9 Quick Questions for Vanessa Bell Calloway

Actress returns to Broadway in ‘Purlie Victorious’

Gayle Jo Carter,

AARP

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Published December 26, 2023

vanessa bell calloway against purple and blue ombre background

Photo Collage: MOA; (Source: Polk & Co.)

Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway, 66, stars on screen in the BET+ series The Black Hamptons and is back on stage at New York’s Music Box Theatre through early February in the Broadway revival of the play Purlie Victorious. She tells AARP about her rocky Broadway beginning and also shares marriage advice, her holiday plans and the mindset that helped her survive her cancer journey.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Do you remember the first Broadway show you attended?

No, I do not because I didn’t get to a Broadway show until right out of college, and I don’t remember what it was, to be honest. I remember the first one I did: Bring Back Birdie. We opened up March 5 and we closed March 7 [1981], and [the audience] booed us. I can never forget that. It was at the Martin Beck Theatre [in New York], starring Donald O’Connor, Chita Rivera [and] Maurice Hines. And I guess the audience didn’t like it, because we literally opened on Thursday and closed on Saturday.

Did that make you feel like giving up?

Oh, absolutely not. I’m gonna be honest with you — I couldn’t care less because I had achieved my goals. My goal was to buy a long winter coat because I was cold, and some boots. And to have some money in the bank, because I was right out of college. I was poor. I had some money in the bank, I had a coat and I had some boots, and I figured if they liked me, other people would too … and I kept it moving. It gave me energy, and it actually kind of uplifted me, because I knew that I was in the right business because I got that job on my own. And I knew that it was encouraging [and] that I should keep moving forward because other things were out there for me to do.

Kara Young, Heather Alicia Simms, Leslie Odom, Jr., Vanessa Bell Calloway, Billy Eugene Jones and Noah Robbins on set of Purlie Victorious

Bell Calloway is starring in the Broadway revival of the play ‘Purlie Victorious.’

Marc J. Franklin

When you’re performing several shows a week, how do you keep up your energy?

I’m used to doing a lot of work at one time, and I have great energy, so I’m fine. I started in theater as a kid in the Karamu House in Cleveland, Ohio. I was a concert dancer. Nothing is more exhilarating than being live on a stage because it’s unpredictable. It strengthens your craft and your instincts and everything. And it’s fun because you never do the same show twice.

And how is your health? [Calloway was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 52.]

Before I got out of town [Los Angeles], I had all of my blood work, all of my doctor’s appointments … everything done. I came [to New York] feeling really good knowing that everything was fine for the next year.

What advice would you give to others who are facing a cancer diagnosis?

You have cancer. Don’t let it have you. And then I always say — I know it’s very easy to say, but since I’ve lived it, I can say this: Try not to live in that moment. What got me through my journey was to always project forward [and think] this time next month … this time next year … this time two years from now … because it gave me something to look forward to. So [I would think], This time next month my surgery will be over. Or, when the surgery came, Oh, in six weeks I get to drive. Oh, in six weeks or seven weeks I get to work out again … whatever it is, I just kept giving myself something new to look forward to. That helped me not live in the moment and be focused on whatever was going on at that moment — that day, that pain, that disappointment, whatever. I just said, This is OK, because this time next month I’m gonna feel better. And that’s what kept me going.

Would you ever consider competing on Dancing With the Stars?

I would love to go on Dancing With the Stars. That is on my bucket list. I want to do that very badly because I am a trained dancer. I’m in my 60s, so of course, what I used to do, I could no longer do to that extent — but I’m still a beautiful dancer.

Did you bring your dog, Ziggy, to New York with you?

No, I did not. It would be unfair. First of all, this apartment will not take dogs, but then if they did, when I go to work, he’s gotta be here by himself. I can’t take him to the theater. … Both of my daughters have dogs and they’re together quite a bit. My husband [Anthony Calloway] walks him every day.

You and Anthony have been married for 35 years, and your daughter recently married. Did you give her any marriage advice?

I always tell people this: Everybody’s got to get up with a purpose and have something to do. If you are sitting at home waiting for the other person to come home, it’s not going to work after a while. Everybody has to wake up with somewhere to go, something to do, with their own purpose in life. That makes it interesting. It gives you your life, their life, and then you come together and you build a life together. And, of course, the communication, trust and manners. I think good manners are important in a marriage. My husband and I say: “Thank you, honey. I appreciate that.” “I love you.” “Would you please do that for me?” “Oh, thank you, that was so thoughtful of you.” I say something like that to my husband all the time. And that makes somebody want to do something else for you. Manners. Not taking people for granted. Talking kindly to each other in your home. Just something that little is so important.

What are your holiday plans?

poster that says playbill the music box, purlie victorious, a non-confederate romp through the cotton patch with picture of man on it

Bell Calloway is back on stage at New York’s Music Box Theatre through early February.

Polk & Co.

My husband's probably going to [come to New York] through Christmas and New Year’s. I don’t think my kids are coming. They’ll stay on the West Coast. It’s a sacrifice, but it’s just for this one time and my family’s been very supportive of everything, so it’ll be fine. [When we’re home] we do gumbo. We have a tradition where a couple of days before Christmas, some of the kids’ friends will come over or our friends will come over. We’ll spend the day in the kitchen singing, dancing, drinking, eating food and making a big party, making a big bunch of gumbo. And then Christmas day, I call it my Texas barbecue — lobsters and steak and corn on the cob, gumbo, chicken. And we eat and have people around. My thing is I love setting my table for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I set my beautiful tables and you can come in your swimsuit — I don’t care.

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Gayle Jo Carter is a former entertainment editor at USA WEEKEND, who during her 30-year reporting and editing career, has worked at USA TODAY, Voice of America and Feature Story News. When not interviewing high-profile people, she’s teaching reformer Pilates classes and doing her best to raise two empathetic, curious, healthy young people to adulthood.