[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.89,0:00:19.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[energetic electronic music]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.50,0:00:24.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[overlapping chatter]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.09,0:00:27.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— Ok.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.64,0:00:28.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— All right.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.74,0:00:36.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Edgar Arceneaux: Today we're going to \Nfocus on the end of Scene 3,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.51,0:00:39.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when he's on the floor, the green present\Nshows up.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.93,0:00:42.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we'll just start off with the green light.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.11,0:00:50.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Until, Until, Until" is a performance, which\NI'm calling a play,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.03,0:00:57.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is based on an actual performance\Nthat Ben Vereen did in 1981
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.37,0:01:04.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where he decided to do a tribute to vaudevillian performer\NBert Williams
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.39,0:01:12.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the 1981 Republican gala, which was a celebration of\NRonald Reagan's election.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.38,0:01:15.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Man as Vereen: See them shuffle along
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.51,0:01:20.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Watch them shuffle along and take your...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.22,0:01:23.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] The first act was\Nlike a straight-up minstrel show
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.72,0:01:26.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so when he came out on stage,\Nhe was dressed in blackface,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.46,0:01:32.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is surreal in and of itself,\Nand did this really moving tribute.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.78,0:01:37.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then the second part is\Nwhere the critique was...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.40,0:01:41.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— He's trying to assert his manhood \N— OK.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.20,0:01:44.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] But ABC edited out that second part
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.05,0:01:47.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and only showed him doing a\Nminstrel show for Ronald Reagan
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.62,0:01:50.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and, like, you know, 25,000 white Republicans.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.44,0:01:55.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Man as Vereen] Well, these here, these, my\Nfriends...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.05,0:01:56.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Line?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.05,0:01:59.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] And two days later,\NBen was surprised to learn
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.46,0:02:01.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that all the people who were\Npart of his circle
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.91,0:02:04.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of friends and supporters,\Nthey all abandoned him.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.39,0:02:07.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Man as Vereen] That's quite all right.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.12,0:02:14.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I, uh...I just forgets my place… sometimes.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.22,0:02:18.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] Now this is the thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.18,0:02:22.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even if America had seen it, I am not convinced
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.62,0:02:25.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that most people would have\Nthought that it was a good idea.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.69,0:02:28.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Heh! That's the reason why I wanted to do\Nit,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.59,0:02:31.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because of that uncertainty...
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.91,0:02:33.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Man as Vereen] You're marvelous!
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.41,0:02:37.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] And the power of what art is,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.32,0:02:44.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is distinctive from other fields,\Nis its unruliness,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.73,0:02:51.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which ultimately means that...\Nart is not inherently good.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.69,0:02:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not inherently bad,\Nbut it is inherently
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.00,0:02:57.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,contradictory.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.41,0:02:58.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Man as Vereen] All right, I'll sing it...
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.98,0:03:01.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] Its nature is to ask new questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.01,0:03:05.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Man as Vereen hums a show tune]
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.53,0:03:20.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Arceneaux: You know, L.A. is a complicated\Nplace,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.64,0:03:22.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's so big.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.03,0:03:24.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are still parts of it I've never seen.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.40,0:03:30.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But this route will give you a sense of the\Ndifferent L.A.s,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.47,0:03:33.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and...how it's broken up
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.63,0:03:38.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into these invisible barriers\Nof class and race, you know?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.60,0:03:42.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a very different\Nexperience when you get to see
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.53,0:03:47.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the other part of L.A. Where, you know,\Nwhere regular people live,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.23,0:03:48.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,working-class folks live,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.02,0:03:52.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, so where I came from.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.54,0:04:01.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's just always been... home to me, um, \Nbut, you know, all of my family's here,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.95,0:04:05.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'm a third-generation Angeleno.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.22,0:04:11.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother's, like, a really\Ngood storyteller, so, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.31,0:04:13.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she would really bring the past to life.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.04,0:04:16.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On Sundays, like, after\Nchurch, she would be in her room,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.94,0:04:19.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, like, lying on the\Nbed, and one of us would go
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.98,0:04:22.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in there and lie down and then the other one.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.12,0:04:23.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The next thing you know, like,\Nall 6 of us would be in there
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.97,0:04:26.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the bed like, "Mom, tell us\Nsome stories about Grandpa,"
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.34,0:04:28.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like, "tell us some stories\Nabout your childhood," so...
