ENTERTAINMENT

Kenny Brawner portrays Ray Charles in Hackettstown

BILL NUTT
CORRESPONDENT

Kenny Brawner dons dark glasses when he plays the title role in “Ray Charles on My Mind.”

But the singer and pianist respectfully asks that people not call his performance an “impersonation.”

“When I hear the word ‘impersonator,’ I think of those guys in the one-piece suits who do Elvis,” says Brawner. “I look at what I do as a combination theater piece and concert. I’m an actor, and I’m playing Ray Charles on stage.”

In fact, Brawner confesses that he felt a twinge of jealousy when Jamie Foxx won the Academy Award for his performance as Charles in the movie “Ray” in 2004. “I was hoping to do that,” Brawner says in mock dismay.

Brawner will bring “Ray Charles on My Mind” to Centenary Stage Co. this Saturday, July 11.

The production kicks off the theater’s annual Summer Jamfest. Upcoming shows include tributes to Michael Jackson (on July 25) and the music of Crosby Stills & Nash (August 8), as well as a salute to Nashville in the 1950s and 1960s (August 1).

For Brawner, his performance is the fulfillment of a lifelong love affair. “The first time I heard Ray Charles, I was enamored of him,” he says. “For want of a better word, he was my idol. I even had the nickname ‘Ray,’ because I played the piano.”

A native of Georgia, Brawner recognized in Charles an artist who understood a variety of styles, particularly the music of the South. “I grew up on the blues, I grew up on gospel,” he says. “I heard all that in Ray’s music.”

But Brawner stresses that Charles was even more all-encompassing. At various points in his career, Charles played jazz, soul, R&B, rock, and even country. “Ray crossed all genres of music,” he says.

Charles also had the ability to take another artist’s song and make it his own, Brawner adds. He feels that Charles covered songs by the Beatles (“Eleanor Rigby,” “Yesterday”) with as much conviction as the original versions.

“Ray was an innovator,” Brawner continues. “A lot of today’s music has elements of Ray. You know how a lot of singers will ad lib as a song fades out? Ray was one of the first to do that, and I think it came out of his background in gospel.”

Brawner has been performing as a singer and pianist for several years, and his act would usually include some of Charles’ music. The idea of a one-man show devoted exclusively to Charles came about just two years ago.

To prepare for the part, Brawner conducted research to understand Charles. “I read books and looked at interviews,” he said. “In my show, I do monologues. I talk about the segregation he faced. I talk about his drug use.”

The music itself also proved to be a challenge, according to Brawner. “Some of his songs sound very simple, but they actually have complex chord structures,” he says. “The arrangements are tricky.”

In addition, Brawner found that he had to tap his own feelings. “A song like ‘Drown in My Own Tears’ has so much emotion in it,” he says. “In another song we do, ‘I’m a Fool for You,’ I really have to cry out.”

The other challenge was winnowing down the number of songs. “There are so many songs that make me say, ‘Oh, I love that. We have to do that one.’ But if we did every one of those, we’d play for four hours.”

“We concentrate on the 1950s through the 1960s and 1970s,” Brawner says. “We do some of his early compositions and a couple of the country songs.”

Brawner hopes that the audience for “Ray Charles on My Mind” will come away with renewed appreciation for an American original. “There was no one else like Ray,” he says. “He was a musical ambassador.”

RAY CHARLES ON MY MIND

WHAT: Backed by a 12-piece ensemble and three female backing vocalists, Kenny Brawner portrays the legendary Ray Charles. The theatrical production combines storytelling with a performance of some of Charles’ most significant songs from the 1950s through the 1970s.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, July 11

WHERE: David and Carol Lackland Center, Centenary College, 715 Grand Ave., Hackettstown

TICKETS: $30 for adults, $20 for ages under 18 (advance); $35 for adults, $25 for ages under 18 (day of show)

INFORMATION: 908-979-0900 or www.centenarystageco.org.