ValLimar Jensen brings Ethel Waters to life in

Sweet Mama String Bean

The life of Ethel Waters offers a cornucopia of events, people, and places to the performer who possesses both the courage and the talent to embrace this history and bring life to it. ValLimar Jensen is indeed such an actress who manages to infuse an infectious vivacity and passion that commands our attention with every gesture and every song.

Skillfully directed by Barbara Masters with music arranged by Frank Jensen, Sweet Mama String Bean (A Celebration of The Life of Ethel Waters playing at The Freemont Theatre in South Pasadena) is really a biography set to music, song and dance. This musical biography serves as a scrapbook of Ms. Water’s colorful career.  Ethel Water, a daughter of 12-year-old rape victim, grew up “unsupervised” in the streets of Philadelphia. Through dint of hard work, Ms. Waters made it to Black vaudeville in 1917 and eventually earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in Pinky in 1949. We learn of her success like singing with such greats as Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.  Sadly, we learn of her setbacks of failed romances and missed opportunities, along with the history of racism in entertainment and its impact on Ms. Waters. 

This two act play (which goes by in a flash) features sixteen classic blues songs from a who’s who of composers.  These composers would be proud of Ms. Jensen’s delivery of their music. She possesses a full-bodied voice that not only fills space but seems intimate when she voices low notes.  Her singing can take your breath away but her dancing also complements her voice. She encourages her audience to participate in a number of songs and invites some to dance with her on stage.  Mrs. Jensen playfully interacts with her accomplished group of supporting players Frank Jensen (piano), Mark Davey (drums) and Ruben Ramos (Bass).  Sweet Mama String Bean, as Ms. Jensen so elegantly remarks, is certainly a patchwork of a legendary life remembered fondly as a feather in the wind. 

Randolph Sydnor

Arts & Entertainment Critic

Oxford Review

(626) 399-3086

1.       You refer to Ethel Waters' life as “a patchwork of life success.”  This perspicacious observation makes us think, not just about Ms. Waters' life, but our own.

Absolutely! Each of our lives is a patchwork of life experiences. Each experience is sewn into the very fabric of our character, as we move along life's journey. It is how we weave and sew experiences together, that defines the quality of each of our lives.

2.    There is so much in Waters’ life to draw inspiration. What served as your muse?

I was inspired by Ethel's deep-seated need to be loved and accepted by her mother. So many people live tragic lives or lives that are not fully realized because they miss the fulfillment of experiencing unconditional love and acceptance from a parent. In my personal sphere, I have many friends and acquaintances who were abandoned by a parental figure. It is sad and fascinating to me, how this yearning for a parent's unconditional love and acceptance is so pervasive in each of their lives.

3.     I rather enjoyed all the songs performed, and I dare say you performed them with brilliantly.  Do you have a favorite?

Thank you so much for this kind compliment. I would say my favorite song is Stormy Weather. I believe it was probably one of Ethel's favorite songs, because it was so instrumental in catapulting her career into "superstardom."

4.     I get the feeling that Ms. Waters was always in search of acceptance and love.  I wonder did she every find it.

According to her autobiography, His Eye Is On the Sparrow, the reconciliation scene that we wrote into the ending of "Sweet Mama String Bean" actually occurred between Ethel and her mother. Also, from the research I have done, Ms. Waters enjoyed the love and care from a number of close friends at the end of her life.

5.     How did you prepare for your role in Sweet Mama String Bean?

I did over 550 hours of research into Ethel's life and career, as well as the careers of her contemporaries and the female blues singer she influenced. I also studied her style of singing. As an actor, I did not work toward an imitation of Ethel's voice, but I wanted to approximate her style of singing, as closely as possible. It was through her "Style" of singing, that Ethel Waters left the greatest impact on Blues and Jazz for African American women singers.   

6.     You use your diaphragm well. I believe this adds a lot of richness to your voice.

Thank you so much for noticing that I was using the idea of "Microphone technique" without the use of an actual microphone!

7.     Inclusion and exclusion are always issues when one deals with any biography. Tell me about that process regarding Sweet Mama String Bean.

We wanted to create a nice arch of dramatic development for Ethel, as a protagonist. We had to create an antagonist, offer complications and dramatic obstacles for her to overcome. This gave us a clear through-line to develop, with the climax coming at the very end of the play. Simultaneously, we wanted to give the audience factual and interesting information about the era in which Ethel lived, while focusing on songs that show her tremendous breadth, as a singer (Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Musical Theater and Popular music!)

8.    Ethel Waters was not only a fine actress but she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 1949 for the film Pinky.  I do not feel that she received enough credit for her acting.

You are right on point! Ethel Waters was a dynamic actor. She even approached a song, as if each song had a story to tell. Singing a song as a "monologue" or story was very important to Ms. Waters. As an actor, she broke down many barriers, in her day (Beulah, Route 66, Gift of Gab, Cabin in the Sky, Pinky, Member of the Wedding, Mamba's Daughters--just to name a few.)

9.     I would like to know more about the approach Frank Jansen took to the arrangement of the music because the songs take a rather nice historical arch.

It was important to Frank Jansen, the musical director, to show the historical development of Blues, Jazz and Popular music and the influence Gospel had on all musical genres, for African American musicians.

10.   Tell me about the impact of Howard University on your career.

Going to Howard University as a Bachelor of Fine Arts major, had an incredible impact on my career. It was at Howard that I studied theater practice, almost in a conservatory setting. We lived, ate, breathed theater and acting 20 hours per day! An Austrian producer came to the theater department at Howard to cast supporting roles and the chorus for European premiere of the musical Raisin. The Broadway touring cast had already been cast in the major roles. I auditioned for the part of Beneatha, along with about 75 other young women. I landed the role and went to Switzerland to perform in the European premiere of the show. After this show closed, I stayed in Europe for two years, performing in American musicals. 

11.   Do you see any similarities in the life of Waters and you own career path?

To quote "Sweet Mama String Bean": "Show business, it is not a bunch of ripe bananas. I learned that early and I [am learning] that late." If through my performance of the life of Ethel Waters, I help to raise the money necessary to get her a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I will feel like I have done something extremely important. More importantly, I experience profound success, if I impress on all who see "Sweet Mama String Bean" the message that every single life is important to the Earth; to love and be loved unconditionally are the greatest events on Earth.  

12.   What’s on the horizon for ValLimar Jansen?

Until we make it to New York, Chicago and Minneapolis with our show, we will continue to pick up momentum, by performing 'Sweet Mama String Bean" in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.  Whenever we are not playing SMSB in a theater venue, I keep myself busy, as an inspirational speaker and singer, traveling the US, Canada, the West Indies and Western Europe, with my company, A Fire Within Music.