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.47,0:04:34.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm named after my grandfather.\NYeah, he was a painter and an inventor,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.87,0:04:38.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and part of the story of my name is that,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.69,0:04:42.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, I look like him, I\Nwalk like him, I talk like him,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.64,0:04:45.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but he died a couple months before I was born.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.43,0:04:53.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I could accredit, probably,\Nmy interest into philosophy
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.56,0:04:59.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and religion and science to that anomaly\Nbecause I started asking myself early on,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.94,0:05:04.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like, "How could I be him and be myself\Nat the same time," you know?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.72,0:05:14.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Drawing, for me,\Nis both a technique, but it's
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.89,0:05:16.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,also a methodology.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.88,0:05:24.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a way of thinking about how\Nwe make connections between things.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.82,0:05:30.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a...a big-rig truck\Nthat's crashed into the side of a church.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.10,0:05:34.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is like a collision of belief systems,\Nright?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.19,0:05:40.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when I was in my undergraduate studies\Nat Art Center, I remember, you know, encountering,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.86,0:05:43.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like, all these car accidents, and it seemed\Nto bethere
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.62,0:05:46.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there was some kind of pattern that existed\Nto it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.13,0:05:49.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then I started to think about it more\Nphilosophically,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.56,0:05:51.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which was, like, you know, "Why is it that\Nwe
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.31,0:05:56.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consider car accidents and car crashes to\Nbe random?"
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.08,0:06:00.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because randomness is defined by a sense that\Nwe live
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.38,0:06:04.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,within the logical, reasoned universe.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:05.47,0:06:08.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm constantly trying to figure out how you\Ncould talk about
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.10,0:06:13.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,big ideas, but through images that are somewhat\Nfamiliar.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.53,0:06:20.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, within the space of making aa body of\Nwork,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.72,0:06:25.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the thing that I'm trying to talk about is\Nnot necessarily in the picture.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.18,0:06:30.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[electric saw whirs]
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.03,0:06:34.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— You know, this is just like\Nmaking a drawing, you know?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.00,0:06:35.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— Yep.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.71,0:06:38.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— It's all little, tiny detail stuff.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.40,0:06:40.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— No comment.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.74,0:06:42.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[laughs]
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.64,0:06:46.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— Maybe we should just make a drawing instead.\N— I know. I know, I know.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.62,0:06:47.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[laugs]
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.79,0:06:49.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[drilling]
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.18,0:06:54.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] So "The Library of Black Lies"\Nis both a library and a labyrinth.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.25,0:07:00.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,'cause, you know, like, the difference between\Na labyrinth and a maze is that in a maze,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.10,0:07:02.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you're supposed to get lost,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.26,0:07:05.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but in a labyrinth, you find yourself \Nin the middle.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:06.63,0:07:09.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I still don't know what's in the center\Nof this one.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.05,0:07:15.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is one of my early experiments,\Nthinking about the limitations of what we
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.87,0:07:17.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can know,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.61,0:07:20.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that even though the book has\Nbeen destroyed in some way,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.92,0:07:26.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like, you can't open it and read it any longer,\Nit's taken on a new form.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.49,0:07:28.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I don't know if this is\Ngoing to make it in the library or not,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:28.92,0:07:33.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this particular one, but I am\Ngoing to be crystallizing some books,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.14,0:07:35.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this may be what's in the middle.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.89,0:07:38.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[electric saw whirring]
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.68,0:07:41.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, you know, the other thing\Nabout uncertainty is that it's
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.05,0:07:44.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something that you can't ever get rid of.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.68,0:07:49.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Um, as a matter of fact, it's a necessary\Nproduct of exploration.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.84,0:07:51.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[saw whirring]
Dialogue: 0,0:07:52.04,0:07:54.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ideally, that's where innovation comes from.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.01,0:07:57.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's where something new comes into the\Nequation,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:57.25,0:08:01.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is when you allow for that that uncomfortableness,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.88,0:08:03.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that sense that you don't know.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.83,0:08:18.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Indistinct chatter]
Dialogue: 0,0:08:18.42,0:08:20.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In a lot of ways, you know,the "Black Lies"\Nproject is a way
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.70,0:08:25.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of examining the library as a means by which\Nto transform oneself...
Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.47,0:08:36.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,'cause we live in an information age,\Nso, like, there's information everywhere.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:36.98,0:08:39.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, that doesn't hasn't radically transformed\Nsociety
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.26,0:08:41.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in any greater way.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.00,0:08:49.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Distant, overlapping chatter]
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.78,0:09:01.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wanted to produce some troublesome\Njuxtapositions
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.57,0:09:04.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between knowledge of something that has power
Dialogue: 0,0:09:04.72,0:09:12.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in itself and knowledge as something\Nthat can be harnessed for political purposes,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:12.69,0:09:17.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,either to suppress or to\Ntransform one's position.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.89,0:09:20.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Overlapping chatter]
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.81,0:09:24.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This idea of the American dream is
Dialogue: 0,0:09:24.38,0:09:27.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the thing that we're all working towards...
Dialogue: 0,0:09:28.14,0:09:31.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but at the same time, a lot of people are\Nrecognizing
Dialogue: 0,0:09:31.39,0:09:33.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they haven't gone anywhere.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:33.26,0:09:34.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Chatter continues]
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.55,0:09:49.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Distant traffic noise]
Dialogue: 0,0:09:53.11,0:09:56.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The reason why I use mirror is\Nbecause I try to use materials
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.83,0:10:01.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that have certain properties\Nthat trouble things and...
Dialogue: 0,0:10:01.90,0:10:04.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this one, it troubles the gaze, you know,\Nlike, you
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.25,0:10:07.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's no neutral place to stand.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.40,0:10:12.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It forces you to contend with the fact\Nthat you are reflected in it somewhere.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:13.87,0:10:17.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a project that's\Ncalled "A Book and a Medal."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:18.07,0:10:21.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By coincidence, I come across these two letters.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.23,0:10:24.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first one, um, what's known now as the\Nsuicide letter,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.34,0:10:28.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was sent to Martin Luther King in \NDecember of 1964.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:28.29,0:10:31.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And essentially, the letter said, \N"We know your secrets,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.96,0:10:34.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and if you don't stop, we're \Ngoing to expose you."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.43,0:10:38.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, at the end, it said, "You know,\Nand you should just kill yourself."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:40.53,0:10:43.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It turns out that the letter was sent to him\Nby
Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.20,0:10:45.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.22,0:10:50.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Martin Luther King Jr.] A time comes \Nwhen silence is betrayal.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:51.10,0:10:53.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] In the show, what I \Nwas trying to do was
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.58,0:10:57.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to explore the vulnerabilities
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.28,0:10:59.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a person who's in a position of leadership.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.10,0:11:04.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Martin Luther King Jr.] ...beyond doubt, but the mission to\Nwhich they call us...
Dialogue: 0,0:11:04.72,0:11:07.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] Martin Luther King \Nas a historical subject
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.51,0:11:09.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has been monumentalized.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:09.72,0:11:11.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's been turned into a kind of a superhero.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:11.98,0:11:17.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Martin Luther King Jr.] I cannot be silent in the face of such\Ncruel manipulation of the poor.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.32,0:11:23.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My third reason moves to an even deeper level\Nof awareness, for it grows...
