A conversation with Harlem creatives Marija Abney and Jonathan McCrory, in partnership with Jolie.
For the opening of Ray Harlem, we partnered with New York City-based beauty brand Jolie to gift every residence a Filtered Showerhead, their signature product that removes chlorine, heavy metals, and other contaminants from shower water, proven to improve hair and skin health.
On their Instagram account, Jolie runs an ongoing series of conversations with people in their community worth knowing better called Shower Thoughts. To celebrate the launch of our collaboration with Jolie, we created a special edition of Shower Thoughts and invited a couple of friends to participate who are doing incredible creative and community work in Harlem. We worked with New York-born photographer Sophia Wilson to capture their portraits and sat down with each of them for a conversation.
Below, you'll meet Marija Abney and Jonathan McCrory. Marija is a Broadway actress, currently in Death Becomes Her, with credits including The Lion King, Black Panther, and The Avengers, and the founder of The Soapbox Presents, the Harlem-based platform behind Stoop Sessions: block-party-style gatherings with music, dance, and local vendors that now draw thousands.
Jonathan is a Tony and Emmy-nominated producer and two-time Obie Award–winning artist who has served as Executive Artistic Director of National Black Theatre since 2012, developing works like The Peculiar Patriot and Kill Move Paradise, expanding NBT internationally through the National Black Theatre of Sweden, and has been named one of Crain's New York's Notable LGBTQ Leaders.
Where is home to you?
Marija Abney: Columbia, South Carolina, but now NYC. I’ve been here for 22 years, and Harlem was the first place I ever lived here, and actually the first place I ever visited in the city. When I was 5, I won a scholarship to the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s summer program, and my mom and I came out together.
Jonathan McCrory: Whenever I think about where home is, I use a quote from Sade Lythcott, the CEO of NBT: home is where your exhale feels the best. What I’ve learned in my time living is that anywhere can be home as long as the embodiment of my release—the embodiment of my wholeness and who I am completely—is activated.
That is why I landed in Harlem; I found my exhale here. Whether it’s my ground-floor apartment in Central Harlem or National Black Theatre, these are destinations where home is activated and brought to life. Because home is where my exhale feels the best, I get to carry that with me no matter where I go. It allows me to plant roots that illuminate my wholeness and keep me anchored, while also helping me stay nomadic, nimble, and present. For sure, I have a place for my physical valuables, but the most valuable asset I have is this physical body that walks, talks, builds, and molds. That is where home is.
When was the last time you felt inspired?
MA: One of my favorite parts of the theatre, and people usually assume it’s being on stage but it’s not, is actually the orchestra pit. I have this one crossing where I go downstairs to the basement of the theatre, where the orchestra pit is. I get maybe five seconds to peek in and listen to the strings play, and then I go up and get ready to go on stage. It’s one of my favorite moments, stepping outside of what I’m doing and getting a glimpse into somebody else’s artistic life.
JM: The last time I felt truly inspired was when I went to see Kerry James Marshall's work in London. His last exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art was a true inspirational cultural feat. Seeing this magnitude of Black artistry, Black culture, history, and community converge through this master's paintbrush. His gesture, his imagination, his storytelling. I was inspired to see people view it. I was inspired to be a viewer. And I was inspired to see my history, my people, my culture exuded at such a high level, with such a wide and beautiful breadth and depth of texture and language. That is what I really enjoyed and what I'm still excited about.
Tell us about a creative risk you took that paid off.
MA: Shaving my head. In 2010, when I was in The Lion King in Las Vegas, I noticed the South African women in the cast, who are contractually part of every production, would have weaves down their backs one day and be completely shaved the next. No contemplation, no conversation. They just didn’t carry the same attachment to their hair that many Black American women do. I realized I wanted that kind of relationship with my own hair, so I cut it off.
