By Justine Chahal
James Ellison III realized he wanted to act when he was 4 years old.
The young Sacramento native had participated in a skit, which was performed in front of his mother at their home for fun. His mother, who he remembers being sad before the skit began, slowly became happier as it continued, her somber expression turning into a smile.
Although Ellison had no lines in this skit, this change in his mother made him recognize just how powerful acting could be.
Now, Ellison is the artistic director of Celebration Arts, a Black theater company founded in 1986 and located on 2727 B St. in Sacramento. Ellison, who recently received the Emerging Professional Award from the National Theatre Conference, says he wants to inspire young people to pursue their desire to act as he has.
“Celebration Arts is not just a theater, it’s a training ground to be able to help guide and direct young actors and up-and-coming actors,” Ellison says. “Those are things that are very rewarding, to see their progress and see them grow.”
The community theater wants to provide opportunities for those who don’t typically have many within the theater industry, Ellison says, especially actors of color like himself.
Ellison cites the works of playwrights August Wilson and Neil Simon as his current inspirations but as a child, he admired the actors on his television screen, including Gary Coleman who appeared on “Diff’rent Strokes.” Ellison says seeing Black actors on his screen made him feel like he was able to pursue acting as a career.
Ellison didn’t explore theater until his senior year of Valley High School because he grew up surrounded by people who were not interested in the arts. When Ellison, who was a class clown, delved into theater, he says he initially focused on comedy.
It was only under the guidance of Frank Condon, the previous artistic director of River Stage, that Ellison began to explore drama. When Condon had taught a class at school, Ellison performed a monologue from comedian and actor John Leguizamo. Condon told him he had to stop performing comedy in his class.
From there, Ellison acted in River Stage’s production of “Chicago Conspiracy Trial” and he no longer felt the need to hide his desire to act, he says.
“As I started to get into the drama part, what everybody else thought, it just started to fade away because I didn’t care anymore,” Ellison says. “This is who I am, this is what I love. People are starting to give me good feedback, tell me I’m doing a good job, so I just dove into it.”
After spending a brief time in Los Angeles where he produced music, Ellison returned to Sacramento where he was told to seek out Celebration Arts in 2003. He says he proceeded to call their number and spoke to his predecessor and Celebration Arts’ founder James Wheatley. He was later cast as the lead in the play “T Bone N Weasel” which earned him an Elly Award nomination in the Best Actor in a Comedy category.
When Wheatley stepped down, Celebration Art’s board asked Ellison to take over as interim director, which he was for two years before becoming the official artistic director. Ellison was hesitant to accept the role but now accepts the responsibility of the position and sees just how important it is, he says.
“We don’t really get the chance to let our voices be heard and let our stories be told,” Ellison says. “To be able to be the person standing at the front of the line checking folks in like that means a lot to me. It feels humbling, empowering.”
Ellison says he wants to add comedy shows, game nights and other forms of programming to Celebration Arts in the future. He also wants to have a younger audience attend more shows and bring in more newcomers.
Ellison says he hopes the theater becomes a household name within the community.
“I want Celebration Arts to be a destination when it comes to the arts and that’s across the board — visual and performing arts,” Ellison says. “I want our education and training to be more highlighted on. I want it to be when people think of Celebration Arts, they think about great productions and they think about great training opportunities.”