When Paul Bradshaw caught the Renaissance Guild's "Divas of Eastwood" performance during Luminaria in November, he was blown away.
The revue focused on female performers and dug into San Antonio's place as part of the Chitlin' Circuit, a segregation-era network of nightclubs at which African American performers played for African American audiences.
When Bradshaw learned that a follow-up show was in the works focusing on male vocalists, he auditioned that very night in the Carver Community Cultural Center parking lot. He sang the Boyz II Men song "I'll Make Love to You" for music director Darrin Newhardt and Danielle King, who was one of the Divas and who co-founded the Renaissance Guild.
They were impressed enough to ask for a more formal audition, and Bradshaw made the cut. He is part of the cast of "Watch Your Step: The Men of Eastwood," which opens Friday.
The new show is a book musical laced with music made famous by the Temptations, B.B. King, Ray Charles and others. The show focuses on a couple (Nerryl Williams, who also starred in "Divas," and Mark Hall) who owned the Eastwood Country Club. As they prepare to shut it down, they reflect on some of the music legends and other performers who played there.
The show mixes real-life people with some fictional characters.
Bradshaw, whose previous performance experience was mostly related to his church, is having a good time working on the show.
"This is my dream," the 26-year-old said.
The show also marks the San Antonio stage debut of Naybu Fullman, 46, who moved here from Delaware about a year ago. He said that he's learned a lot about his new home while working on the show.
"I didn't know San Antonio had this kind of heritage," he said.
Making people aware of the city's past is a big motivator for Antoinette Lakey, who served as dramaturge on "Divas" and co-wrote the new show with Lee Cusenbary. Newhardt has contributed to the script as well, and is both directing and music directing. Bill Lewis, who wrote and directed the first show, is not involved this time around.
She has done a lot of research for the shows, and she's weighing ways to preserve it all once the project is over. She's got some time to make a decision because there's still one more show to craft. The project was conceived from the beginning as a trilogy, and as soon as "Watch Your Step" closes, the creative team will start work on the third and final show.
No decisions have been made on what form the finale will take, but King would like for it be a play that digs more deeply into the stories of the East Side community and those who went to the clubs.
"These stories need to be told," King said.
"Watch Your Step: The Men of Eastwood" opens Friday. It can be seen at 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays through Jan. 22 at the Little Carver Civic Center, 226 N. Hackberry. Tickets cost $25 at the Carver box office and ticketmaster.com. Info, 210-207-2234; therenaissanceguild.org, thecarver.org.