When I came back to New York and started auditioning, I wore wigs because I thought, how is anyone going to cast me bald? But I hated them. Once I finally started auditioning as myself, bald, two things happened. First, I felt like myself. And second, I started getting more of a response. I don’t blend in very well, and that’s okay. When I walk into a room and the role is mine, you know it on sight. Being bald was just being myself. Imagine that.
JM: The creative risk that paid off was working at National Black Theatre. I was 24, 25 at the time, really navigating that space of where do I go? Do I go to grad school? I had the opportunity to open a Broadway show, or I could center myself here and become this executive leader of a very important cultural institution and work with Sade to reimagine it. The risk wasn't necessarily whether NBT would be a place I could develop in. The real question was whether I was capable of actually meeting the responsibility of stewarding this organization. Could my young self mature and handle the weight of it? Could I make sure that Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's founding vision sees itself in the future, and that what Sade had imagined for her mother's organization could emerge through my support, through the ways I operate, through the ways I'm connected to community. I listened to myself, I said yes to my curiosity, and I leaned in with all that I had. I framed it as my MFA. Three to four years dedicated to imagining how I could show up as this leader.
What is a piece of creative work you’re currently loving or always return to?
MA: This might be a surprising answer, but I really enjoy Pixar. Sometimes life can be heavy and wearing, and we need a bit of an escape. Pixar does it in a way that’s grounded. They make beautiful films rooted in very real human emotions that make the emotional journey of life worthwhile. My favorites are Up, The Incredibles, and WALL-E, along with Pixar shorts like Jack Jack Attack, I Lava You, and Dumpling.
JM: The creative work I'm currently loving is our upcoming musical, Imitation of Life. We are knee deep in building something brand new, and I've never been able to do a musical at NBT. To do it at this scale, with this caliber of artists, with this kind of intellectual property and this team, is pretty remarkable. It's inspiring, it's thrilling, and it's deeply rewarding to be able to create this kind of expansive, loving, thoughtful space. Every day we get the opportunity to address the questions and the inquiry of it, I'm deeply inspired by where it's taking my own imagination, stretching my own thought patterns, and inviting me to see what's truly necessary to take creative ideation to the next level.
Name one creative you think people should be paying attention to.
MA: Luke James. He’s done a lot of TV work and film work, and he’s also an incredible vocalist. Truly incredible.
JM: Britton Smith, and his band Britton and the Sting. His work looks at the queering of our social and cultural consciousness, and really leans into the question of how do we humanly survive and thrive in this very toxic and complex society that we find ourselves in. A lot of people are already paying attention, but if you don't know him, please check his music out and check what he's doing..
Tell us about your go-to place in Harlem for finding inspiration.
MA: My block. I really love my block and sitting on my stoop. This is the first place I’ve lived where I’ve really rooted myself in a community. You can live somewhere without feeling connected to the people or the culture around you, but here I know everyone. There’s something special about saying good morning to my neighbors, about the aunties and uncles asking how my day was. It feels like belonging.
In the summer, I’ll sit on my stoop with a scoop from Sugar Hill Creamery and just watch life in the neighborhood. That always gives me inspiration.
JM: One of my go-to places to find inspiration in Harlem is the community gardens. They are sites that convene people who care about the planet, who care about gathering, and who care about beauty. Natural beauty. They're manicured to a degree, but always in conversation with nature. In the spring and summertime, each garden takes on its own personality and expresses itself in a different way. They break up the concrete jungle of Harlem and create these small oases that infuse oxygen, infuse Mother Earth, and remind us of the beauty that can come from the earth. That can feed and support community.
What’s one thing about Harlem you wish more people knew?
MA: Harlem’s reputation is tied to legacy, the Harlem Renaissance, Black ownership of brownstones, and that history is incredible. But Harlem is also innovation, and its story didn’t stop when the Renaissance ended. It’s the younger folks, the newcomers, a whole new generation continuing that legacy in their own way, and I wish more people knew that. I wish Harlem’s brand was inclusive of the innovators and change makers who are coming up today.
