That was our “we must watch it together” show. We’ve never been on a vacation and we’re going to the Bahamas with my mom and my son. And now I’m all paranoid about it! I’m like, “Don’t talk to any weirdos, don’t get involved.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
