If you mix high-strung with a bit of power, you get, Tempest Dupont, an educated vixen who’s gained distinction as a big-time attorney in the City of Killeen, Texas.
Mastering everything in life except the door to her heart, she’s yet to find true love.
“Tempest” is a romantic-comedic stage play, with jiffies of humor. The production offers many ups and downs that relate to real life events, and is spot-on when you think about overachievers and young millennials in this generation, who still haven’t found their soul partners.
Some women are too goal oriented; rarely taking the time to accept love, as it might be a futile distraction-- slowing them down from their madly successful careers, and they never take time to consider that love doesn’t slow you down. Love speeds you up to the rhythm of one-thousand racing stallions. Love transforms you from an emotionless cyborg to a person with actual feelings, like a lioness with a heart.
The cute productions places you in the mindset of familiar movies like Boy Bye and Something New.
Screenwriter Kerry Ann Z. Frazier, said that she used situations from her girlfriends as well as bits and pieces from everyday life to hone in on the characters.
“The production basically follows the last play that we did in May called Losing Mama. This is an expansion of it focusing on one of the characters, Tempest Dupont," said Frazier.
Feature Presentation: Saturday, August 19, 2017/2:30pm and 6:30pm /at the Vive Les Arts Theatre Killeen, TX
“This is a romantic comedy about a young, powerful, cooperate attorney that is successful in everything in life. She’s achieved everything on her checklist except a relationship with the opposite sex. So, it’s a comedy where we are taken through Tempest’s life with some of her dating errors and some of the very characters that she goes out with.”
While the narrative is nothing short of romance capering on the tails of nous and repetitious certainty for the aspiring woman, there are some powerful scenes involved with theinnovative stage-production.
“I think it’s the messages that the girlfriends really relay to Tempest… often, as women, we sometimes over-communicate, and sometimes we fail to communicate. I think it’s what the love interest conveys to her and in what he sees in her, which she has not seen in herself. When she sees the changes in herself, she will then see all changes on the outside manifest themselves. That is something that I thought was poignant, as well as the message that she receives from her girlfriends in searching for the right one. One of the girlfriends says to her, ‘Do you want somebody, do you want anybody, or are you willing to wait on the right one?’
Frazier said that it was her goal to make key character, Tempest, a black role model.
“As a female, and as somebody who is a professional, I really wanted to empower little black girls the message that they will get here is this; You can be successful, but you don’t necessarily have to have a ring on your finger. There’s no magical number for you to get married. You don’t have to turn, thirty, thirty-five, or forty, to get married. You can have your career and you can have it all, and that’s what you get from Tempest. She gets a myriad of messages from society that says because she has accomplished in all these things in her life, it’s time to settle down and get married.”
“Deal with yourself as an individual worthy of respect, and make everyone else deal with you the same way. ” – Nikki Giovanni
Frazier is an Ordained Minister at the Christian House of Prayer, a Minister of Dance at The Eagle’s Training Institute, and the owner and Director of KZFrazier Drama Company in Killeen, Texas. The beautiful woman of God is erudite in all things familiar with the word of Christ.
As a graduate of the Sonship School of the First Born, Kerry-Ann also completed her Bachelor’s degree from University of Maryland, majoring in Education and Psychology. She also received a Master’s degree in Education, Training and Facilitation from University of Phoenix.
Frazier also earned a Master’s degree of Social Work from the University of Southern California.
The fiercely driven Minister is also an author with published books such as Restored:From Mourning to Dancing, and Hineni "Here I am, Lord": Responding To The Call To Drama Ministry.
She is a screenwriter and playwright, in addition to being a method actress with 20 years of experience. Frazier has written and produced numerous plays in Central Texas with her church and is on her fifth production under KZFrazier Drama.
Frazier said that what makes her project work is the belief in her project.
“I have to believe in what I am directing. What makes it great is when it inspires someone, when it has an impact on someone’s life. I find it empowering when it is educational, [and] those are all the goals of KZFrazierDrama. That is what brings me to life, and that is what brings the passion out the passion in everything that I do. So, when those are present in a production, I am just completely excited about it.”
Though her many endowments keep her plenty busy, Frazier plans to add more extraordinary endeavors to schedule.
