Other silver screen projects for Keyes have included “Perfect Combination,” “Dysfunctional Friends,” “We Are Family,” and “Note to Self,” which he also wrote. Released by Tri Destined Studios, the film, which also stars Lamman Rucker, Billy Dee Williams, Jackee Harry, premiered at the recent Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. He currently stars in the romantic-comedy, “The Man in 3B,” a film based on Carl Weber’s best-selling novel by the same name. Keyes has appeared in more than 15 movies, many in leading roles. His most recent single is called “Insomnia” that he describes as “Maxwell-ish” and “Miguel-ish.” To date, he has appeared in more than 40 national stage plays for several production companies, most of which also showcased his voice. In keeping with Perry’s stage production requirements that lead actors and actresses, for the most part, should be outstanding singers, Keyes filled the requirement perfectly. After seeing Keyes’ riveting performance, Perry was so impressed that he asked the actor to star in “Madea Goes to Jail.” Keyes quickly accepted and subsequently landed a lead role in another Perry hit stage production, “What’s Done in the Dark.” I took learning more about acting very seriously because I wanted to become a very good actor.”Īfter multiple tours with “Lord, All Men Can’t Be Dogs,” followed by the stage play “Not a Day Goes By,” Keyes met Tyler Perry, who is arguably the most successful writer and producer of national touring urban-inspirational stage plays. I really wanted to work on my acting techniques, because I didn’t want to be out there without a good acting foundation. “I immediately went out to get books on acting and began taking acting classes until the play went on the road. “It scared me when I first got the part,” recalled Keyes. Despite not having acting training or experience, Keyes was picked for a prominent role in the stage production and would soon take off with the national touring hit play. He soon auditioned for the national touring stage play, “Lord, All Men Can’t Be Dogs ,” which has featured such entertainers as Vivica A.
Thus, writing eventually would take a backseat…for the moment.įollowing college, Keyes didn’t get the opportunity to use his social work education professionally. Interesting, Keyes majored in social work at Ferris State because he felt that he could better help people, many of whom had similar backgrounds as his. for helping him to develop his foundational writing skills. Keyes also credits a tough college critical writing instructor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. I expressed my experiences by writing stories, songs, and poems.” “I bounced around in foster care and group homes from the age of four to eighteen. “I’ve actually been writing since I was 12 years old,” said Keyes, who was born in Detroit, Mich. While Ladies Night is Keyes’ first published novel, he is far from a writing neophyte. Keyes is appreciative of Weber, the prolific 14-time New York Best Selling author and president of Urban Books, the world’s largest Black-owned publishing house, for giving him a literary platform from which to launch Ladies Night. So according to Keyes, what started out as a script was transformed into his first book. “A lot of women felt that the film wasn’t diverse enough, so a lightbulb went off in my head that I could write a story (script) with diverse labels and layers, and have a great message to it.”
“There was a lot of reaction by women after they saw ‘Magic Mike,’” Keyes said. Keyes said he was inspired to write the intense and thrilling novel after seeing the film Magic Mike, a comedy-drama about a young man entering the world of male exotic dancing. How will Amp handle his star treatment by so many hot women, including the DJ? Can he handle mixing business with pleasure? Will he be able to hold everything together when the past transgressions that put him in prison resurface? According to Keyes, the riveting answers are embedded in the 229-page book that he said is a “must read.” While ladies pack the club to see Amp dance, more specifically to see and touch his chiseled body, the club’s pretty female DJ becomes physically attracted to the new dancer. Unable to find traditional work because of his stint in prison, Amp, determined not to go back, becomes an exotic male dancer.
The fictional novel, presented by legendary urban writer Carl Weber and published by Weber’s publishing company Urban Books, LLC, is about Amp Anthony, a felon just released from prison to a half-way house.
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