NAT GEO ARETHA FRANKLIN 2021 by STUDIO Gannett

• Cynthia Erivo as Aretha Franklin in “Genius: Aretha.” • 8-episode series premieres March 21 on Nat Geo.

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GENIUS: ARETHA

Inside What is genius? Production perspectives Cast members, crew, producers and others involved with “Genius: Aretha” weigh in on what the word means to them, and how Aretha Franklin demonstrated it. 20

Natural looks don’t just happen by chance The show’s hair and makeup artists had to be historians, knowing what was available, where and when, and what things the singer did herself (like her brows). 22

Identifying with Aretha Franklin’s journey “Respect” is an anthem for all women. Her struggles and triumphs resonate especially with Black women. Hear it from three who worked on the series. 24

Parks knows genius when she sees it Showrunner, executive producer and head writer is a “genius grant” recipient as well as the ﬁ rst Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. 30

Maribel Perez Wadsworth

Publisher and President, USA TODAY Network

Nicole Carroll Editor in Chief

Patty Michalski Executive Editor

Genius shined brighter than any spotlight

Issue editors Lori Santos for USA TODAY; Chris Albert, Jennifer DeGuzman, Fowzia Iranpur and Madison Bell for National Geographic

A huge innovator with lasting impact, Aretha Franklin is perfect for the third season of National Geographic’s anthology series.

King Curtis’ sax appeal not easy to capture

Issue photo editors Karen Bovie for National Geographic; Sean Dougherty for USA TODAY

Marque Richardson took up music lessons in order to inhabit the role of Aretha Franklin’s music director. He concedes: “I wasn’t good” at the saxophone. 32

Issue designers David Anesta, Bill Campling Design manager Jennifer Herrmann

Prop master has a recipe for authenticity Kevin Ladson is so dedicated to getting it right that he even found and prepared Aretha’s chicken recipe just to get a sense of what her kitchen would be like. 34

Not a stitch out of place, or out of time Costume designer Jennifer Bryan and her team had to pull together period-appropriate clothing for hundreds of people across decades’ worth of fashion. 36

Cynthia Erivo stars in “Genius: Aretha,” which premieres Sunday, March 21, and runs nightly through Wednesday, March 24. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Powerful voice ﬁ lls nation’s soundtrack

Erivo has known Aretha all her life

‘The Look’ has this series right on time

Her music has been a ﬁ xture in our lives for more than half a century. Above, singing “America (My Country ’Tis of Thee)” at Barack Obama’s ﬁ rst inauguration in 2009. 9

In the home where the “Genius: Aretha” star grew up, Franklin’s music “would always be playing. ... And I fell in love with her voice and how she would tell the story.” 13

From the items on the sets — like C.L. Franklin’s piano, above — to the color of the light, production design ensures that viewers remain properly immersed in the story. 16

Vance has a feel for C.L. Franklin

Newcomer hits right notes as Little Re

Though he boasts dozens of onscreen credits, plus Tony and Emmy awards, “I’m a simple boy from Detroit,” where he grew up well aware of the Franklin family legacy. 27

Shaian Jordan plays the Queen of Soul when she was still just the princess performing in her father’s church. It’s her ﬁ rst major role, but she’s already a consummate pro. 38

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About the cover Design: David Anesta Image: Cynthia Erivo as Aretha Franklin. By Kwaku Alston/ National Geographic

USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION

The genius of Aretha Franklin shined brighter than any spotlight Jacqueline Cutler

Special to USA TODAY

Everyone who worked on “Genius: Aretha” had a connection to the Queen of Soul. That connection only deepened as actors, directors, producers, executives, artisans, crewmembers and the showrunner labored on the third installment of National Geographic’s anthology series. The pandemic suspended production in March 2020 as they were making the sixth of eight episodes. Yet that wound up giving everyone more time to perfect “Genius: Aretha,” which premieres Sunday, March 21, and airs two hour-long episodes per night through Wednesday, March 24. “We picked Aretha as our next genius because she ticks all the boxes in terms of the general criteria we look for,” said Carolyn Bernstein, National Geographic’s executive vice president for global scripted content and documentary ﬁ lms. “She was a huge innovator, and the Continued on page 6

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Aretha Franklin, played by Cynthia Erivo, performs in a small venue. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

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GENIUS: ARETHA Continued from page 4

work she did had lasting impact. She took gospel and soul and all the musical styles and turned them into something distinctive and unique. Aretha is as relevant today as she was a few decades ago and will be after we are all gone. “And we were very focused on fi nding a genius who was very diff erent from our fi rst two geniuses,” Bernstein continued, referring to Albert Einstein (season one) and Pablo Picasso (season two). “They were white men. We were just looking for a genius who had a really diff erent story and lived in a diff erent time and had different struggles to overcome to get to the full fl ower of her genius. Aretha made a lot of sense in that way. Our title of this anthology series, ‘Genius,’ is a really powerful title. It is a powerful word, so we want to tell the audience that it’s not just white men who are geniuses. And we were very focused on fi nding a woman for season three, but the fact that it is a woman of color at the center of the story felt really important. It is making it clear that the canon of geniuses contains more than just white men.” Unlike Einstein and Picasso, Franklin is someone whom many people feel they know. While anyone can recite Einstein’s most famous equation (even if they’re not sure what it means) or recognize Picasso’s Cubist paintings, those men were more removed from most people’s lives. Franklin was diff erent. She was a modern woman, a working mother. She felt a part of our lives from the mid-20th century into the 21st. Her songs were always on the radio; she was touring, appearing on TV and in movies. Einstein had students and Picasso had admirers, but Franklin had fans. And fans are personally invested. Still, being able to sing along to her hits (though let’s be real — only a couple of people on the planet can actually sing along with her, and series star Cynthia Erivo is one) doesn’t translate into knowing the woman behind the voice. It’s well known that Franklin was the fi rst woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and amassed 18 Grammy Awards. But after these eight hours, “Genius” viewers will see beyond the hits to the brilliant musician who could hear the slightest variation in a note and who trusted her talent. It began when a little girl came into her own in her father’s church. In the series, as we see Aretha as a child (played by Shaian Jordan) perform-

Cynthia Erivo didn’t try to impersonate Aretha Franklin, and she didn’t lip-sync the Queen of Soul’s songs in the series. Instead, Erivo provided an interpretation, complete with full-on musical performances in her own voice. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

ing her fi rst solo in church with “Jesus Be a Fence Around Me,” her world changes, as does the audience’s perspective. As “Little Re” fi nds her voice, the scene transforms from black and white to rich color. It begins with her dress and fl ows into the church as parishioners recognize they are in the presence of greatness. The beauty of that moment comes from Anthony Hemingway, who directed four of the eight episodes.

“That was fi guring out how to approach that scene,” Hemingway said. “The launch of her voice, where she found her voice. I was thinking about how I want to establish the dynamics and give a platform to the queen. The gift within — someone, something you are born with. The moment where she discovered it. We see her throughout her life and career and took the pain in there and used the pain. As you see in the evolution of the series, you start to deduce how and why that happened.” Hemingway never loses sight that this is a personal story about someone who “was human and fl awed, and how she wanted to live a storybook life.” Franklin was concerned about her place in history, which resonated with Hemingway and inspired him. “I am always thinking about legacy and my contribution to this world. It just encouraged me to be bolder and be louder,” he said. “I am inspired by many other people. This story, at this time in my life, gave me more strength and taught me how I can use my voice and use it better. I hope we can love a little bit more and see each other better.” Hemingway was speaking from the production offi ce in Atlanta. It was midMarch in 2020, and no one suspected that the set would have to shut down the next day. At the moment, he was focused on the sixth episode, which includes Franklin’s famous 1972 “Amazing Grace” concert in Los Angeles. At the time, Franklin was 30. Born March 25, 1942, in Memphis, she moved to Detroit, which would become her anchor, when she was 4. Her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin (played by Courtney B. Vance), was pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church. Aretha grew up in the embrace of the church and steeped in the righteousness of equality. Franklin’s activism, faith, family and foibles are all laid bare during the eight hours. Yes, she was a genius, but she was also a woman who, like many other working mothers, needed help. Sometimes she snapped. Sometimes she drank or ate too much. Sometimes she picked the wrong men. All of which make her a fully fl eshed, very real woman. To make it all look real, a small army worked busily behind the scenes during production in Atlanta. During a break to change the lighting, a young man, at least three decades younger than the platform shoes on which he balanced precariously, walked gingerly past a blue 1972 Ford Gran Torino. He was an extra,

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dressed in the sort of polyester threads that may never biodegrade. Everything looked so right, you expected to turn on the news and see footage from the Vietnam War. But as spoton as everything is, Hemingway and others stress that this was never intended as a biopic or documentary. Erivo is not doing an impersonation of Aretha Franklin. She is an actress and a singer doing an interpretation. Hemingway and some others said they sometimes felt the Queen of Soul’s presence as they worked — her spirit guiding them. “It’s a feeling that feels as crazy as it sounds,” Hemingway said. “Aretha is co-signing what we are doing. It feels like an exhale for her.” That feeling started early, as showrunner, executive producer and writer Suzan-Lori Parks recalled in her initial meeting with Erivo. “Cynthia walked into the restaurant, and on the soundtrack — you know, they’re playing that miscellaneous music — on came an Aretha Franklin song.” “That was so weird,” Erivo responded when the two recounted the story to the Television Critics Association. “That was the weirdest. I think that’s how we’ve been doing it. We’re sort of like leaving ourselves open to the things, the signs, that are coming to us. That was the ﬁ rst time I had thought to myself, ‘OK, yes,

