Tramaine Montell Ford is an exceptional actor, dancer, singer...let's just say he's talented.
In 2009, I found myself working with a particular circle of creative friends relatively often. In my mind and heart I always group together, Sage Suppa, Nikki Frangakis, Melisa Briener-Sanders, and Tramaine Montell Ford.
I met Tramaine on this day through Sage. Sage and Tramaine were friends at Syracuse University, studying acting together. They both made their way to NYC and Tramaine had put together The Tramaine Experience. Sage was helping him with the production which ran at Theatre Row on West 42nd in Manhattan. The Tramaine Experience is an urban dramedy that recounts Tramaine's experiences of growing up in the Cabrini Green projects just outside of Chicago, Illinois. It's part fact and part fiction with Tramaine hilariously impersonating and encapsulating four different characters that he once knew from the Cabrini Green neighborhood:
There was a homeless man, Jarvis Williams, the convenience store owner, Habib, the local gossip, Laquanda Jenkins, and lastly, the up and coming hip-hop artist, lady-killer, Pookie Washington.
Co-starring for the afternoon: Malaiyka Reid as Tramaine's girlfriend, Melissa Gibbs as Tramaine's mother and Nikki Frangakis Tramaine's cousin’s parole officer.
I had the privilege, on this day, to photograph both a rehearsal and live performance of The Tramaine Experience. I would later have the honor of photographing a future Off-Broadway performance of The Tramaine Experience.