JM: Most people wouldn’t know that I’m an avid—maybe even semi-obsessed—LEGO builder. I’ve built almost every adult set imaginable because it’s a vital way for me to decompress. It allows me to use a different part of my brain to solve problems while staying creative, tactile, and expressive.
There is something powerful about maintaining a childlike spirit as an adult, staying imaginative while following a clear roadmap. Other building sets don’t compare to the mindfulness of a LEGO build. It requires mature skill but never loses that element of deep fun. I have a huge collection now, and it’s definitely the thing people least expect from me.
What are your go-to recommendations for visitors to Harlem?
MA: For food: Archer and Goat, The Good Good, and The Edge.
For shopping: Trintage and NiLu.
If it’s summer: definitely check out a Stoop Session and get ice cream from Sugar Hill Creamery.
JM: My go-to recs in Harlem are the "culturals". You should check out National Black Theatre, Studio Museum in Harlem, the Apollo, and the Schomburg. Then there’s Jazzmobile, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Harlem School of the Arts, and The Shrine. These are the cultural anchors that really help to be the ambassadors of this neighborhood. These spaces really show up and show out to let us see the art, the art-making, and the intellectual prowess that runs in the blood of this community.
For shops, definitely go to NiLu. If you want some food, head to Melba’s or check out The Good Good in East Harlem. But I also think you just need to walk the streets of Harlem and check out all the community gardens. Harlem has this very beautiful collection of gardens that help you witness to what it means to be a resident here.
What’s your perfect NYC day?
MA: I love meandering in the city. I love summer days where you make breakfast at home, go outside, get a coffee, and just walk the streets. The city is like none other. You find the most magical moments when you're just out in the street. Walk the bridge, make your way from Harlem to Brooklyn. Just spend the day in the city.
JM: My perfect New York City day is when it’s 75 degrees, the sun is out, and the humidity is just not present. With a light wind and a completely clear agenda, it’s a day made for walking. I especially love the city on a Sunday when the flea markets and vintage shops spill out onto the streets. I can just meander through different neighborhoods, simply engaging with it all. That is my perfect day.
Tell us about your go-to sing-in-the-shower song.
MA: Usually I’m practicing whatever I have to work on for my vocal lesson. Right now I’m trying to find a song that’s upbeat and shows my vocal range. The last thing I sang in the shower was Jill Scott’s “Hate on Me.”
JM: It has to be 'Remember the Music' by Jennifer Hudson from her time on Empire. On one level, I love it because it’s a song that really lets me belt and find that vocal release. But on a deeper level, if you let the lyrics actually wash over you, the song transforms. It feels like a 'grace note'—as if a higher power, or perhaps my ancestors, are using those words to speak directly to me. When you hear it through that lens, it becomes something incredibly lovely and illuminating.
What’s in your toiletry bag or medicine cabinet?
MA: Aquaphor. I will be late to something because I need my Aquaphor. Sunscreen. Mascara. Degree for Men Sports deodorant in Cool Rush.
JM: One thing from my toiletry bag that I absolutely cannot leave home without is my exfoliators. I’m committed to keeping my skin as fresh and clean as possible, so I always keep them on hand to ensure my pores stay refreshed and vibrant.
What do you value most about yourself?
MA: It’s a complicated question, because the thing I value most about myself is also the thing I struggle with most. I’m relentless. And I think that comes from my career, being an artist in New York, auditioning as many times as I have, hearing no as many times as you do. So what? You hear no. Go hear your no so you can get to your yes.
That same relentlessness shows up in Soapbox and in my community work, because it’s hard. You run into barriers you don’t expect. You assume that doing community work means everyone will want to support you and make it easier, and that’s just not the case. But no doesn’t mean much to me. We’re going to sit down and figure it out together.
The thing I love most about myself is also the thing I have to check sometimes, because carrying everything on your back can wear on you. But just keep going.