“Genius: Aretha” paints a full portrait of Aretha Franklin, including her relationship with her abusive and controlling ﬁ rst husband, Ted White (played by Malcolm Barrett). White was also Franklin’s manager. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

this is the right thing to do.’ Because there was no reason for that song to play. It was ‘Day Dreaming’ that started playing. But before that, it was just miscellaneous, no lyrics, hotel music, and then ‘Day Dreaming’ came on. I sat down, and it started playing, and it was like, ‘OK. Someone’s in the room.’ ” Many who worked on the show talked about channeling the queen’s strength and talents into their jobs. “Writing for that, I followed in her footsteps, meaning I cracked myself wide open, and I wrote with my soul,” Parks said. The result is a fully rendered portrait of a complex African American woman. Although Franklin’s grandmother Rachel had been a sharecropper, Franklin was reared in a large, comfortable house. Her father was a gifted preacher at the forefront of the civil rights movement. His friends, including Mahalia Jackson,

were frequent visitors. By the time she was 15, Franklin had borne two sons. She would grow up to fi nd and lose love, including with her fi rst husband, the controlling and abusive Ted White (played by Malcolm Barrett). All the while a dutiful daughter, sister and mother, Franklin continued making her way as a singer and becoming a voice for civil rights. She was very much a woman of her time. Her activism, combined with her art, helped Franklin reach more people. Many involved with this project described the quality of genius as being one of connections, of being someone who can see the links among us and help others see them as well. Franklin built those bridges with that glorious voice. While Franklin was a singular talent, it is not her voice the audience hears in “Genius: Aretha.” Erivo’s performance of Franklin’s songs often stopped activity on the set, which is no easy feat. Sets are hives of busyness, with makeup artists, drivers, gaff ers, camera operators, directors, script supervisors and costumers all focused on their jobs until something magical happens. That magic was Erivo singing. “When she sings on set, we all cheer,” Parks said. “Dudes moving equipment cheer.”

Although any actress could have lipsynched Franklin’s songs, the result would have been a mere impression, instead of the full-on performance that Erivo gives. “Some of the songs, you don’t want to use the actual,” said Raphael Saadiq, executive music producer. “You re-create it so the actors can act and sound as close to the original as you could get it. Cynthia has a very high range. She could sing in the range of A. She is a hard study, too. An amazing actress and an amazing singer, and she just studied. It was her version of Aretha Franklin.” Saadiq pointed out that neither Erivo nor Jennifer Hudson, who plays Franklin in the feature fi lm “Respect,” also due out this year, sounds like Franklin. “There is only one, and respect it,” he said. The two Aretha Franklin projects, by nature of what they are, must diff er. “The movie is a snapshot,” Bernstein said. “It is a two-hour story, a snapshot of Aretha’s life. I am sure it will be excellent, but ours is a deep dive into the twisting, turning story of how Little Re became the Queen of Soul. And it takes eight hours to tell that story, and we are looking at all her struggles and failures and triumphs. “We always say with ‘Genius,’ and this has been true with all three seasons, the audience may know a little bit about our subject,” Bernstein said. “With Aretha, you know the music and love. With Einstein, you know the theory of relativity. With Picasso, you have seen the paintings. But how did this genius become a genius? It doesn’t happen overnight.” Behind that voice, which makes everyone join in — even those who should never, ever sing outside of a shower — there was a woman. A woman with a genuine streak of decency and humanity. “She had a great ability to make us see between the lines and realize the way we see our lives or our own personal journeys don’t have to be so black and white,” Hemingway said. “We don’t have to live in silos. We have an ability to come together and still maintain yourself.” By the end of the four nights, Parks said, “We are going to fi nd out a lot more about Aretha than we knew. I hope we love her more than we did before. Her life story is amazing and devastating and rich and heartbreaking and inspiring, and I hope people see evidence of her genius. “We are demonstrating her genius, so seeing the face of her genius will allow viewers to discover their own genius.”

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GENIUS: ARETHA

The voice, the songs, the soul of music Aretha Franklin was a ﬁ xture of the American soundtrack for more than half a century STORY, PAGE 10

Cynthia Erivo stars as Aretha Franklin in the third season of National Geographic’s anthology series “Genius,” premiering March 21. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

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GENIUS: ARETHA

Aretha Franklin’s acclaimed live album “Amazing Grace,” recorded in Los Angeles in 1972, was her best-selling LP.

Franklin’s father, the Rev C.L. Franklin, was pastor of New Bethel Baptist in Detroit. PHOTOS VIA NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Jacqueline Cutler

Special to USA TODAY

Ultimately, it is the voice. That voice will live forever for a reason. If it’s been a minute, or if for some inexplicable reason you have never understood the allure of Aretha Franklin — please, just listen to her. Her rendition of “Amazing Grace” could make a believer out of the devil. Her “Chain of Fools” could get mourners dancing. Her performance of “Think” in “The Blues Brothers” is a showstopper. And those are just three of her dozens of hits. Franklin’s voice was always singular, with a range and power few could claim, soaring and holding onto notes no matter the style. Aretha Franklin could sing anything, from schmaltzy

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ballads to the best of soul. Who else could do what she did in 1998 and fi ll in for legendary Italian opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti on, basically, no notice? Franklin was more than a singer or a superstar, more than a songwriter and arranger. She was music. Glorious music that could change your perspective the moment she opened her mouth. To take the time just to listen — no matter what nonsense of the day tugs at you — is to give yourself over to why there is music. “We will never have another queen because now there is nothing to be queen of,” said Raphael Saadiq, executive music producer of “Genius: Aretha.” For anyone who came of age in the past 60 years, Franklin was on the soundtrack of their lives. That doesn’t make her mere background music, however. Aretha Franklin could no more blend into the background than a pride of lions could lope unnoticed through your living room. Franklin’s voice, her very presence, demands that you listen. And when you listen, you learn about the changes that rocked the country. “In her voice, you really do hear this melding of American music,” explained Mark Anthony Neal, professor of popular culture and chair of the Department of African and African American Studies at Duke University. “You hear gospel, you hear blues, you hear soul music — even though there is not a name for it yet — and you hear the raunchy rhythm and blues of the ’50s. When you think about blues and jazz and gospel and rhythm and blues, they are distinctly American forms. When you think about American music in that way, what you hear in her voice is bringing together all of these infl uences.” For Franklin, as for generations of mighty singers, it all started in the church. For her, it was the church of her dad, the Rev. C.L. Franklin. Before she did her fi rst solo, she was already impressing parishioners. Even as a girl, Aretha could hear a song and sing it back note-for-note. And she listened to her father’s many talented friends when they swung by the house for parties. “Everybody who came through Detroit came to his house,” Neal said. “Aretha was being nurtured by James Cleveland, Dinah Washington, Clara Ward and Mahalia Jackson. I think she helped to secularize the Black gospel tradition in American popular music.” “Aretha is the heart of the world,” Saadiq said simply. “It’s so important we show that because at some point some

“We will never have another queen,” Raphael Saadiq says. AARON RAPOPORT

“Aretha is the heart of the world. It’s so important we show that because at some point some little girl or some little man has to be able to ﬁ nd this music and ﬁ nd out what part belongs to them and what can they get out of it. Music is water. We need to drink it, and we need to see it and know what it was, and these stories need to be told.” Raphael Saadiq

Executive music producer of “Genius: Aretha.”

Composer Terence Blanchard worked with Franklin several times. HENRY ADEBONOJO

little girl or some little man has to be able to ﬁ nd this music and ﬁ nd out what part belongs to them and what can they get out of it. Music is water. We need to drink it, and we need to see it and know what it was, and these stories need to be told.” Saadiq recalls meeting Franklin at the Grammy Awards. Over the years, she amassed 18 Grammys, as well as a reputation for being funny, shy, hardworking — and also, at times, a diva. Perhaps a

bit of all was on display that night. “Everybody was sitting down, and she was with her family and grandkids, and I looked over and said hi, and she gave me this look of death, and she wanted to kill me,” Saadiq said. “Some of the kids probably told her who I was — I didn’t hear what they said — and her face changed.” Saadiq, a member of the popular R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné! in the 1980s and ’90s, has produced and collaborated with

John Legend, Mary J. Blige, the Isley Brothers, Snoop Dogg and many others, and toured with a jazz ensemble. He is one of those pure musicians who can play just about any instrument. “My neighborhood was full of musicians,” he said. “And I am very lucky to have grown up around so many great musicians. Nothing special — in my neighborhood, in East Oakland, everyone played four or fi ve instruments.” For “Genius: Aretha,” new music would have been odd. Instead, Saadiq and Terence Blanchard, the composer, worked with songs they and the audience already knew. “You want to pay homage to the Queen of Soul, to be sure,” said Blanchard, a trumpeter. “I got a chance to work with her a few times, and she was always very sweet and an impeccable performer. You wanted to put your best foot forward. My job is pretty easy because her music already exists, and those performances exist; whether mimicking or re-creating them, she laid the groundwork.” As he worked on the series, Blanchard explained, his job with the score “is mostly there to bring out the emotional quality of any story being told, whether sorrow, pain, humor, suff ering, love. And with a story like this, my job is to tell the backstory of Aretha mainly because all of the parts we know of Aretha will be handled by the performance.” Blanchard recalled what it was like working with Franklin. “We had done the fi lm ‘Malcolm X,’ and she sang a track, and then Spike (Lee, the director) wanted me to play on it. She heard me play on it, and she called me to do a concert with her in Detroit, the jazz festival. When she called me, I thought it was a bill collector. This dude said, ‘Would you please hold for Ms. Franklin?’ And she said, ‘Terence, ReRe here.’ I went, ‘Oh my God!’ ” “I got a chance to do a rehearsal with her, which was amazing,” Blanchard recalled. “I had done the Herbie Hancock tribute for the (2013) Kennedy Center Honors. I had my youngest daughter with me, and we walked into rehearsal. She was in the middle of a song, and she sang to my daughter Jordan throughout the entire rehearsal. Jordan was maybe in her teens. “We were backstage, and everybody was leaving. I got to the elevator at the same time, and she said, ‘Terence Blanchard, when are we going to work together again?’ And I said, ‘Whenever you call me.’” And with this, she has.

