It would be correct to say that Richard Younge has the Midas touch. Richard’s hands have been all around the Caribbean transforming ordinary creative projects into masterpieces and they have been the most sought after in the region within the last two decades.
His famous hands are in Guyana gearing up for Mashra-mani and working on what is said to be the boldest statement yet to be made at the local street parade.
Richard is behind the concept in the newly formed Concept Entertainment group and the daring mind driving the most talked about Mash camp in many years.
He is creative genius, image consultant and hands-on guy in the Mash camp in addition to his portfolio of Production Designer. If he is not there for one day things can and have gone wrong but he sees it more as a case of constantly being around to lend support to an incredible team of experts in the field. Modest but not exactly true.
Some of the most talked about productions whether it was Carifesta in Trinidad and Tobago or a beauty pageant in St Lucia or a Crop Over band in Barbados, all have Richard’s imprints on them. He has worked twice with the T&T Carifesta committee and has done a string of highly rated projects in his native T&T, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados and Dominica. Guyana is soon to be added to the list. And being in the business as long as he has – 25 years – has cemented his status as one of the region’s most creative minds.
Richard, who is pretty laid back and extremely modest about his work, told The Scene in an interview on Thursday that he sets up home wherever work takes him and is currently living in Guyana to execute two projects — Concept Mash Band and Guyana Model Search. He practically lives on location at the base at Camp and Middle streets and blends right in. If it were not for the accent it would be hard to tell his nationality.
But Richard does not even see himself as a Trinidadian.
“I am Caribbean and that is how I see everyone else. There are no Trinis and Guyanese and Bajans to me. We are one and that is what I have believed in all my life. Guyana is home now and I have to say that my current home is beautiful beyond words,” he said.
A trip to Bartica and an adventure down the Essequibo River coupled with a few sunsets in the city have Richard still gushing about the country. He said Guyana’s beauty was the first thing that struck him when he came here and that was also what inspired him to come up with the idea of celebrating nature in the Mash band. Richard said he could not have envisioned a more fitting tribute to Guyana than to celebrate her natural beauty at her largest spectacle.
He quickly points out that the dynamic designing duo of Guyana’s Sonia Noel and Barbados’s Betty West were the genius behind the fabrics and the costumes. He said the two women who have stamped their authority in the region have been nothing short of superb for Concept’s coming out Mash camp.
Asked to explain what is it he does as Production Designer, Richard bursts into a smile before stating that he represents the image of the Mash camp. He styles the models for every public engagement; he creates the festive mood in the camp and keeps its image intact. He also choreographed the dramatic presentation that accompanies the band on February 23 and is tasked with ensuring nothing falls apart on that day. That is, nothing image wise.
Richard said projecting the right image is important if they hope to woo sponsors and Guyana hopes to attract foreigners to the celebration. He revealed that the Concept team has managed to rake in a few big names that will be endorsing the Mash camp within the next week. The famous names are Guyanese-born acclaim-ed actress, CCH Pounder; Vanessa A. Williams of Soul Food the television series, and Jamaican Basil Williams who had a role in the hit Steven Segal movie, Marked for Death.
Richard started out as a dancer under the supervision of his aunt, Jean Coggins Simmons who is a famed T&T dancer before beginning a modelling career. He later branched into producing fashion shows before he was asked to do a fashion production for UWI in T&T where he was a student. After the success of the production, Richard said, he went on to work on every major creative production on the island before moving on to other countries. He also had a brief foray into North America.
Things got so good for him that high level government officials would call on him to put together their wardrobes; singers asked him to produce their shows; he worked with beauty queens such as Wendy Fitzwilliam and he was recently asked to work on the Miss Canada World pageant.
“I could be in Canada after Mash but I am not sure. People see my work and they call and ask me to do various things and that is what keeps me going. I love what I do and when people are pleased it just reinforces why I am in the business,” Richard said.
(ianaseales@yahoo.com)
