DETROIT—Imagine, yes imagine, yourself suddenly thrust into the Pop-Culture world of the Planted Kingdom; and the featured news of the day hails from the syndicated Fertilizer Files of news correspondent Mrs. Brown. Fluent in Vegetable linguistics, Mrs. Brown is on special assignment for the most prestigious Planted Kingdom news mediums and journals including, but notwithstanding, The Planted Globe, The Wallflower Journal and The New Stalk Times. If your interest has indeed been piqued, then you would be remiss if you don’t allow yourself to be privy to the creative-genius and theatrical performance of poet-artiste Semaj Brown.

Semaj will be featured in a One Woman Show, entitled Onion Revolt!, sponsored by the Detroit-based Broadside Press Poets Threatre. Curtain call is at 3 p.m., February 17, 2013, University of Detroit Mercy, Grounds Coffee House, at 4001 W. McNichols, Detroit, MI. Known in the past for her jazz-funk-fusion floetry style, the author, educator and poet–extraordinaire- a Broadside Press Progeny- returns home to Detroit after a decade.
This astonishingly-creative One Woman Show, Onion Revolt! is unparalleled as it is an off-shoot of Feasts and Fables of the Planted Kingdom, a story cookbook and CD series, published by Flint, Michigan-based Health Collectors LLC. The story cookbook, written by Semaj Brown, is a fictional-world where food and fantasy meet. It is a unique work where whimsey spills over into reality, creating a great recipe and platform to raise the awareness of event patrons and encourage them to explore the healthy benefits of eating vegetables and fruits as well as improve their overall well-being. Sounds exciting? Well, it is!
In this Fertilizer File, which takes place on Scallion Row, The Onions in The Garden have staged a revolt because they have a beef with the Culinary Eats Industry. They kidnap Mrs. Brown on location and hold her hostage, only to have their manifesto read because they’ve been stereotyped far too long as mere food- enhancers.
Semaj has clearly taken her craft to the next level, by employing personification to fruits and vegetables in a clever, theatrical and animated way. Interlaced in each fable is an important moral that surprisingly ends with two plant-based recipes, and Mrs. Brown echoing her catch phrase: “And that is what’s for dinner!” The poet, educator and entertainer said her motivation stems from her love and devotion for a community suffering from obesity, and her desire to keep herself and husband Dr. James Brown, M.D., in good health. Semaj and Dr. Brown, who is a board-certified Family Physician and motivational speaker, together create healthy living Planted Kingdom Events. Dr. Brown’s authoritative vocals are also featured in the Fertilizer Files as broadcast announcer Stalk Cutright.
Semaj offers her take on this innovative work: “Food is social, political, historical, and spiritual: it is art, it is science, it is fun,” she said. “To be fully alive, completely realized, one must eat that which is alive, and thus life sustaining. This is obtainable! Just as every butterfly identifies its flower in search of nectar, we as people must establish “dis-pa” …a discriminating-palate.”
Together Dr. Brown and Semaj co-founded Health Collectors LLC which combines science and art applications to break through the sometimes impenetrable barriers of negative lifestyles. Semaj has lost 100 pounds and is the architect of Mrs. Brown’s Butterfly Building: An Innovative Lifestyle Change Program For Women.
To book a performance in your venue, or find out more about One Woman Show, Onion Revolt!, please contact Rhonda Rudd, at 248-850-6717 or email her at mrsrhondarudd1@yahoo.com. Feasts and Fables from the Planted Kingdom: A Story Cookbook and CD are available on amazon.com. The audio version: CD and MP3 downloads and listening clips are available on cdbaby.com or cdbaby.com/cd/semajbrown. The CD is engineered by Jean Lumetta. The Planted Kingdom Players: are Dr. James Brown, M.D. as Stalk Cutright and opera singer Denise Millhollen. Sandra Hines is the director of the one woman Performance, Onion Revolt! A 45 minute adaptation from the Story Cookbook in which Semaj plays 14 different vegetable characters! Books and CDs will be available for purchase and signing at the event.