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GENIUS: ARETHA

Growing up with Aretha Cynthia Erivo portrays the singer whose music ﬁ lled her childhood home STORY, PAGE 14

Tony-, Emmy- and Grammy-winning singer and actress Cynthia Erivo plays Aretha Franklin in the National Geographic series “Genius: Aretha.” TERRELL MULLIN

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GENIUS: ARETHA

Cynthia Erivo studied video of Aretha Franklin. “If she felt like she was the boss of the room, she would move differently,” she says. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Jacqueline Cutler Special to USA TODAY

Cynthia Erivo’s mother knew. In a baby book, the sort where dedicated parents chronicle their children’s milestones (heights, weights, ﬁ rst step, ﬁ rst Grammy), Erivo’s mother speculated that her toddler would be “an actress and a doctor and a singer.” She also noted that the baby girl hummed while she ate and loved being in the spotlight. “I would run up to people and decide they would be my audience,” Erivo said with a laugh. “I would happily talk to people I didn’t know. My mother spotted something: I could sing.” Erivo made her stage debut at age 5 in a Nativity play. As a shepherd, she sang “Silent Night.” And it was about then that Erivo realized what she could do with her voice. “I realized that with my voice, I could make people happy,” she said. “It is black

“I love Aretha. I’ve been listening to her since I was little, and I learned to sing and tell stories through song by listening to her.” Cynthia Erivo

and white at that age. I wanted to make people happy or like me. People knew I could sing, so on the playground, I would sing songs by Brandy for the other kids.” Born to Nigerian parents in London, Erivo is an alumna of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In less than ﬁ ve years, her career blasted oﬀ from a one-episode guest shot on a British sitcom, “Chewing Gum,” to collecting Grammy, Emmy and Tony awards. She was nominated for two Oscars for

2019’s “Harriet,” one for best original song and one for best actress, portraying the fearless abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Tubman, like Erivo, was a petite but very strong woman. Assuming Aretha Franklin’s physicality, in order to portray the Queen of Soul in “Genius: Aretha” on National Geographic, “does take a diff erent walk,” Erivo acknowledged. As she studied Franklin on video, she zeroed in on her presence. Once she had that, the physicality followed. “The confi dence she would have,” Erivo said. “If she felt like she was the boss of the room, she would move diff erently. And the way people move tells something about the person. She did move diff erently at times. The days when she was more confi dent, she had a swing in her hips.” While Erivo did this homework, the essence of Franklin — that soaring, gorgeous voice that could sing everything from gospel to pop, blues to opera — was deeply familiar to her. Her mother adored Franklin’s music, and Erivo grew

up listening to it. “Aretha would always be playing on the radio,” Erivo recalled. “And I fell in love with her voice and how she would tell the story and how vast her music library was. I just loved the music she put in the world, and how much heart belonged to the story.” “I love Aretha,” Erivo said. “I’ve been listening to her since I was little, and I learned to sing and tell stories through song by listening to her. ‘I approached playing Aretha by paying attention to the music, listening to her voice, listening to how she communicates with her music, and by reading about her. I also watched the amazing documentary ‘Amazing Grace.’ ” That 2018 ﬁ lm focused on Franklin recording a live album in 1972. “It’s a really wonderful look into the relationships she had with people and the way she interacted with others. I’ve been poring over lots of her interviews to learn her cadence and the ways in which she spoke. I allowed

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Aretha Franklin (Cynthia Erivo, right) talks with with her agent, Ruth Bowen (Kimberly Hébert Gregory) in “Genius: Aretha.” RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

myself to be a geek about someone and something I really love. That’s how I’ve been getting to know her.” While making the eight-hour series, “I feel like I learned a lot about myself as a singer,” Erivo said. Erivo sees herself as a perpetual student — and one of her most infl uential teachers was Franklin. “A lot of my voice comes from her because I’ve been listening to her for such a long time,” Erivo said. “And she has defi nitely had years on me in her experience with her voice. And I’m still learning mine very much, so I don’t think I’m ever not going to be a pupil when it comes to music and singing and vocalizing. I have been learning her voice and studying the intricacies of what she does with it because she was a vocal genius, and I’m learning something every day. I’m learning how to use my voice in a completely diff erent way, which I’m really thrilled about.” While vocal coaches could guide her

and help her realize her potential, no one could magically bestow that voice on Erivo. Like Franklin, she has a voice that enchants and mesmerizes. Erivo’s voice is so spectacular that when she was performing “The Color Purple” on Broadway, Franklin went backstage to meet her. Erivo’s rendition of “I’m Here” was a showstopper and won her a Tony Award. And what did Franklin say to her? “She said I could sing,” Erivo said. And showing oﬀ something Franklin had been able to do since childhood, “she sang ‘I’m Here’ back to me! She was cool and hilarious.” “That moment is always going to stick with me. It is one of those ‘pinch me’ moments where I have to tell myself, ‘That happened, and I was there, and it was real.’ The fact that she sang to me and we had a laugh — it was incredible.” Franklin enjoyed another of Erivo’s performances at the 2016 Kennedy Center Honors.

Erivo was at center stage as she sang “The Impossible Dream” in a tribute to John F. Kennedy, so she was, naturally, unaware of Franklin’s reaction in the audience. Franklin closed her eyes, a look of contentment on her face, as she mouthed the words while Erivo’s voice soared. At the end of the performance, Barack and Michelle Obama and the rest of the crowd rose in a standing ovation. On the set of “Genius: Aretha,” Erivo sang live. “I guess it allows me to connect to her,” Erivo explained. “Music is a real way to open up and be vulnerable and to share the way one feels — to express the things that you can’t say. And so, to be able to actually sing live means that I can be in the moment, and I don’t have to manufacture it. And it’s there in the words, in the lyrics, in the music, in the way I have to sing it. So, for me, it’s a gift, a true gift to be able to sing live on set.” Erivo brings up the other Aretha Franklin project in the works for 2021, “Respect,” a feature ﬁ lm that stars Jenni-

fer Hudson, her former co-star in “The Color Purple.” “I sent her congratulations, and I’m really looking forward to seeing her version and the ﬁ lm,” Erivo said. “I’m actually kind of excited by the fact that we get to tell this woman’s story more than once. I think that the more, the merrier. There are many heroes who have had their stories told millions of times. And to have someone like Aretha, to be in a moment where we can tell her story more than once — and I hope we get to tell it again and again — is kind of amazing.” Franklin was such a nuanced, complex woman that having the luxury of eight hours to tell her story expansively feels right to Erivo. “Everyone that is a part of bringing ‘Genius: Aretha’ to life is passionate about telling Aretha’s story in a caring and respectful way,” Erivo said. “And I believe that I was right for this part, and I was up for the challenge of playing such a spectacular legend.”

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GENIUS: ARETHA

‘The Look’ is right on time Accuracy in sets, props, makeup and more is essential to immersing viewers in the story “Genius: Aretha” required building some 250 sets, including a painstaking re-creation of the Atlantic Records studio in Manhattan. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

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The production team knew how important it was to depict C.L. Franklin’s house accurately, since so many people are familiar with it. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Jacqueline Cutler Special to USA TODAY

It’s hard enough to re-create looks from 70 years ago, but making those looks specifi c and accurate requires a whole new set of skills. Carpenters who craft period furniture, prop masters who add perfect fi nishing touches, costumers who sew lapels on era-appropriate material, and makeup artists who know that frosted, not matte coral, was the rage — all are vital to creating The Look. Putting it all together is the production designer, and framing it in the lens is the director of photography. No one thinks about color and how pigmentation refl ects moods more than artists do. They become animated, describing how green runs the gamut of emotions or how sunlight reacts with a particular shade. They experience color in a way the rest of us mortals don’t.

“We are trying to make the audience feel in her world — trying to show the audience the vortex of Aretha.” Kevin McKnight

Director of photography

“I made a color proﬁ le from the birth of Aretha to the ’70s vintage look,” explained Kevin McKnight, director of photography on “Genius: Aretha.” “The high ends of the tones have a warmth; the shadows, I contaminated them with cyan, a bluish-green. The highlight represents warmth and safety, the cocoon of her home. They’re very warm compared to New York, the business world, Atlantic Records, which is

much cooler. The warmth is reserved for moments she feels safe. When she is in her home at night, and it’s only her, and the outside world melts away.” McKnight had worked with Cynthia Erivo not long before, on the HBO thriller ‘The Outsider,” so he knew her look and how best to feature her. “I saw one person on ‘The Outsider,’ and when she showed up as Aretha, my jaw dropped,” he said. “I spent months with her on ‘Outsider.’ This was a drastically diff erent persona, cadence and talking. Aretha was a complete fl ip from one character to another. Cynthia has beautifully expressive eyes, and I try to capture those. They say a lot, with both characters, and they express so much.” Erivo, a petite Brit, bears little resemblance to Detroit’s Franklin, but viewers will forget the diff erences seconds into these eight hours. Not only are the wigs, makeup and clothes spot-on, but the se-

ries also nails The Look of churches, theaters and oﬃ ces. And it does so spanning the decades and through the experiences of Franklin, whose bold singing concealed an innate shyness, a quality the series carefully, quietly reveals. “What’s expansive with this character is, Cynthia goes from deep internal to expressive moments,” McKnight said. “We try hard to illustrate those moments with a lot of close-ups. I like to get cameras so close to her. This is an engaged character study. We are trying to make the audience feel in her world — trying to show the audience the vortex of Aretha.” “It isn’t a biopic,” McKnight said. “We are trying to show a person and their growth as they go through the vicissitudes of life. The later episodes are almost a Shakespearean movement of power as the queen ascends and the king Continued on page 18

