23 hours Ago By Rosalind Early St. Louis Post-Dispatch
A heart-warming Instagram post went viral in September 2023. In it, Tamar Greene, the longest-running George Washington in “Hamilton” on Broadway, is singing to his son, AJ, who is about 3 months old and coos back adoringly at his dad. The song he’s singing is “Wheels of a Dream” from the musical “Ragtime.
” TV and stage star Viola Davis shared the video, writing, “What a beautiful gift. Beautiful. This took my breath away.
” Other stars of the stage such as Tony nominee Joshua Henry and Tony winners Donna Murphy and Kristin Chenoweth all commented on the post. Now, the father-son duo are hitting the stage again, this time to star in “Ragtime” at Stages St. Louis.
Tamar Greene will play Coalhouse Walker Jr. and his son, Amari-Josiah Greene, will appear as his stage-son Coalhouse Walker III. Even mom Lindsay Roberts Greene, who filmed the viral video, is here in St.
Louis on standby to play Coalhouse’s love interest, Sarah. But Greene is not here because of the viral post. “I heard that they were having auditions in (New York), and I was very excited because I love the show,” Greene says from St.
Louis where he arrived at the beginning of September for rehearsals. He and his wife auditioned. A month later at callbacks, “Gayle (Seay, artistic director for Stages) said, ‘Do you think the baby will be walking by the time of the show?’” Lindsay recalls.
“And we said ‘Oh, we hope so.’ So we were excited when he got the offer as well. This is his first contract, which is so cool.
” Coalhouse Walker III, who Amari-Josiah (nicknamed AJ) will be playing, doesn’t have any lines. Most of the musical the role is actually filled by a doll, but it’s still important to the story. “Ragtime” is set at the turn of the 20th century in New York, when the Industrial Revolution is reshaping lives.
It follows three families: the Walkers, a Black family; a white family from New Rochelle, New York; and Jewish immigrants from Latvia. The families all interact and connect to one another. Coalhouse Walker Jr.
(played by Tamar) finds out about his son, who was born out of wedlock, and sings about the future of America to him in “Wheels of a Dream.” That was what prompted Greene to bring AJ on stage in the first place for the viral video. “This was a concert where Lindsay and I both were going to sing a few numbers,” says Tamar.
The couple were in Syracuse at rehearsal. “I asked Lindsay, ‘What do you think? Is it crazy to bring AJ on stage? Is that a crazy thing to suggest?” Lindsay told him to try it, so they brought AJ out, and Lindsay happened to take her phone out and start recording. “We weren’t really posting (AJ) on social media before,” Lindsay says, but when they watched the video back later that night and saw AJ cooing at his dad, they decided to share it.
“We thought our friends would like it. We had no idea that everybody would see it. It was posted on pages in France and South Africa.
It was just unbelievable,” Lindsay says. The post wound up with more than 4 million views, and Greene still has it pinned at the top of his Instagram feed. Plus, AJ proved he was ready to be on stage, and his parents brought him out during the actual concert.
For Tamar, getting to play Coalhouse Walker Jr is a dream. He took two months off “Hamilton” on Broadway to come to St. Louis.
“Coalhouse Walker Jr. feels like something I’ve been preparing for all my life. It truly does,” Tamar says.
“I love the story so much, and it feels relevant to the world.” He also likes that Coalhouse is an educated pianist who faced a lot of racism and still succeeded. “My heart is pouring open and itching for the chance to put my take and my spin on this role,” he says.
“When I officially got the offer, I was like ‘Oh yeah, time to kick everything into gear.’” With his son in the show, it adds another dimension. AJ always watches him when he starts to sing on stage.
“I’m just proud to see him turn around and look at me,” Tamar says. The whole experience has been a lot of fun for the Greenes who visited St. Louis before in 2013 on a national touring production of “Porgy and Bess,” which is also where the couple met.
Lindsay has been in “Phantom of the Opera” and works with nonprofit arts organizations. “It’s fun to come back with a baby. We’re looking forward to doing things like the Magic House, and we’ve taken him to the zoo,” Lindsay says.
Plus, Stages has provided AJ with a fantastic playroom, complete with ball pit. Though a standby, Lindsay hopes that she gets the chance to share the stage with her husband and her son, but she knows AJ will steal the show. “We have family driving in, flying in and booking flights.
I’m like, ‘Tamar, they’re literally going to sit through two and half hours just so they can see AJ at the end. I hope you’re OK with that,” she says with a laugh. Are they hoping AJ becomes an actor? “I want him to be happy, and I think he’s happy right now listening to the music and being with the kids in the show,” Lindsay says.
“If he decides he wants to pursue something completely different, I know at the very least he’ll always be a theater lover and an audience member.” “I definitely agree with that,” Tamar says. “I would add, I would definitely put him in some classes.
He’ll be taking some voice lessons.”.