JM: What I value most about myself is my curiosity. My curiosity invites me to question the world and creates a drive in me to solve the things I encounter. I believe that staying curious is what keeps me alive. It allows me to remain fully present, teaching me to appreciate the life right in front of me for exactly what it is, rather than focusing on what might be missing.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
MA: See fear and move with it anyway.
JM: Some of the best advice I ever received was from my teacher, Tracy Jenkins, at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. She told me, "You’re the inside of a turtle—the soft squishiness."
She explained that my job was to generate my own shell—creating mechanisms of protection and resilience to survive. The real challenge is building that outer strength while staying as soft as possible on the inside, allowing my authentic self to remain present. That duality—protecting yourself without losing your softness—has shaped exactly how I navigate the world
What advice would you give to a young creative?
MA: Most times, it’s not the most talented that makes it in this industry. It’s the one who lasts the longest. It’s the one who’s willing to hear ‘no’ the most and still show up to the next audition.
JM: Right now, with everything that’s happening, be present to the ways in which your actions shift culture, shift community, and shift everyday life. You have to realize that in this moment, you are an institution on your own. You have the ability to change the trajectory of what the art form can be, and we need you—I need you—as the future leader and curator of our time.
That responsibility shouldn't feel like a burden; it should be an activation to say, "Let’s go." It's an activation to ask the real questions that make sure the work you’re doing is articulating the fullness of humanity from how you see it. I want you to dig in, tease in, and chew down on the complexities of what it means to live in a society built off capitalism while doing the spiritual work of art-making. You have to understand that this road is only crystal clear for those who are willing to take a tarnished diamond and polish it to help it shine.
What’s been on your mind lately?
MA: The launch of our new series, Melanated Notes. Anytime you start something new, there’s so much to figure out and you have to shift your mindset. You have to be willing to fail, willing to try new things, and open to the process. It honestly takes me back to the early days of Stoop Sessions, when I was still figuring out what it would become. Now it feels like I know what it is, and I just have to execute.
Melanated Notes is a celebration of sound and spirit. It’s a live music series focused on original work, mostly rooted in jazz and jazz fusion, and we’ll be working with Black and Brown sommeliers and spirit companies to pair drinks with the artists we’re featuring. With Stoop Sessions, we work with so many incredible musicians who are often performing covers, but many of them are also writing their own beautiful music. This feels like our chance to give that work a real stage. I’m really excited for our very first event on February 22nd, featuring Tyreek McDole, a jazz musician who lives right here in Harlem. We’re hosting it at the Malt House on 127th.
JM: Lately, I’ve been reflecting on what it means to witness your own "wings." I’ve been in a cocoon phase, navigating a chrysalis where I’ve been molding different elements of myself to become a butterfly. As I break out of that husk, I can finally see that I have wings. Now, I want to understand their pattern, color, and span—not from a place of ego, but to witness the beauty of how I’ve been transformed.
This reflection ties to my next chapter. After 15 years at National Black Theatre, I’m thinking about what lies on the other side of this journey. While I’m not leaving soon, I realize leadership is truly about the "baton pass." My quest is to create opportunities for the next generation, ensuring this entity thrives long after I’m gone. Ultimately, it’s about a legacy of generational wealth—measured by our innovation, our intellectual space, and our collective access.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
JM: Just have fun. Let’s talk about bringing joy and leading with joy. Let’s talk about creating spaces for laughter, mindfulness, care, and breath. Let us lean into that as we think about what the future can hold, because from that space, a new future can be imagined. Our reality right now is not the future; it is simply the current moment. The future is a set of unwritten pages waiting for us to breathe life into them. We can take our reality and pivot it toward that future if we refuse to get bogged down by the mechanisms that surround us, and instead lean into the mechanisms that give birth to who we are becoming.
Where can people find you?
MA: @marija_abney, @thesoapboxpresents
JM: @jay_mc86, www.nationalblacktheatre.org, www.jonathanmccrory.com