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GENIUS: ARETHA Continued from page 17

(her father, C.L. Franklin) descends. And queens can be nasty! We all know the fairy tale.” “Genius: Aretha” is determined to show not only how Franklin lived but where. Most productions can take a house on a studio lot and dress it to fi t a project. Not here. Millions of fans know what the Rev. Franklin’s church, the Franklin family home and Aretha Franklin’s recording sessions looked like. Every set had to be not just evocative of the time but completely accurate. “We had to fi nd a place that mimicked in a way what people identify as C.L. Franklin’s house in Detroit, a neo-classic yellow brick building that is still there,” said production designer Tim Galvin, who oversaw construction of some 250 sets. “And we found a location that is pretty great, very emblematic of what the real house is like, and then we just made the windows match. That sort of gives you a hint of what the inside is like, and then you just have to sort of fi ll in the blanks.” The reverend “was a very proud person, and also kind of formal in everything,” Galvin said. That careful, buttoned-up quality is evident on the set of the Franklin home. The formal living room has a Steinway & Sons piano. Engraved over the fi replace mantle: “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? Psalm 137.” An Underwood typewriter sits on a desk in the sunroom, near stacks of board games. A grandfather clock and a phone nook, as better-appointed homes had, are nearby. The TV is in a wooden console, and the couch is covered in plastic. C.L. Franklin’s offi ce carries the air of seriousness appropriate to the pastor of a large church. His heavy wooden desk has a pipe rack. Across from it, bookshelves hold Bibles, an encyclopedia, and a set of the Harvard Classics. Even with the highest resolution TV, it’s unlikely any viewer would notice that the Freemason certifi cate on the wall is made out to Clarence LaVaughn Franklin and dated 4 July 1945. Yet there it is on a set in Atlanta. That attention to detail is evident in every room. The kitchen has cast iron pans, a Frigidaire with rounded edges, and the feel of a place where solid meals were made by people who knew how. Aretha’s childhood bedroom has Nancy Drew books and paper dolls. Hardy Boys books, baseball cards and Tinker Toys

Even the smallest details of the sets in “Genius: Aretha” are period-appropriate. PHOTOS BY RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Production design encompasses architecture, automobiles and much more.

decorate the boys’ room. Another part of the soundstage was turned into the Atlantic Records studio at 234 W. 56th St. The control room’s sanctum boasts a control board and a

reel-to-reel recorder, all placed precisely as the originals were. With its orange couch, overﬂ owing ashtrays, and copies of Life magazine, Jerry Wexler’s oﬃ ce displays framed photos of Joe Morris,

The Drifters, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Bill Haley & His Comets. The most challenging aspect, Galvin said, was “trying to be honest about her world and represent things as true as we could. She wasn’t a sharecropper. When she was young, her father was struggling, but then she had a more settled life. He became a pillar in the community, so we had to illustrate that middleclass African American world. Then we had to represent her on her own — her life with Ted White in New York, a walk-up apartment in the ’60s. And then once she had those hits, she got her money, and she got that nice apartment that we built. Showing the change and the growth over time is the challenge.” For McKnight, though, the biggest challenge was the fast pace of television. “For me, it not slipping out of the art and into commerce,” he said. “It is to stay true to our intentions. It’s quick and easy to fall into the conventions of TV, but everything we do has creative intention. We are not just putting a box around the action. We are trying to make the audience feel engaged.”

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What is genius?

Anthony Hemingway Executive producer, director Genius can come in different ways. Partly, what makes Aretha a genius is her connections and how she brought people together. To have this ability, that is transformative and lasting, is beyond exceptional. Many people have qualities that are special. It’s a little different when you have the ability to affect all types of people. Why I am happy to redeﬁ ne genius in this aspect: You see someone come from a place in life and constantly told negatives and someone who had the tenacity to persevere and reach the level that was divine to them. It is as simple as “anything is possible.”

Shaian Jordan Actress, plays young Aretha Franklin Someone that’s brilliant, someone that likes to turn heartbreak into song, someone able to elaborate on something. Someone who is capable. Someone who is able to create and have their own ideas and go outside of their comfort zone. Someone who makes an impact on the world.

Courtney B. Vance Actor, plays Aretha’s father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin When you go back into this series, Picasso and Einstein and Aretha, they all had to struggle. Picasso’s parents, Aretha’s parents, Einstein’s parents had nothing. But geniuses are consistently trying. They don’t give up. The difference between Itzhak Perlman and a high school violin teacher: The teacher stopped after 4,000 hours, and Itzhak kept going and focusing on that one thing and kept at it. I think there is genius in everyone, but everyone isn’t able to keep going for 10,000 hours. It has to be something you can do and do and do. And Aretha sat down at the piano, and she just closed her eyes. (Music producer Jerry) Wexler realized that’s where her genius was.

Erivo. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Cynthia Erivo Actress, plays Aretha Franklin Genius is creating things where there is an impossibility. The way she would make music — to do something out of sheer will, to create when you don’t have the tools to do so because it is in your DNA — is genius. Doing this against all odds and still managing to improve the world is genius.

Pauletta Washington Actress, plays grandmother Rachel Franklin Fearlessness. And because I feel like I am living with one myself — I feel my husband (Denzel Washington) is one, I really do — it is someone who does extraordinary, beyond extraordinary, thinking. It starts in the mind and the fact that they allow what is in their mind to be manifested because they don’t fear it and get totally out of its way.

Marque Richardson

Vance & Jordan. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Actor, plays saxophonist King Curtis Genius, to me, is someone that’s connected. It’s a gift from a higher power. And you know it when you see it. With Aretha, even watching her in “Amazing Grace,” you can see it in her eyes. You can see there is so much being said without being said. It’s measurable but also immeasurable.

Hemingway. WES KLAIN

Neema Barnette Director Geniuses are called to a higher calling. Certain people can go to a certain level in the art, and other people can perfect the gift they have. When you are at a crossroads in life and have to make a decision — Picasso or Einstein, art or mathematics — geniuses choose to go beyond. Other geniuses like Aretha, and many others, who make a gift and then make a decision, give service to people. Aretha embodied the connection between spirituality and rhythm and blues and connected them all. Genius is knowing that “if you are thinking your dream is just for you, you are dreaming too small.” That’s a quote from my friend Ava DuVernay.

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Tim Galvin Production designer Some person who kind of sees the connections in the world that other people can’t. How do they do it? They just have a gift, maybe, but they also have some kind of skill. It is seeing something in the world that other people haven’t seen before and making something new of it.

Jennifer Bryan Costume Designer To me, it’s a rare and exceptional quality that some human beings are gifted with — not all of us. It is that ability to see beyond what normal beings see. Geniuses seem to have a further vision beyond what is just in front of them. I think that’s what makes them different from us non-geniuses.

Louisa V. Anthony

McKnight. JD MURRAY

Kevin McKnight

Head of the hair department Aretha Franklin is genius because of her natural ability to fuse the sounds of gospel, rhythm and blues, and soul to create a new sound, all her own.

Bernstein. STEWART VOLLAND

Marietta Carter-Narcisse

Carolyn Bernstein

Head of the makeup department Genius is the innate ability to surpass the average effortlessly.

Executive vice president, global scripted content and documentary ﬁ lms at National Geographic Someone who is able to look at the world in a completely unique way and create something that is not only a ﬁ rst but has lasting impact. There are lots of people who are innovative but whose work doesn’t stand the test of time. That’s the way we try to understand it; the confluence between real innovation and the lasting impact of that innovation. It certainly applies to Einstein and Picasso, and now Aretha. It is a lot to live up to.

Director of Photography For me, it has to do with a greater connection, humanity-wise. It’s not intellectual. That’s just cognitive learned skills for me. It is about connecting. Aretha’s genius was she connected not just with 200 people, she connected with millions. She broke barriers. It is more important for us as people to be connected, allowing us one people, one address, as in planet Earth. As soon as we can get rid of labels, we experience greater connections. It’s how I raise my kids. Genius is easy to attribute intellectual stuff or cognitive skills to. It’s got to go much deeper than that.

Suzan-Lori Parks Showrunner, executive producer, writer Genius is something that lights a fi re in another person. ... It is not just for me. It is not me, me, me. Look at us, how beautiful we are, and strong we are. And if people can see that through the Queen of Soul and we can see how beautiful we are, not just telling a story of someone who was smart or who made a lot of money painting. That paved the way for this. A woman genius, an African American genius, who is a mother, who is contemporary. The task of genius is different in modern times. I would encourage geniuses of today by actively going out there and lighting fi res in others in every way. That’s what our job as geniuses is — fi re starters.

Terence Blanchard Composer Genius is that rare combination of having a certain amount of intelligence that requires remembering book knowledge and being able to take that information and being able to see the possibilities. Most people don’t have the capability to see those possibilities and combinations. Most people can’t see the forest for the trees.

Raphael Saadiq Executive music producer Genius is Aretha because her starting in a church and traveling on the revival tour market and chitlin circuit and watching famous gospel singers sing and to be able to translate that into jazz. And then, to make another jump into pop-soul with (Jerry) Wexler and meeting those white musicians at Muscle Shoals (Alabama), The Swampers. You had the perfect combination. The genius of Aretha, she kept landing on the right lights.

Brian Grazer

Carter-Narcisse. COURTESY OF CRISTINA ROSARIO

Executive producer A genius has to have done something that is paradigm shifting, that impacts our culture over generations. Aretha Franklin’s music punctuated and elevated the genre of rhythm and blues. She reached the highest pinnacle of artistry while overcoming obstacles, making it more difficult to become one of the most beloved and impactful cultural icons of our century. It is this genius that needs to be told.

USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION

GENIUS: ARETHA

Cynthia Erivo gets a touch-up during ﬁ lming. The series’s hair and makeup team studied details all the way down to the ﬁ ngernails. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Natural looks take work Hair and makeup artists also had to be historians Jacqueline Cutler Special to USA TODAY

Aretha Franklin was belting out “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” at the Kennedy Center Honors. Carole King, the songwriter and one of the night’s honorees, was happily losing her mind. President Barack Obama was singing along, like the rest of the audience. Then Franklin stood up from the pi-

ano she’d been playing, shed her fur coat, and let her voice rip. Even fi ve years later, this lift-off -the-roof performance — a moment millions saw live on TV and more than 45 million have viewed since on YouTube — retains its power. And that’s why Marietta Carter-Narcisse, head of the makeup department on “Genius: Aretha,” was watching it. Again. She had no idea how many times she had seen it. The magnifi cent 2015 paean to being a natural woman was sweetly ironic in Carter-Narcisse’s domain, the makeup and hair trailer, where no one who comes

through leaves in a natural state. Although star Cynthia Erivo had her own dedicated makeup artists for “Genius,” Carter-Narcisse was in charge of everyone else. Director Anthony Hemingway had tasked her with “being as true to the period as we possibly could,” and she took that mandate seriously. She knows the history of makeup. “Some of the Black women did not have the makeup available to them white women had,” Carter-Narcisse said. “I had to take into account geography.” For example, Southern Black women attending church on the gospel circuit did not

usually use cosmetics. In upscale congregations, such as the Rev. C.L. Franklin’s in Detroit, many Black women did. Performers certainly used makeup, and Franklin rocked her own look. “The Supremes were groomed,” Carter-Narcisse said. “Aretha and her sisters were quite raw. She was not polished. She was not.” But Franklin stayed au courant. And it was Carter-Narcisse’s job to ensure that the scores of cast members and hundreds of extras were as well. That oversight extended even to the manicures.

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Multiple wigs were created to give series star Cynthia Erivo the various looks of Aretha Franklin — and to add verisimilitude to the set. RICHARD DUCREE/ NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

“We try to make sure nails are authentic,” she said. “No acrylics, no French, no squared, no bejeweled nails, and maintain the color of the nail polish. The ’40s and the ’50s were reds; the ’60s and the ’70s were frosted colors.” Carter-Narcisse keeps drawers with various shades of foundation, shadows and lipsticks precisely organized. A few yards and several chairs down the glam truck was Louisa V. Anthony, head of the hair and wig department. Just as makeup saw huge changes over the decades, consider how Black hairstyles evolved, from processed to natural. Anthony’s closet contains a collection of natural hair wigs, including many fl uff y Afros. “My brothers had the Afros, back in the day, and put the pick in there,” Anthony said, as her hands fl uttered over a wig. “You have to zhuzh it, bring it together.”

“She evolved in her beauty, from the ’60s cat’s eye and deliberate brow, and then she let her hair be natural. It felt like she was re-establishing her beauty identity.” Coree Moreno

Cynthia Erivo’s personal hairstylist

A lifelong Franklin fan, Anthony was happy to have the 2 a.m. wake-up calls to be on set by 4 a.m. She had taken her mom to see Franklin once and beamed as she recalled, “It was amazing.” It was late on what no one realized would be the last night on set before COVID precautions shut it down. The moon burned bright as Coree Moreno, Erivo’s personal hairstylist, found a couple of folding chairs, set them up in a parking

area, and explained how he helped turn Erivo’s famed platinum buzzcut into the many styles of the Queen of Soul. “Everything you see, I built,” he said. “Being 26, I had to do so much research for this.” He crafted eight wigs for Erivo and was surprised by how heavy some of them were. All of them strictly adhere to Franklin’s looks. “She evolved in her beauty, from the ’60s cat’s eye and deliberate brow, and then she let her hair be natural,” he said. “It felt like she was re-establishing her beauty identity. She was very put together for an African-American woman in the ’60s, emulating the society but more of a Caucasian hair, sculpted. It’s kind of like a representation of who she was. As she became more famous, her hair got bigger.” Like everyone working on the look of

“Genius: Aretha,” Moreno studied Franklin’s evolving styles. He is positive that Franklin did her own makeup, a conclusion backed by at least 10 photos of her applying makeup. “She in no way, shape or form had a makeup artist,” Moreno declared. “The brows were not even. The beauty marks moved all over her face.” And as Moreno studied her, this young man, who describes himself on Instagram as a “hair industry prince,” acknowledged how much he had learned about Franklin and about the decades the show spans. “I came away with a newfound respect for a fashion icon in that era,” he said. “No one else was carrying themselves in that manner. And, it really showed a level of luxury, and she radiated luxury and a refi ned esthetic. She kept it fl y. She was so fl y.”

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GENIUS: ARETHA

Franklin’s journey is shared by many Struggles and triumphs resonate with women Jacqueline Cutler Special to USA TODAY

“Respect” has always been so much more than a song. It’s an anthem, a rallying cry. And it is a demand — but one delivered in the nicest way — as a request. As Aretha Franklin’s signature song, it’s one we dance to, and when we do, there’s a freedom that courses through us. It’s a liberating song, one about a woman who has had enough and has the confi dence to walk out. Any woman who has ever been told what to do by a man (don’t bother doing the math) understands it on a visceral level. While all women can relate to Franklin throwing down the gauntlet, many Black women, particularly those of certain age, have taken journeys similar to Franklin’s. Whether it’s someone like director Neema Barnette, who grew up in the North where blatant racism wasn’t codifi ed, or actress Pauletta Washington, who spent her childhood in the South under Jim Crow, or costume designer Jennifer Bryan, who emigrated from Jamaica to the U.S., they share a journey. Their formidable talent, artistic passion and work ethic overcame all obstacles. In “Genius: Aretha,” Washington plays Rachel Franklin, Aretha’s grandmother, who held the family together. When the Rev. C.L. Franklin toured, Rachel took care of Aretha, her sisters and her brother. Later she helped rear Aretha’s children, her great-grandchildren. Rachel was not the passive type; she raised the children properly. “When you think about it, in many cultures, the grandmother is the head of the house, the matriarch, even if the mother is actively present,” Washington said. “The mother always defers to the grandmother; my children did, and I did. And my mother was very active in my home. I think it is the wisdom. I was happy when I was given this role because it is an opportunity to keep alive that fi gure in the family.” Her own family includes four children with her husband, Denzel Washington. Aretha Franklin, like so many women, fell under the Denzel dazzle.

Pauletta Washington, seen at a 2019 gala honoring her husband, actor Denzel Washington, plays the Franklin family matriarch. ERIK VOAKE/GETTY IMAGES FOR TURNER

“We spoke, and she loved my husband,” Washington said evenly. “I remember — I’m not sure which show, if it was ‘Raisin in the Sun’ or ‘Julius Caesar,’ one of those Broadway shows — she came backstage. It just so happens I wasn’t there that night. Aretha was always giving gifts, and she gave him a crystal pyramid. She thought of him as a king and respected his work.” Over the years, they met several times, and Washington has a lingering image of the singer. “The last time was at the inauguration of President Obama, and we were staying at the same hotel,” she remembered. “She was sitting on what looked like a throne, with a white fur draped all around her. It could not have been a better set-up if you planned it. We came over and had a lengthy conversation. She was tough at fi rst with me. She wasn’t all that hunky-dory because of Denzel. I am so used to it, and I am such a secure person. She was not the fi rst person I had come across. After several times being in the same place, she respected it.” Perhaps, Franklin recognized in Pauletta Washington a woman who knew how to stand her ground. Growing up as the daughter of the school principal in segregated smalltown North Carolina, Washington recalls her father helping build the school and how he even drove the bus that brought Black children to class. Still, she said, she had no real idea what hardships her parents endured. “I do remember, at that time in the South and in my area, Blacks stayed on one side and whites stayed on the other,” she said. “All of our activities were inclusive to us, and the line was drawn. But all we knew was we had a place to sleep and were provided for.” By the time she was 6, Pauletta was a piano prodigy, her mother taking her on long trips to Charlotte for lessons. At 10, Washington advanced to the national competition in Boston, where “a lot of the competitors thought I was a child of the custodians. And when I was called to do my piece and called on to play what they were playing, I placed fi rst.” Yet the prize went to a white child. Washington recalls the return trip Continued on page 26

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Aretha Franklin performs in 1969. She was in the middle of a string of gold records and hit singles, including “Respect,” which went to No. 1 in 1967. ABC PHOTO ARCHIVES

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GENIUS: ARETHA Continued from page 24

with her chaperone, the piano teacher. “Tears were coming down her face, and she explained to me in no uncertain terms about racism,” Washington recalled. “That one was a tough one. I then became a rebel because I was determined to make everybody a liar that felt that being of a certain hue was another thing.” Clearly, Washington never gave up. Knowing she had the beauty and talent, she represented her hometown in the Miss North Carolina pageant. “We went to the pageant, and I placed,” she said. “No other Black had ever even been there. I was the fi rst. This was in North Carolina. Thank God I was of the mind where I did not consider the what-ifs. I was always constantly saying, ‘Why can’t I go over there?’ I felt as if I belonged there, and obviously, a lot of people felt I didn’t. At the end of the night, I got second runner-up. I was disappointed, but I knew why.” Washington went on to Juilliard and has acted in such productions as “Beloved,” “The Parkers” and the TV version of “She’s Gotta Have It.” Portraying Aretha’s grandmother, she strove to “relay her strength and undying love for her family. I am still trying to fi gure just how old she was, just because her perseverance was amazing. She went from literally sharecropping to taking care of her great-grandchildren.” Costume designer Jennifer Bryan grew up a world away from the American South. But she adored Franklin, too. “Aretha Franklin was iconic to not just the U.S., but to all of the world,” Bryan said. “And it did not matter what language you spoke. She was like Josephine Baker in the ’20s to ’40s. It did not matter which country you were from. You could be in China and go ‘Aretha Franklin,’ and people would know. For me growing up in Jamaica, I absolutely remember that music and danced with it. “A young Black woman, any woman, really identifi es with ‘Respect,’ ” Bryan continued. “If that is not a female anthem, I don’t know what is. I was so excited and privileged and humbled, but really excited, to do this project because of who this was about. And I relate to her very strongly. I remember watching President Obama’s inauguration, and everybody knew of Aretha’s style in my age group or Aretha’s age group. It is like, how can you not think of that fi rst when you think of Aretha Franklin?”

