Every afternoon or evening, my grandfather Walter would let the 3 year old me sit on his knees or belly and tell me a story, often one of the Brother Grimm’s children stories like Hänsel and Gretel, or The Little Red Riding Hood. I knew the stories by heart, and would correct him if he missed a word.
According to my Liberian mother, parts of our ancestral line can be traced back to the country of Mali, to a clan who’s occupation was blacksmith (forgeron). Blacksmiths in traditional African society have special spiritual powers, and some function as oral historians and storytellers (Griot).
When my own children were young, I used to tell them a story every night (I still do this infrequently today with my youngest son Joël). These spontaneously crafted stories would span over weeks, sometimes months, and their characters (La petite souris, Ed the spy and many others) would live many hilarious and crazy adventures, which are now part of the family repertoire.
Living in Paris, I felt the need to expand my ways of expression from purely musical performances to a model of musical theatre that would allow me to tell a musical story including dance, spoken words and costume changes. My first theatre piece was MERCI MAMA AFRICA, which I premiered in 1993 at the Theatre festival in Avignon. I won the 1st prize for best musical theatre that year. When I moved to the USA in 1999, I adapted the concept of the musical theatre to a One Man Show format that allowed me to perform in countless libraries and schools in New York, Florida and California.
Story telling is still a passion of mine, and my shows are educational and entertaining as well as musically top notch.
You can find a catalogue of my shows here under. Please contact me for bookings at makintomusic@gmail.com or fill out a contact form on the home page
