Jasmine Guy says Tom Wolfe was wrong.
"You can go home again," she says, "if they want you back again. [But you better] bring something when you come."
Known for bringing something special to her movie ("School Daze," "Harlem Nights"), TV ("A Different World," Showtime's "Dead Like Me") and Broadway roles ("The Wiz," "Chicago"), Guy, 47, moved back to Atlanta last year.
She's directing "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" for True Colors Theatre Company, beginning previews today, after acting in "Blues for an Alabama Sky" and "Miss Evers' Boy" for Kenny Leon's troupe. Starring Robin Givens and Nicole Ari Parker, "For Colored Girls" is an encore of her critically praised 2008 directorial debut at 14th Street Playhouse.
A graduate of the Northside School of the Arts (now North Atlanta High School), Guy grew up as a "PK" (preacher's kid) — her father, the Rev. William Guy, recently retired as pastor of historic Friendship Baptist Church.
Before rehearsals at Southwest Arts Center's new theater, we put the mom of 10-year-old Imani under the spotlight to investigate her favorite things about her new-old home, Atlanta ...
Culture on the Southwest side: "This is the side of town I grew up on, and I grew up always going to the other side of town for ballet lessons, going downtown to perform. ... And this area is a theater-going area; these would be the same people who hop up to New York for a weekend and see five Broadway shows.
"I want to serve them but also to make this another hub like the Alliance [Theatre] or 14th Street Playhouse or Horizon [Theatre], just one of the spots where [Atlanta theater-goers] would go. It's on the map now."
Getting around: "I love the accessibility of the city. I mean, I know that people are complaining about the traffic and how spread out everything is, but coming from L.A., where everything is 45 minutes, to a place where things are 20 or 30 ...
"But I get lost a lot because I do not like the way they've renamed these streets."
Neighborhoods she's having fun exploring: "I like the Grant Park area, Inman Park area. All of these are new to me.
"Everything on the other side of Auburn [Avenue], I never really looked at.
"Virginia-Highland, I love, but it's gotten really crowded.
"Decatur has a great downtown. That's where my daughter takes gymnastics, at Atlanta Gymnastics Center. So I'm getting to know that area, too — the Chick-fil-A, the Starbucks, and there's some cute little restaurants I want to try."
Spiritual sampler platter: "My father was a pastor at Friendship, so I never went to any other churches here. Now I'm enjoying going to other places ...
"[I went to] First Congregational [United Church of Christ, pulpit of the Rev.] Dwight Andrews, who was also our music director for 'Miss Evers' Boys.' I kept asking him, 'Do you have your own church and do you preach every Sunday?' because he's very much a theater person. ...
"I've been to Cascade United Methodist and been to Jackson Memorial [Baptist]. Then I was at New Birth [Missionary Baptist], which is huge. I ain't never been in a church like that! When I came over the hill and saw the church, it looked like the old Omni [sports arena]. I said, 'Is that the church?'
"But I enjoy connecting, just plugging in to the pulse and energy of the churches."
For a fine meal: "Nam is my favorite restaurant. I'm like, 'Can we go to Nam?' And a girlfriend took me to a seafood restaurant that I loved [Oceanaire Seafood Room].
"I go to Landon's down [Cascade Road] almost every night after the show, and they stay open for us and feed us. So that became our little theater hangout. Nouveau Southern is I guess what you'd call it, because they have fried calamari, but you can also get greens and fried chicken.
"And you know Buckhead Diner is where I'll go when I don't know where to go. Because I remember when they opened, and they've had my picture on the wall in so many different transformations. I go, 'God, I've been around a long time.' "
For a cup of joe: "I love Starbucks, two or three times a day. There's also a little one in Kirkwood that I go to, [Gathering Grounds]."
Hitting the books: "You know, I do the Barnes & Noble and Borders thing because there was a bookstore in Little 5 Points I went to, a female book store, and now I can't find it [Charis Books and More, at 1189 Euclid Ave]."
Finding independence in "America": "I haven't been out that much because [of parental responsibilities, and] I was in shows back to back. I went to [an opening reception for the] "America I AM" exhibit, and I realized OK, I need to be around adults a little bit more because I got excited. That exhibit is amazing. I'm going to go back with my friend and our kids."
Places she enjoys with her daughter: "She loves going to Lenox and Phipps [shopping center] and walking around."
A place she doesn't enjoy with her daughter: "[Imani has] been to Six Flags three times, I've only been once. I'm beyond my Scream Machine days. I went on one thing and I was terrified, I thought I was gonna die."
Breakfast of champions: "That's one of our favorite things, to eat breakfast. Thumbs Up on Edgewood — I always get the fried catfish and scrambled eggs, and Imani gets the pancakes and scrambled eggs, and we're very happy."
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