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Freeman in Paris is a one man show that tells the story of Black Jazz musicians during the bebop era as they search for freedom in an America that has historically denied them. Carter Freeman, rising trumpet star, has gone missing for sometime now. Everyone wonders, "What ever happened to Carter Freeman. Through testimonials from his band mates as well as his mother and vivd flash back, the actor takes you on a journey where the music was vibrant and the country was gearing up for chance. 10 characters and live music played on 5 different instruments, makes this a show you got to see. Hear what some people had to say below and listen to the podcast interview with Pittsburgh Gazette's Onstage host Christopher  Rawson.

New Pittsburgh Courier

‘Freeman In Paris’ sensational

By Tameka L. Cage | Published  02/26/2009 

Forget one-man show. “Freeman in Paris” at New Horizons Theater, was a one-man marvel. The show was written and performed by Herb Newsome, an exceptionally talented young actor who, judging by his outstanding performance, can do just about anything he sets his mind to.

The play was exciting, humorous, serious and profound. It had me laughing one moment and near to tears the next.

It tells the story of Carter Freeman, a jazz musician born in the deep South, who endures racial hatred and violence from an early age. Yet amid the chokehold of segregation and Jim Crow laws, Freeman’s parents encourage the youngster he can accomplish anything he wants. Freeman believes them, and follows his dreams of playing jazz to New York City.

He discovers, however, that New York is just another side of the same coin, and that racism thrives in that city as well. As Carter forms a jazz band and becomes a beacon of hope and source of admiration to its members, old and young alike, it becomes clear that Carter had left at least some of his soul back in the deep South, and he must make a choice of a lifetime if he is ever to live in peace...and freedom, again.


HERB NEWSOME
An unexpected invitation, borne out of hope and desperation, lead Carter and his band to Paris, where they discover that they are not only paid on time and handsomely, but that they are also appreciated and respected as human beings, not merely Black musicians. The spirit in which they are received in Paris is one of love, where they can hold their heads up high as men, and not be forced into the shameful corners of inferiority, or the back doors of second-class citizenship. When the musicians return to the U.S., they drift into depression, and lose aspects of themselves they never thought they would.

Though the story itself is gripping, the audience was mesmerized by Newsome, who during one part of the show, plays the trumpet, saxophone, piano, bass, and drums…all by himself. If you close your eyes, you’d vow that there was a full band on stage. And if that’s not enough, Newsome portrays more than eight characters, and performs each of them to perfection.

“I had read Miles Davis’s autobiography, and I just remembered that he had said the best time he had in life, when he was not in bed, was when he heard (Charlie Parker) Bird, (Louis) Armstrong, etc. I started doing a lot of reading on the bebop era. When Miles came back [from Paris], it was so hard. That’s why he became a heroin addict. Carter Freeman is a fictitious character, but I heard a story about how Fats Waller went to the Hope Tree. And I heard about (John) Coltrane’s [song] “Alabama,” and that it was based on MLK (Martin Luther King Jr). I finally realized the play was about freedom,” Newsome said.

“Freeman in Paris” is a celebration and testament to the survival of African-Americans in the U.S., and chronicles many aspects of the Civil Rights Movement. 


Charisma times 3: African-American portraits are loaded with personality
Stage Reviews
Thursday, February 19, 2009
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Three intriguing figures are currently treading our theatrical boards -- an idealistic teacher, expatriate musician and pioneering journalist. Matching them for charisma are the three actors who bring them to life, which, in the case of the two shows that are premieres, extends even to the writing. And all six, the characters and the actors/authors, are black. Three simultaneous solo shows about African Americans seems an extraordinary coincidence until you recall that February is Black History Month. The plays are as different as their heroes, the eras they depict, the modes they use, their performances and the pleasures and emotions they generate.

'FreeMan in Paris'

The most ambitious of the trio is this staccato, many-angled portrait of a mid-century American jazz artist who grows up rural, achieves some renown in New York and finally flees American racism by immigrating to France -- as did many black artists, especially musicians.

Indeed, the events of Carter Freeman's life, both joyous and tragic, seem so plausible and familiar that you may convince yourself you've heard of him and might even ask the obliging playwright/performer, Herb New­some, whether or not he's still alive, in Paris or wherever. But the name is just too perfect, as the extra capital letter shows. However convincing and probing a biographical sketch this may be, and no matter how much of it is "true," it is also an emblem, a dramatic argument that only Carter can be a free man only when freed of the incessant pressure of American racism.

It wears that argument lightly, all the more because the story is so interesting as you piece it together out of jumbled reminiscences by Carter's family and friends and his own words. Newsome plays all these roles, a half dozen or more primary ones, differentiating them with just a touch of accent, a slight stoop or a hint of gravel or whine. He also plays trumpet (as does Carter), tenor sax, bass, piano and drums (as do the members of his combo) -- plays them for real, not just miming -- and he also plays Carter's mother, among others.

All of this is done with the simplest of acting touches, but it's always who is speaking. This minimalism is supported by fine video projections and sound effects. Obviously Newsome has been well served by his director, Michael Rosenthal.

Newsome has worked here before, mainly for Kuntu Rep. This is the premiere, and "FreeMan" is a little long at 100 intermissionless minutes. But with some pruning and a few more details to connect and anchor the story along the way, it should make a touring staple. It's already very touching, with some wonderful flashes of poetry and a jagged irony that lifts it above the merely cautionary or programmatic. There are a few scenes with August Wilson-like power and a final poem of Carter's that will make your eyes mist over.