Busk! - a doc about street performance & grassroots culture (buskmovie.com)Great Job April Denée! So incredibly insightful, thoughtful, and educational. You've done an amazing production to help continue the fostering of an incredible Arts/Music scene in this city I am proud to call my home.
Crackers And Snackmeat's James Lee Walker II was awesome as always!_ (Phil Black) BUSK! - The Heart of Street Performance (full doc, 42 min) from March Blake Media on Vimeo. The BUSK! project has always been about helping our community grow, encouraging fellow artists to experience the benefits of busking, and taking positive action toward civic change. For that reason, the movie is being offered FREE to the community. Please watch, enjoy, and share! |
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THINGS THAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT JAMES:
Fences
Lawrence Toppman, Lawrence Toppman is a theater critic and culture writer with The Charlotte Observer.
Saturday, Apr. 13, 2013
CPCC Theatre puts up imposing ‘Fences’...James Lee Walker II makes Gabe not a drifty dreamer (as he can be played) but a vital force determined to storm heaven’s gates for Troy...
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”
Perry Tannenbaum_Creative Loafing_Febuary 21, 2013
Citizens of the Universe's humble beginnings Windup time at Wine Up
When company founder James Cartee isn't going rad with such iconoclasts as Marx and Hunter Thompson, he's usually exhuming screen gems such as Trainspotting, The Princess Bride, Fight Club, or Sid and Nancy and adapting them for the stage. That's approximately what the COTU guerillas are doing now with the world premiere of Cartee's adaptation of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Co-directed by Cartee and James Lee Walker II, the production retains an element of cinema with a screen that often projects freshly shot footage behind the actors onstage. There are tables facing that screen and, if you arrive early, you have the option of ordering from Wine Up's menu or from nearby Beaudreaux's. Yet the overall experience is as much like watching a NASCAR race from the infield as it is like dinner theater....
Though I haven't seen the 2004 film, I'm guessing that Cartee and Walker decided to go way against the grain in casting Colby Davis as Joel and Megan York as Clementine. What they give us is worlds apart from anything I've seen from Jim Carrey or Kate Winslet, but it's a brilliant blend. Joel's shyness and nerdiness are stiffened to the verge of paralysis, yet Davis makes his steely core, the source of his tenacity, strong enough to reach to the rear of the audience, wherever that happens to be. York gushes with spontaneity, impulse and enthusiasm — as if she's supposed to be the "eternal sunshine" of this story — clearly her best stage work so far....
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”
Lawrence Toppman The Charlotte Observer _Posted: Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013
Lawrence Toppman is a theater critic and culture writer with The Charlotte Observer.
'Spotless Mind' acquires a new set of bodies
Premiere of stage adaptation makes us look at the 2004 movie with fresh eyes and ears.
“Think of this as theater in the round in reverse,” said the master of ceremonies, and I saw within moments what he meant – and why we’d been seated in swivel chairs. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” flows all around Wine-Up, as its cheerful physical chaos reflects the psychological chaos of its characters....
Directors James Lee Walker II and Cartee don’t have the luxury of changing sets in so small a space – only 40 audience members can fit ...
Twilight: Los Angeles
1992 Posted by Perry Tannenbaum on Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 12:16 PM
On a couple of his portraits, James Lee Walker II takes it deliciously over-the-top, but he reins it in for the climactic portrait of the night, Twilight Bey, architect of the gang truce after the rioting. Both approaches work in Walker's nuanced sketching of Cornel West, by turns devastating and empathetic.
Top Dog Underdog
Review by Mark Pizzato,
May 31-June 16, 2007
“Booth, played with endless passion by James Lee Walker II, tries to change his name to "Three Card" and get his brother to teach him how to make money on the streets by dealing Three Card Monty.”
Ready or not, the godfather returns
Review By Perry Tannenbaum
Published 06.13.07 (Creative Loafing)
“CAST and director Aisha O. Dew can take special pride in James Lee Walker II's performance as younger brother Booth. The steely-voiced Walker bristles with menace, and his development in the past year as an actor has been a wonder.”
Reservoir Dogs
Review by Mark Pizzato,
directed by James Cartee -
Citizens of the Universe, May 15-22, 2010
“Likewise, the other actors fit the director's concept well, though that limits what they can do. James Lee Walker II, perhaps the most mutable actor I've seen in Charlotte, gives new meanings to Telegin, who is also known as "Waffles," due to his acne. Walker brings smooth black skin, big smiles, harmonica playing, and pick-pocketing to his trickster turns.”
Grey Gardens
Review: By Perry Tannenbaum
Grey Gardens Published 02.09.10 (Creative Loafing)
“James Lee Walker II's portrayals of the Brookses are probably his most polished and restrained work to date.”
Reservoir Dogs by COTU: Where the Bite Is as Good as the Bark. by John Hartness
”But Act II belongs to James Lee Walker II, who walks in as undercover tutor Holdaway, and walks off stealing every scene he was in. Walker brings a relaxed physicality and crisp characterization to the bit part of Holdaway that works exceptionally well opposite the nervous pacing and jittery monologue of Berry Newkirk. Newkirk and Walker dominate the flashbacks of Act II, and never let go of our attention once they’ve grabbed hold. Credit Cartee with excellent casting all around, mixing theatre and improv comedy vets to create a solid ensemble.”
Theater review: The Day They Shot John Lennon
Published 12.14.10 By Perry Tannenbaum
“If these nine people are a microcosm of the world — or at least the U.S. — Lennon left behind, then these actors make it a very credible one in just over 74 minutes.”
“...James Lee Walker II as Larry reaffirming his eminence as Charlotte's go-to hood.”
by: Dianna Augustine
“Crackers & Snackmeat describe themselves as "Rock, Funk, Blues". Personally, I think that is selling them a bit short. There is a thing that makes a band special when the eclecticism is so evident; and the blends of so many backgrounds truly work out into something cohesive. This band is something for the music scene to pay attention to. The creamy vocals, soul, and creative vernacular are far beyond their years. Look forward to seeing their growth from here on out. “
Don't diss the Dysfunctionals:
Posted by Perry Tannenbaum on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 11:51 AM The CLog
"Adding edge and spice to the troupe, newcomers Lee Thomas and James Walker II are familiar enough to Charlotte theatergoers. Thomas specializes in lovably cuddly roles, so his Father Paul in “The Blackenator Saves the Catholic Church” was a perfect fit. Watching him as the stoned Kaleo in a series of “The Way I See It” monologues was a welcome change of pace, but by the third monologue, the welcome was wearing out.Walker brings a raw street presence to the table, perfect for the charlatan Blackenator and two other title roles, the outrageously irrepressible “Pick-Up Artist” and the aggressive UPS Man in “What Can Brown Do for You?” Like Thomas, Walker was playing roles that highlighted his strengths, giving the duo incentives to return for the next Figurines comedy potpourri."...