Costume designer Jennifer Bryan grew up in Jamaica. “Aretha Franklin was iconic to not just the U.S., but to all of the world.” KWAKU ALSTON/ NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Neema Barnette, who directed two episodes of “Genius: Aretha,” has her own strong connection to the Queen of Soul and her empowering message. “I am an Apollo girl,” Barnette said, referencing Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater. “All through my teen years, I would get to the Apollo at noon and stay until midnight. I would have barbecue and spaghetti with my best friend and sit there from 12 noon until late Saturday. People would perform for three hours. And I saw Aretha seven times at the Apollo, which was a joy.” Barnette’s love for the artist and her art only grew. “ ‘Respect’ was an electrifying call to the gay movement and civil rights movement and anti-war movement,” Barnette recalled. “Aretha meant a lot, and her music spoke to my life. Her songs had a spiritual element that cannot be denied, and it hit me in my soul. “The songs she selected crossed color lines, how deep she dug,” she said. “And as I got to tell her life story, I saw how her interpretations came from her experiences. Like most geniuses, her work came from her life, a product of her environment and the cultural baggage she carried.” In the episodes Barnette directed, she was gratiﬁ ed to focus on the tremendous strength of women like Rachel Franklin. “In episode three, where Cynthia (Erivo, who plays Aretha) is performing for Dr. King and singing ‘A Change Is Gonna Come,’ it is important that Rachel be there,” she said. “It comes right after a scene when they are coming out of a bus, and there is negative energy. Rachel put her hands on his and says, ‘Dr. King, are you all right?’ And, ‘I gave birth to C.L. in the cotton ﬁ elds, and I prayed for a better life, and I never thought I would see it. So, thank you, Dr. King.’ ” Barnette has worked steadily since directing a 1984 after-school movie, “One More Hurdle.” Her work includes “A Different World,” “Diagnosis Murder,” “Queen Sugar” and “Being Mary Jane.” She takes a deep breath before revealing why this project resonates so deeply for her. “As a Black female director, I am so honored and happy of being a part of telling Aretha’s story,” Barnette said. “It allows a certain female vision to manifest, when you know the culture and subtext, and can bring a richness and a certain nuance. That is what I think Aretha will bring to television — a deeper understanding of what women went through.”

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GENIUS: ARETHA

Vance has a feel for C.L. Franklin Actor marvels at the man who brought out genius Jacqueline Cutler Special to USA TODAY

Courtney B. Vance’s grace and gravitas, always evident on screen, aren’t just things he turns on for the camera. That self-possession and ability to command a room, whether a packed Broadway theater or an empty communal space, is simply who he is. It was Vance’s 60th birthday and he was about to return home to celebrate with his wife, Angela Bassett, and their children. But ﬁ rst, Vance settled into a chair on a rooftop lounge of the Atlanta hotel where he was staying during the shooting of “Genius: Aretha” to discuss portraying the Rev. C.L. Franklin. The father of Aretha and the son of sharecroppers from the Deep South, Franklin had a choice. “It was either sharecropping or the pulpit,” Vance said. “He made a decision and left home. To come up from nothing and have the success he had …” Vance went silent for a moment, allowing those words to seep in. Franklin knew what it was like to forge his own way and become a star, despite the odds. His daughter would take a different path and face her own obstacles. Continued on page 28

Courtney B. Vance plays the Rev. C.L. Franklin, Aretha Franklin’s father, who was pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit. A Detroit native, Vance knows how important the Franklins were to the city. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

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GENIUS: ARETHA

“Detroit wanted him as a pastor because he was a superstar”: Courtney B. Vance as the Rev. C.L. Franklin out on the gospel circuit. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Continued from page 27

“Aretha had to overcome all kinds of odds,” Vance said. “Two children by 15, coming to New York, not really hitting it big. Most people would have given up. She knew. She wanted to have hits. She kept pushing, regardless of demons. She struggled. (‘Genius: Aretha’) is an explanation of her journey to the top of the world. She was an absolute genius.” Rev. Franklin recognized Aretha’s genius early. At a time, in a city and even in a family where musical talent was not uncommon, she was exceptional from the start. Yet it took someone with the reverend’s drive, ambition and fearless-

ness to guide that talent. Born to a sharecropper 52 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Clarence LaVaughn Walker began preaching as a teenager. He had a golden voice for spreading the word of God and for singing. It eventually led him to Detroit’s New Bethel Baptist Church, where the congregation gave the reverend and his family a spectacular house. “Detroit wanted him as a pastor because he was a superstar,” Vance said. A charismatic preacher, civic leader and charmer of women, he was friends with many powerful men, including Martin Luther King Jr. Jesse Jackson called Franklin a genius for his rhetoric.

Franklin was also savvy and knew how to survive the racism that threatens every Black person in America. This is chillingly illustrated in the series’ ﬁ rst episode. As Franklin drives with a young Aretha on a back road in the South, a tire blows in the middle of nowhere. Two violent white racists pull up and take a baseball bat to the car window where Aretha sits. They spit on Franklin and leer at Little Re, who cowers in fear for good reason. Franklin brandishes a crowbar, but rather than ﬁ ght, he defuses the situation. He blithely tosses the men the keys to his car, a much nicer ride than they had. Then he and Little Re walk a dusty

road until they ﬁ nd a dealership and buy a new car. When the shocked white salesman demands to know how a Black man could possibly have that sort of cash, Franklin responds coolly that he is a preacher and “God is good.” Most people may be familiar with the Queen of Soul, but Vance hails from Detroit, where the Franklins went way beyond fame. “I grew up eight doors down from Hitsville,” Vance said, referring to the original headquarters of Motown Records. “She still loomed largest in Detroit. She was black royalty in Detroit.” When Detroit erupted in riots in 1967,

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Courtney B. Vance brings a wealth of experience, including Emmy and Tony awards, to the role of the Rev. C.L. Franklin. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/RICHARD DUCREE

Vance was 7. At fi rst, he stared at the National Guard tanks and soldiers in wonder. “I was into GI Joe, and I was so excited,” he recalled. But this wasn’t let’s-pretend. Over fi ve days of violence, 43 people died, 342 were injured, and at least 7,000 were arrested. The city burned. “At the time, Aretha was in her 20s and already using her vehicle (her voice) for self-determination. I’m sure she got pushback,” Vance said. “You think of Aretha. She had that voice, always successful. Singing like that, a superstar, and then you fi nd she must have struggled her entire life. Everyone has something they struggled with, skeletons in every life.”

Vance grew up knowing the gospel music his hometown exported to the world. He also knows the power of the church. “If you are in church all day, it was an absolute world that infl uenced everything,” he said. After graduating from Harvard University, Vance earned a master of fi ne arts from Yale School of Drama, where he met his wife. Over the years, Vance has continued to work in the theater, earning a Tony Award for “Lucky Guy.” He has 73 fi lm and television credits, three Broadway plays and other stage work and also garnered an Emmy for his portrayal of Johnnie Cochran in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”

Although he grew up in Aretha’s orbit, the two didn’t meet until 1994 when she was saluted at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. “It was a whole weekend,” he recalled. He and Bassett “were on the nominating board, so we could go. It is a luscious brunch, and she and her family and coterie were sitting at one of the tables.” Franklin didn’t know him. But that didn’t matter, said Vance, who still treasures getting the chance to meet her. “Just to listen to her and watch her and being able to be near her and hug her, and thank her for all she meant to me,” he said. His performance reﬂ ects all of it — the

gratitude the actor feels for the singer, the struggles the reverend faced and conquered, and the decades of work Vance has put into his craft. On screen, he excels, as usual. As was the case with Aretha, he said, that talent is rooted in his family’s strength. “I’m a simple boy from Detroit,” Vance said. “We did not have anything. I moved eight times by the time I was 9. But I was raised with love and discipline. My sister, mom, dad and I, we were tight. We knew we were loved. We thought we were rich because we were loved. We shared the same room until we bought a house. It is not about the money. It is about what is instilled in the family.”

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GENIUS: ARETHA

Parks knows genius when she sees it Showrunner’s résumé testiﬁ es to brilliance

So much. Interviews, books, working with the estate. I have vinyl, Spotify, MP3, and on every device. I have been listening to her music nonstop. I have the lyrics in my mind. I actually started as a songwriter.

Jacqueline Cutler Special to USA TODAY

Certain words come into vogue, overused until their meanings become diluted: awesome, unique, genius. Then, every so often, someone comes along and embodies their true deﬁ nitions. Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, for example. When Parks was an undergraduate, the novelist James Baldwin told her how special she was. She’s been proving it ever since. She was the ﬁ rst Black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for “Topdog/Underdog” in 2002. Her work, including “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” and “Venus,” haunts you years after leaving the theater. Now she is the showrunner, executive producer and writer of “Genius: Aretha.” Parks’ stories brilliantly examine race, history and people’s intricate lives, making her a natural to oversee and be the head writer for this series. She is also a 2001 recipient of a MacArthur Fellows “genius grant,” making her even more apt for the job. What follows is condensed from conversations in Atlanta and California as she worked on the project.