Speaking of completed productions, her greatest achievement reside in her campaign against abuse.
“My greatest achievement, I would say, is a particular play called, Behind Closed Doors, a domestic violence play that I did a few years ago. After I did that play, I had about 40 women who came to me and say, ‘This is my story and this is my life, or, 'I am still in this situation, how do I get out of it?’ and we could minister to them. I would connect them with therapist, and other types of help, and that was when it was foreseeable. I could see the effects of immediate help.
To me, that is the goal in anything I do…. It’s the people that I impact and the people that I touch, to see life change, to see the eyes of a young child light up when they understand the concept; to see the eyes of a young adult light up when they understand the concept of something that we just ministered onstage.
That, for me, is my greatest achievement, it’s the people that I touch.”
Frazier agrees that it is hard to find positive personas in black culture, communities, and the entertainment industry on television because reality television has dominated the airwaves. Reality television wins more viewership than positive black shows like Black-Ish, The Carmichael Show and The Underground (The latter two have been canceled.
“I think that there might be some concerns regarding positive imagery on films and onstage. I will say that I’m an 80’s child and I saw a lot of positive images in music back then. I would replicate those positive images I saw back then because my father, my grandfather, my uncle, and my husband, are black men. I also have three black sons o me they are positive male images. That is what I would like to see.That is what I'd like our next generation to see: real positive images of black men in film and onstage. That is the the goal in everything I do.”
As for the musical elements— “This is so important because music really speaks. I have incredible musical directors and composers. They all write all our original music for our productions. It is something that we think about when matching a song with an idea or premise of a play. We use different genres of music to ensure accurately convey the meaning of a specific scene or the overall production.”
Spoken like a true professional! Frazier plans to take part in the National Film Festival during the fall of #2017. The writer and director also shared that from September until December, she’s shooting films.
Her directorial and production style is a menagerie of different styles. For example, her favorite films include features from Spike Lee, because his work assures depth and content, to be specific.
“I mesh many different styles together. I love cinematography and I love nature and I try to merge the two when possible.”
She draws inspiration from Denzel Washington, Anthony Hopikins and Lynn Whitfield.
Those are people that I emulate and I listen to as much as possible. I would really love to meet Oprah and Kimberly Elise. Though they are very different, they are at the top of my list.
Kimberly Elise became well known in her career a little later in life. She and I have an uncanny resemblance of each other and I love her acting style; the way she embodies her character. I love her tone of voice and articulation. I like the way she moves and there is something about her that I identify with.
Frazier is a Social Worker and Director of Social Work at the local police department. She typically works 16-hour days, which really doesn’t leave much free time, and she is okay with it.
“This is what you do when you have a passion and goals. One day, I really hope to be doing my plays and my films full-time. I plan to incorporate ll the experiences I have as a social worker, to bring some real, heart-felt stories to life.”
Touching on the professional and philanthropic side of Frazier, she has advocated for victims, family, violence support, intervention, prevention, and has championed the cause for Autism awareness.
Autism awareness ignites a deeper feeling within the multifaceted Commander-in-Chief…
“My second son is on the [autism] spectrum and it is something that has been a passion for me. We’ve always known that he’s on the spectrum even though he’s high functioning, but I also observe that, as he’s getting older, some of the social issues with his peers. So, I must work extra hard with him in that area. He’s the one that really wants to be part of the drama company."
This Texan continues to teach her son all the functions and nuances of film and stage, all while showing peers and followers that she’s such the high-achieving, trustworthy and caring human being… unbreakable, determined, and a fiery winner and an awe-inspiring person.
“One of the things that I want parents to know, especially those with autistic children, is you find something they are passionate about, cultivate it because they can have a life beyond the diagnosis.”
In closing, Kerry-Ann Z. Frazier wants readers to know, KZFrazierDrama aims to impact, influence, inspire, and empower through creative arts. Everything we do, we aim to give back to the community. Our plays are not just entertainment. They are experiences. They are encounters to behold, and if you'd like to be part of KZFrazier, you just contact us. In doing so, please send a head-shot and short bio. We definitely would like to encourage everyone to come on out to our dynamic stage play, Tempest at Vive Les Arts, August 19, 2:30 (PM) and 6:30 (PM). It's going to be awesome."
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