An evening of music, comedy and storytelling is set to take the stage Oct. 3 at Chicago’s City Winery as legendary vocalist Martha Wash and acclaimed lesbian comedian/actress Marsha Warfield (TV’s Night Court) unite for It’s Raining Queens: Starring Martha Wash and Marsha Warfield. https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/its-raining-queens-starring-martha-wash-marsha-w-rfxypz
(The event’s name is a play of “It’s Raining Men,” the ‘80s dance hit from the Grammy-nominated duo The Weather Girls, which included Wash and the late Izora Armstead.)
During the ’80s and ’90s, Warfield’s fame rose to incredible heights, thanks to her roles on the TV shows to films like Mask andD.C. Cab—and even hosted her own talk show. Talking with Windy City Times, Warfield (who grew up in Chicago) discussed Facebook, representation and, of course, It’s Raining Queens—while dropping pearls of wisdom along the way.
Note: This conversation was edited for clarity and length.
Windy City Times: I have to start by talking about your Facebook page—it gives me life. And I like what you’ve said about Facebook: “It’s like the 21st-century version of sitting in your window yelling at people.”
Marsha Warfield: That’s right. That’s why old people like it: “Get off my page. Go on over there on the other side of the internet.”
WCT: Except the problem—at least with some of the other platforms—is that instead of yelling at people, it’s like they’re taking out verbal guns.
MW: Well, it’s troll-driven; the more you respond, the more money they make. And people are drawn to conflict and arguments so all you have to do is insert one person going “You’re an idiot” and then everybody goes “Your mama’s an idiot.” Now we have this engagement when it doesn’t have to be like that but, like I said, a lot of it is industry-driven. They want that.
Then, they can show you ad after ad after ad after ad with things you don’t want—or it can be really scary because they are things you do want. The trade-off is that you signed away your rights to privacy when you signed onto that app.
WCT: The other day on your Facebook page, you posted, “Would y’all stop blaming whole generations for what a handful of self-appointed elites did to all of us? Thanks.”
MW: And they said no. All the boomers hate the millennials and the millennials hate Gen Z and so on. And I’m like, “Do y’all have any idea who those people are? You’re talking about your own grandparents. You’re talking about your own children.”
The people at the top want you not to get along. And so you’re talking about generation after generation of a handful of elites sitting down and saying, “You cannot be woke. You cannot talk about this.” And if you don’t stand up and salute the flag, then you’ve got to fight bots on the internet.
WCT: Sometimes I miss the ‘80s and ‘90s. It seemed like it was such a simpler time back then.
MW: Yes and no. I got you beat by a few decades. Yes, it was simpler, technology-wise; a lot of people like to look back at that and think that the world really was in black and white—but that’s not how the world was.
The pictures were in black and white. There were real, warm-blooded people and not just two-dimensional pictures of happy people with picket fences. And so we get confused and start longing for a time that never existed. We didn’t have privacy in our own homes because in the ‘50s; you had one phone, and it had a cord about that long [shows length with her hands].
Also,there were hippies and riots and marches and protests and the Vietnam War. They taught us kids how to survive a nuclear bomb by crawling under our desks and putting our heads down.
WCT: So you’re saying there was a different type of complexity.
MW: There you go! You duck and cover. It was all a real thing; they would show us movies. It was just a different kind of propaganda. People like to long for newspapers but they were biased, just like they are now.
WCT: That’s true. I guess a part of me was thinking about how family viewing used to be shows like Night Court and Family Ties. And now you have Fear the Walking Dead.
MW: Well, Night Court was not really family viewing. I mean, we had a guy who was going around banging everything that moved. In fact, we were the anchor of the must-see TV and the bridge to Hill Street Blues. The earlier shows were all family sitcoms like The Cosby Show, and [A Different World].
And Night Court was a nutty show—and it worked for us. It was fun and everything, but it wasn’t exactly clean. And then you had In Living Color, with two snaps up [from the characters Blaine and Antoine]. We tend to look back at the past like the song “The Way We Were,” like it was so simple then. No, it wasn’t. People were still people.
WCT: Let’s talk abou tIt’s Raining Queens. It features you and the wonderful Martha Wash. How did you two even connect?
MW: Martha had a podcast a few years ago called 10 Minutes with Martha Wash, and she asked me to do that podcast. And I said, “Great! I love Martha Wash.” It was very strange because I used to work in the Bay Area a lot when she was there with Sylvester—but our paths never crossed. It was the early ‘80s or late ‘70s.
I’m such a big fan, and she seemed to be a fan. We just giggled and talked the whole time. And I admire her so much because I like stand-up people, not just stand-up comedy. And Martha stood up at a time when that wasn’t popular—and she changed the industry. Plus you can’t argue with the talent. I call her the queen of “sanging,” not the queen of singing.
Then she started doing the First Ladies of Disco and asked me to host it. So all I did was come out and do five or 10 minutes and then introduce the show. Here, it’s just me and her. I get to do more than five minutes and I go and tell my dirty jokes and all that stuff. And then she comes and makes everybody feel better.
WCT: I want to ask you about coming out, because I read about the circumstances of you doing that with your mother. Looking back, do you have any regrets about maybe not coming out sooner?
MW: Well, I have regrets. You have to put things in the context of their time. But it basically boiled down to the fact that she knew and didn’t tell me she knew. Do you know how many women I didn’t get? I’m still mad about that. But my mother did not reject me and kick me out, tell me I was worthless or anything like that. She told me her fear when she asked me to not come out as long as she was alive.
At that time, that was probably the best you could hope for. People don’t realize how much and how quickly the world has changed. The term “gay” didn’t really exist when I was growing up. It wasn’t a thing, even though there were gay people in my family.
WCT: But mothers always know.
MW: Of course, because you are who you are. But they didn’t mean any harm even when they caused tremendous harm. They were told their whole lives what was right and wrong and what God said. So it’s the same the way they groomed you to how to talk to the police, and how to do this or that—they taught you to be submissive. They taught you to be accepting of oppression and pain because that would supposedly keep you safe—but it would also keep you from being a whole human being.
WCT: What does representation mean to you?
MW: Unfortunately, there were a lot of women like me who were never able to come out. And a lot of people died with their identities hidden. And if I can do anything to help people not have that burden… It’s okay; I see you. And that’s not just for gay people or for Black women; it’s for everybody. It’s okay to be you. That’s why I say things like your grandmothers are freaks. She didn’t stop being freaky just because she had you and your mama and everything. Your grandmother’s still a whole human being, so lighten up.
WCT: Is there anything you wanted to add about the show?
MW: What can I say? We’re both MWs.
It’s a really balanced show. Like I said, I’m the naughty and the confrontational one. I’m the one who might piss you off. And then Martha’s going to come and wrap her arms around you in song and make you feel better about being alive.
For more information about “It’s Raining Queens,” visit Marsha Warfield talks nostalgia, coming out and ‘It’s Raining Queens’