Dialogue: 0,0:11:23.58,0:11:27.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] In a lot of ways, I mean, the project\Nof democracy
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.92,0:11:34.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a true possibility is really predicated\Non how the United States deals
Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.10,0:11:37.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with its legacy of genocide and slavery.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:38.57,0:11:40.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I didn't want to produce a situation in\Nthe show where
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.84,0:11:42.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you felt like this was done…
Dialogue: 0,0:11:44.56,0:11:47.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because this\Nis still ongoing.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:47.98,0:11:51.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Um, as a matter of fact, it could be unresolvable,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:53.05,0:11:56.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I think, to some degree, some people may\Nbe thinking
Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.16,0:11:58.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that this might be as good as it gets,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.50,0:12:01.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so, like, the "I Have a Dream" speech, \Nwhere "I may not get to
Dialogue: 0,0:12:01.79,0:12:04.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the mountaintop with you" is a metaphor,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:05.25,0:12:09.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wanted to put that on a table\Nand say, "Let's let's analyze this."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:11.59,0:12:14.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Will we get any better than this?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.53,0:12:17.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And for me, I'm not sure.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.17,0:12:26.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,30 years ago, a man did a performance\Nthat was meant to challenge the status quo,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.30,0:12:30.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it irreparably damaged his life in the\Nprocess.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.67,0:12:37.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was willing to go on this journey with\Nus to bring this piece back into the public
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.27,0:12:39.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the way it was meant to be seen.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.70,0:12:41.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's make a great show.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:41.46,0:12:45.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clapping]
Dialogue: 0,0:12:45.11,0:12:49.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Patriotic music playing]
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.03,0:12:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Arceneaux: I have to be quite honest.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:50.00,0:12:53.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I never imagined that I would ever do anything\Nwith blackface.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:53.36,0:12:54.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Chuckles]
Dialogue: 0,0:12:54.42,0:12:56.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not a subject I have any interest in,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:57.47,0:12:59.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but yet here I am.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:02.87,0:13:06.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Vaudeville music playing]
Dialogue: 0,0:13:06.83,0:13:09.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Recorded applause and\Ncheering]
Dialogue: 0,0:13:09.58,0:13:16.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you've seen the video of Ben Vereen\Nat Ronald Reagan's presidential gala,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:16.50,0:13:20.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's one of the most surreal things that I've\Nseen,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:21.51,0:13:24.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's haunted me for 20 years.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:25.00,0:13:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Vaudeville music playing]
Dialogue: 0,0:13:28.54,0:13:30.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We were on the phone yesterday.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:30.19,0:13:31.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it was actually it was really, really moving.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:31.76,0:13:34.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was sort of brought to tears during the call.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:35.38,0:13:39.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ben said, "Listen, you know,\N"you have to do this piece your way,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:39.57,0:13:44.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"and so take this material and run with it.\NYou know, it's yours now."
Dialogue: 0,0:13:45.15,0:13:51.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Actor as Ben Vereen] I just forgets my place… sometimes.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:53.36,0:13:55.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Edgar Arceneaux] So I'm even getting choked up\Nright now just thinking about it,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:55.56,0:14:00.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but, you know, it's...\Nif that happened to me,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:01.56,0:14:06.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that kind of betrayal and humiliation,\Nyou would hope
Dialogue: 0,0:14:06.27,0:14:12.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that there would be somebody out there\Nwho would want to kind of pick up that mantle.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:12.68,0:14:18.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Singing indistinctly]
Dialogue: 0,0:14:25.99,0:14:29.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I could sense from him that,\Nindependent
Dialogue: 0,0:14:29.50,0:14:33.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of if the piece is great or not, he knows\Nthat there's
Dialogue: 0,0:14:33.22,0:14:38.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people out there that care now, you know,\Nthat what he tried
Dialogue: 0,0:14:38.13,0:14:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to do 30 years ago, this may be that time.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:43.24,0:14:45.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe now is that time.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:46.85,0:14:49.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Applause]
Dialogue: 0,0:14:49.26,0:14:52.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Vaudeville music playing]
Dialogue: 0,0:14:56.90,0:15:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[music fades out]
Dialogue: 0,0:15:02.88,0:15:10.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[soft electronic music]