You have written movies, plays and a novel. How did this series compare? I wrote a play a day for a whole year. That was kind of a commitment. I wrote four of the eight episodes for the series. I looked through her whole life. You know something about genius. What was Aretha’s genius? Creating something that transcends time and inspires genius in others. Genius is communicable, and it encourages others, and it is for the greater good. It is proximity to the spirit and radically inclusive. She did just that. We show you the spirit behind the songs. Did you feel a huge responsibility working on this? Was that diffi cult? I felt a huge responsibility bearing down on me as I wrote. I had James Baldwin as a creative writing teacher, who said I would be one of the most important artists of my time. I am the fi rst African American woman to win a Pulitzer for drama, a MacArthur genius award. Working with Spike Lee, working with Brad Pitt — when the industry has a big job, they call. Aside from writing a novel, though, this was the most diffi cult.

How did this come about? I was minding my own business at Sundance, where “Native Son” premiered. I got a call: “Brian Grazer wants to talk; can you FaceTime him?” He asked, “Do you want to do ‘Genius: Aretha?” Yeah. I had heard about Einstein and Geoﬀ rey Rush (in the ﬁ rst season) and Picasso and Antonio Banderas (in the second). That’s all I know, and we sat down in New York over a year ago.

What lessons did you glean from Aretha Franklin? Endurance. As a writer, I had a lot of endurance. If I were an athlete, I’d be an ultimate athlete in Death Valley runs. But when I just wrote scripts and screenplays, I was not involved in the budget. I do a wonderful job on the script and present it to the production team. Now I am having conversations ﬁ ve times a day about the budget. I am talking about budget and story, and “Do you think you might want to change this?” or an actor or director may get tweaked.

Were you an Aretha Franklin fan? Aretha was more the music of my mom’s and aunties’ generation, listening with their 45s. (Franklin) contacted me about 10 years ago about a stage musical. She is one of the great icons, one of the great heroes, The Queen of Soul — it is a term of respect with all the beauty it deserves. Have you immersed yourself in her life while working on this?

Suzan-Lori Parks is a Pulitzer-winning playwright, a “genius grant” recipient and a driving creative force behind “Genius: Aretha.” KWAKU ALSTON/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

What was it like to have Baldwin lavish such praise on you in college? I got my mind blown at an early age by a master writer. Before I took his class, I had only read a few of his novels. In ﬁ fth

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grade, I read “The Fire Next Time.” And 10 years later, I was at Mount Holyoke, and he taught at Hampshire College. There you are with a master teacher. I was not the snazziest. I didn’t read “The New Yorker” and “The Atlantic” and hang out at The Algonquin. I wasn’t that kind of person. I wasn’t gunning for attention in that way, but I was still very much in love with the process of creating things. In his evaluation, he said, “You may be one of the most important artists of our times.” What do you do? Curl up? “Oh, I can’t take it”? There was a Lincoln quote that

Suzan-Lori Parks confers with director Anthony Hemingway on the set of “Genius: Aretha.” As showrunner, executive producer and head writer of the series, Parks calls it one of the toughest challenges she’s ever tackled. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

someone said to him: “You will make something of yourself.” And Lincoln said, “I didn’t have the heart to prove him wrong.” I feel the same way. What is the process like for you? I write in my hotel room when I do not have to do Evercast (a video streaming platform) or rewrite a script or be on the phone about the needs of an actor on top of and woven into everyone’s needs. And everybody has needs. I have a desire to treat everybody working with respect, working well.

Had you always wanted to write plays and ﬁ lms? I started as a songwriter, then started writing a novel, and James Baldwin suggested I do playwriting. I’ve done Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, the Sweethearts of Rhythm and Aretha. I have two new theater things already written. What are your goals? I’d like to play more music, country blues guitar. I like to play guitar. I would like to write more songs and do more yoga.

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GENIUS: ARETHA

King Curtis’ sax appeal wasn’t easy to capture Marque Richardson took lessons for role of Franklin’s bandleader

Marque Richardson plays King Curtis, the saxophonist who led Aretha Franklin’s backing band, The Kingpins. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

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Jacqueline Cutler Special to USA TODAY

After he landed the role of King Curtis, who served as Aretha Franklin’s musical director, Marque Richardson tried to learn to play the tenor saxophone. No one expected it of him. Richardson demanded it of himself. “I wanted it to be in my bones,” Richardson said. But while learning to play the instrument helped him get into character, it also taught him something. “I wasn’t good.” There was little chance of a novice assuming the mantle of the man who crowned himself King. (Curtis’s given name was Curtis Ousley.) The saxophonist accompanied artists from Andy Williams to Aretha. In addition to supporting Franklin, his band, The Kingpins, opened for The Beatles at Shea Stadium. Listening to Curtis play makes you want to hang out in dive bars, smoke unfi ltered cigarettes and dirty dance. His seminal album, “Live at Fillmore West,” proves why he made a name for himself as a session musician, bandleader and arranger. Sadly, not many today know who he was or how integral he was to so many sounds we know and love. Richardson knew, though; he was raised on Franklin’s music. “My father played it,” Richardson said. “He’s from Detroit. There are defi nite connections being from Detroit.” Richardson’s parents were in the Navy, and he was born in San Diego and grew up mainly in California. He went to Mayfair High School in Lakewood and to the University of Southern California, where he earned a degree in public policy, planning and management with a minor in business — and did so on a full scholarship from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. California was the perfect place to start his career. Richardson started doing commercials when he was 4. Over the years, he’s been in ads for McDonald’s and Dreyer’s Ice Cream, among others, and he chalked up his fi rst credit, still as Marque Richardson II, at 16. He has worked steadily since, including on “The Bernie Mac Show,” “Lincoln Heights,” “True Blood,” and “Dear White People” (the fi lm and the Netfl ix series). His research for his role in “Genius: Aretha” started with those sax lessons. “There is not much out there” about Curtis, the actor acknowledged. “But I

Studying for the role “showed me how to roll with challenges. I had a great time learning about King Curtis, and I tried to learn as much as I could about the man and the artist and his time with Aretha.” Marque Richardson

Marque Richardson grew up in California, but his dad was from Detroit. He feels a personal connection to Aretha Franklin’s music. RICH FURY GETTY IMAGES FOR GLAAD

watched a lot of footage, and I tried to get his movements. They would have the musicians do a little of the dance. He didn’t have to do a lot of movement. He was very silky, smooth.” Part of the reason there’s not much out there about Curtis, as successful as he was, is that the Grammy winner died young, at 37. Curtis was heading home on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Aug. 13, 1971. Carrying an air conditioner into the brownstone he owned on West 68th Street, he encountered a couple of junkies hanging out on the stoop. He told them to move along. An argument quickly escalated into a ﬁ ght. One of the men fatally stabbed Curtis in the heart. At the funeral, the Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke, and Franklin sang one ﬁ nal piece for her dear friend, pouring her soul into “Never Grow Old.” Curtis was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. “I had always been a fan of the music,” Richardson said. He also knew about Franklin’s seriousness as an advocate for equality: “Fighting for civil rights, Obama’s inauguration, singing for Martin Luther King — she is history. She is Black history and demands respect.” “She’s an example of living your life to the fullest,” Richardson added. Working on “Genius: Aretha,” he said, “taught me to stand up for myself, even just in regards to what I want to do artistically. Collecting her money upfront, she had her purse on stage. It showed me how to roll with challenges. I had a great time learning about King Curtis, and I tried to learn as much as I could about the man and the artist and his time with Aretha.”

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GENIUS: ARETHA

Details so accurate, you can taste the cooking Prop master goes extra mile for authenticity Jacqueline Cutler Special to USA TODAY

Kevin Ladson mops his face in the oppressive morning heat on location in Atlanta. A massive fellow in dungaree overalls, he looks as if he could be doing hard work on a farm. Instead, the New Yorker does delicate work on fi lms and shows. As a prop master, set details are his concern, and no detail is too small for Ladson. During a 35Kevin year career, he has acLadson quired a warehouse full of period goodies — accents that set the tone for productions. Ladson smiles as he recounts some terrifi c fi nds for “Genius: Aretha.” “A gentleman got in touch with me,” Ladson said. “His mother had Alzheimer’s, early-onset. He sold me her pocketbooks.” Another call brought a cache of nudie magazines from the ’40s. Ladson placed those in the home of the Rev. C.L. Franklin, “and you see them at one of the salacious parties.” While Ladson treasures such serendipitous acquisitions, much of his work depends on searching and researching. He reads up to determine what he needs, then goes out to fi nd it. When he can’t fi nd it — and this is where artistry comes in — he makes it. A minor example: Aretha Franklin smoked Kool cigarettes. But Kool packaging looks diff erent today than it did 50 years ago. So Ladson had it printed up. He also re-created posters, magazine

“I want to do my absolute best and make it a tribute to everybody who liked her music and adored her as a person.” Kevin Ladson

Prop master for “Genius: Aretha”

A period-appropriate microphone on the set of “Genius: Aretha.” PHOTOS BY RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

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No detail was too small for Kevin Ladson as he sought to imbue every scene in “Genius: Aretha” with historical authenticity. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

spreads and album covers, all true to famous images of the Queen of Soul, but with “Genius: Aretha” series star Cynthia Erivo in her place. Like everyone behind the scenes, Ladson is committed to authenticity. Knowing that Franklin was a real home chef — not a celebrity who just posed in an apron for photos — he wanted to understand her cooking. That would make it easier to replicate her kitchen. “I had to ﬁ nd Aretha’s recipe for her fried chicken,” Ladson said. “I got that recipe. It was typical — ﬂ our breading, salt, paprika, pepper, crushed basil. It was a double batter. I made it, and it was so good. What I gathered was that she

liked to cook for her family, pleasing her father.” Ladson’s dedication to every detail, seen or unseen, is evidenced in a portfolio. Franklin’s boyfriend, Ken Cunningham, had a portfolio of fashion designs. So, Ladson took it upon himself to recreate it. “I put myself into his head and drew the sketches,” Ladson said. “It was like a séance. I didn’t know if Anthony (Hemingway, the director) or anyone would like it. But Cunningham had a portfolio, and when he presents that portfolio to her, it was my interpretation of what he might have presented to her.” It was a great deal of work to do on a

prop that might never even appear on screen. Asked why he put in the extra effort, Ladson grew silent as he gathered his words. Then, this giant of a man wept — not just misting like when your child graduates, but full-on tears streaking his face. He allowed himself the wave of emotion for a couple of minutes, then collected himself to explain why he goes that extra distance. “When I was in art school, my mother told me: Put not only your heart, put your backbone into it,” he said. “That is what I was trying to do.” While Ladson brings this level of care to every project — from his start on “Pee-

wee’s Playhouse” through movies with Spike Lee and on “30 Rock” — the Queen of Soul was special. Ladson turned down a Halle Berry movie to take on “Genius: Aretha.” Like so many involved, Ladson knows the extraordinary pull of Franklin, of feeling her spirit guiding their work. “When I got word I was going to work on this project, I was on a cruise ship,” Ladson recalled. “And I’m standing at the rail, and I said, ‘Yes! This is a dream come true.’ I am trying to channel this emotion. I want to do my absolute best and make it a tribute to everybody who liked her music and adored her as a person. “This is the project I want to be on.”

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GENIUS: ARETHA

Costume designer Jennifer Bryan, front left, looks over an outﬁ t with her team on the set of National Geographic's “Genius: Aretha.” RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Not a stitch out of place for decades Costumes span eras, and all must be perfect Jacqueline Cutler Special to USA TODAY

The magic mirror is mounted on a wall in the cavernous space. It’s narrow, framed in plastic — like the sort that’s hung inside a closet for that ﬁ nal check before heading out the door.

Stop in front of it, though, and somehow your waist nips in, your hips slim. You even seem to stand a little taller. Just a ﬂ eeting reﬂ ection is sure to make people feel a bit better about their appearance, which is costume designer Jennifer Bryan’s intent. “That’s the skinny mirror,” Bryan said. “They’re cheap mirrors.” Bryan mixes the cheap with the expensive. The massive wardrobe she assembled for “Genius: Aretha” ranged

from $7 Goodwill dresses to vintage beaded gowns. There were episodes where she dressed 500 extras. “Some 4,000 costumes passed through my hands that I had to put together, even if you don’t see them,” Bryan said. Even though the audience might not see each outﬁ t, Bryan insisted that all costumes — even those for extras deep in the background —be perfect. A photographer on set captured the

essence of the costume designer at work. “There’s a photo of me adjusting a background lady’s hat,” she explained. “And you will never see it. It was the netting in front of the church hat, and I’m helping her adjust the netting, so it falls just right over the eye line. You can see the intensity of me doing it.” Bryan pays attention to every detail. She approaches a rack of recent arrivals and, with a practiced ﬂ ick of the wrist, slides dresses on hangers.

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Costumer designer Jennifer Bryan adjusts an extra’s hat deep in the background of a scene. Bryan ﬁ ne-tuned such details even when the audience might not see them. RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Some clothes were created from scratch. For the rest, Bryan and her team went online and haunted local secondhand stores. “Atlanta has thrift stores, not like Hollywood or New York, where it’s so picked over,” she said. Even so, shopping vintage has always defi ned serendipity. You pass up a 1950s bowling shirt with a stain, and the next hanger holds a spectacular sequined skirt. The real quest, however, can be fi nding something that fi ts. Gowns for fuller-sized women are particularly hard to locate, Bryan noted. “I have sources of vintage sellers throughout the country,” she said. “There are a handful that I work with, and they are like the Sotheby’s and Christie’s of clothing, as opposed to the Goodwill.” The eight-hour “Genius: Aretha” is more than a simple period piece. It spans many periods, and the parade of styles never stops. Aretha Franklin understood the power of fashion and loved her

Aretha Franklin “could be dramatic and open. She was conservative with herself but not with her clothing. She took chances.” Jennifer Bryan Costume designer

clothes to the end. Seriously, how many people have had outﬁ t changes while lying in state? Since the series covers multiple decades, Bryan had to assemble a wardrobe dating back to the 1940s. The series opens with Aretha as a child, dressed like the sweet church girl she was: cotton dresses with Peter Pan collars and smocking, white anklets with lace trim, and either saddle shoes for everyday or

Mary Janes for church. As she grew up, Aretha became fashion-forward. She also wore what she liked, regardless of whether stylists would have approved. Franklin was body positive decades before self-acceptance was a movement. “Even though she was contained about her personal life, her fashion was the one outlet where she could be, like, bam!” Bryan noted. “She could be dramatic and open. She was conservative with herself but not with her clothing. She took chances and had some daring bustlines. Even as she became curvier, she did not camouﬂ age the curves.” Although women’s fashions, especially Franklin’s, take center stage in the series, the men hardly dress like NASA engineers. The staid ’50s gave way to the psychedelic ’60s and groovy ’70s. Men ﬁ nally had fun fashion choices. Yet as memorable as rust-colored vests and plaid polyester elephant bells were, it’s not as if they can be found easily.

“To fi nd menswear in good condition vintage is very hard because (men) don’t save their clothes, period,” Bryan said. “And menswear doesn’t go through huge fashion changes and fashion arcs the way women’s do. But there is one period in our 20th century where it was really strong. And that is the ’70s, where you have the printed polyester shirts, the jumpsuits and the leisure suits. The men were like peacocks.” Bryan walked through rows of meticulously organized clothes, each section categorized by periods. Then, there was what Bryan called “My Gold Room.” These are the pieces that make even a casual lover of fashion gasp. Hats, tenderly packed with tissue paper, rested in round boxes. A Dior tulle creation in mint and seafoam is why people buy (if not necessarily wear) hats. Bryan extracted a Persian curly lamb hat and modeled it — in between the racks, balancing on a ladder — as she fl ashed a megawatt smile. “You have to be fabulous,” Bryan said. And she is. There’s an élan to this Pratt Institute graduate that is easy yet, make no mistake, intentional — just like her carefully orchestrated wardrobe department. In Bryan’s on-set offi ce, photos of Franklin and her sisters, Erma and Carolyn, hung over her desk. Her bookshelf held “Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair” and “Supreme Glamour.” “I used them as reference books for details of the period,” Bryan explained. “I must have pulled a thousand photos of her.” That was just the start of the work Bryan invested in this series, as she endeavored to ensure she had it all correct, from Franklin’s iconic ostrich-featherbedecked gowns to the casual clothes she sported while cooking in her kitchen at home. Yet the designer, who has worked on shows from “Better Call Saul” to “The Vampire Diaries,” was thrilled to take on this challenge. “This is my dream project,” Bryan said. “Her music is the wallpaper of my life.”

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GENIUS: ARETHA

Shaian hits right notes as Little Re Even in middle school, she was a Franklin fan Jacqueline Cutler Special to USA TODAY

Shaian Jordan perches on the couch on the set of the well-appointed living room of the Franklin family home. Back straight, eyes intense, hands resting in her lap, she looks exactly like what she is — a good girl, a church girl. Shaian plays Aretha Franklin as a child — Little Re, as she was known. Like her, Shaian had her fi rst solo in church. And she is a natural. In one scene, she cries — real tears. While that may not seem like a big deal, observe how many adult actors sob onscreen with dry eyes. Shaian’s tears streak her face in the fi rst episode. And the tears are appropriate. It’s a tragic moment in young Aretha’s life, when her stepmother fl ees her father’s abuse. Aretha loves her and runs after the car. This role required more than channeling the joys and sadness of young Aretha or even believably comporting herself like a well-reared young woman of the 1940s. Shaian had to sing like the queen in the making. Luckily, unlike many middle schoolers, Shaian already knew Franklin’s music. “I listened to her in the car with my mom and grandma,” said Shaian, now 14. Before being cast in “Genius: Aretha” with Courtney B. Vance playing her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, and Cynthia Erivo as the adult Aretha, Shaian’s only credits were in her middle school and church musicals. “We put on plays and put a Christian spin on them,” she explained. “Outside of that, I haven’t taken acting lessons.” Her mom, Narcissus Allen, who works

“Little Re,” played by Shaian Jordan, performs in the Rev. C.L. Franklin’s Gospel Caravan. Starting in the 1950s, Aretha’s father took the touring show to churches, fairs and other venues around the country. PHOTOS BY RICHARD DUCREE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Like Aretha Franklin, Shaian got her start singing in church. “Genius: Aretha” is her ﬁ rst major role.

as a bookkeeper in TV production offi ces, had an inkling that her child might have serious talent. “I have video of her grabbing the vacuum singing, so I asked an agency when she was 5,” Allen said. “I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just us.” Clearly, it wasn’t. Her agent submitted Shaian for this role last September. When they hadn’t heard anything, mother and daughter went about their business. Shaian had eighth grade to attend, and her mom fi gured it wasn’t meant to be. Then they received a call, saying she needed to fl y from their California home to Georgia for additional auditions. Director Anthony Hemingway had Shaian sing and run more scenes. Shortly after, Allen made a dinner reservation for the family at Shaian’s favorite steak restaurant in Los Alamitos.

“I thought we were celebrating my good grades,” Shaian said. Then her mom showed her the email welcoming her to the cast. “My mind was blown,” Shaian recalled. As the production amped up, and she her costume ﬁ ttings, learned her lines, and got to know the cast, it all hit her: “Oh my gosh, I am literally playing the Queen of Soul, a legend.” When Shaian met her adult counterpart, Erivo noticed that they both had the same gap in their front teeth, Shaian said with a smile ﬂ ashing those teeth. “I can’t believe she is the older me,” Shaian said. Did the star give any advice to the novice? “She said, ‘Keep up the good work,’ ” Shaian said. “She was basically nice and sweet about it.”

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NAT GEO ARETHA FRANKLIN 2021

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