Move over Tyler Perry!

There's a new man in town -- with a knack for channeling multiple personalities on stage, while also serving as the playwright and director of his traveling stage productions.

And his plays -- featuring nostalgic celebrity notables from the worlds of TV and black music -- are thrilling sold out audiences across the nation.

His name is JD Lawrence and he is one to watch.

Reluctant to succumb to the societal ills usually associated with his childhood neighborhood (East New York, Brooklyn), this ambitious entrepreneur has managed to launch a thriving business enterprise, which includes two upcoming sitcoms (set to debut in 2010), critically-acclaimed theater productions, and a forthcoming motion picture inspired by his highest grossing play 'The Clean Up Woman' (tentatively set to hit theaters in Fall 2010).

In speaking with BV Newswire, the 36-year-old married father of two discussed his thoughts on critics comparing his work to the likes of Tyler Perry, God's work, entertainment in this economic landscape and how he made the best of his speech impediment. Get to know JD Lawrence: What do you think it is about your scripts that attracts celebrity notables such as Christopher Williams, Telma Hopkins, Fred Hammond and Jackée Harry?

JD: Jackée Harry said it best. She said 'there's a beginning, a middle, an end, and there's a closure.' And I think a lot of times when these people come to the shows that they never really get closure or it's not really well written. I think we have a balance of everything all across the board. It's funny, it's not a show where there's male bashing. We're not beating up men in the show. Because being a man myself, I want to write a show that's going to uplift us as men. That's very important for the man to take his rightful stand. And I like to be very detailed about that, because you got a lot of young brothers out there that are looking for role models and I want them to be able to come see the show.

With all of your various projects currently in motion, what are your thoughts on some people comparing you to Tyler Perry?

JD: Someone asked me if I felt like Tyler has opened up doors and I said, 'No.' And they kind of looked at me like I was nuts. Like, 'what do you mean, no?' And I said, 'I would never give man that much power to say that a man opened up doors for me.' Any doors that have been opened for me have been opened by God. Not to say that they're not people out here helping people. I'm not discrediting anything that he has done. But I'm saying, when he talks he says that God has opened up the door for him. So why is it that God can open up a door for him, but I need him to open up the door for me? Right now me and him are the only ones with national shows on the road in this genre. So we're like going neck and neck. I never got an opportunity to meet him or anything like that. Actually, I never even went to one of his shows.

Do you ever get asked if you would play a woman in any of your productions?

JD: People always ask me how come I don't do a lady character. And I tell them, because all I know how to be is a man my whole life. And that's not to take away from what anyone else is doing. Because Jamie [Foxx] has done it before, Eddie [Murphy], Robin Williams has done it before. So I'm not saying that I can't do it, but I don't want to put that out there. And plus this genre that I'm in, Tyler has done a guerilla job at it. So to come in and do it after him would be like, 'yeah...' And it's funny because when people come to the show they ask, 'is this going to be another Tyler Perry show?' I'm like, 'Yo, just come and see it. It's totally different.' Because I write all of my own music, I also sing in the show as well. So when people do come and see it they're like, 'What! This guy's a beast, for real!' Then at the end when I'm talking they realize that I have a speech impediment then they'll really bug out. Like, 'How can he do that and he has a speech impediment?'"

Has your speech impediment affected your career in any way?

JD: It's always been hard for me to do live talk shows and interviews -- and I had a gang of them coming at me. And I would always turn them down because I kind of look backwards when I'm talking and my mouth would be all twisted up. When I was growing up when I would try out for shows people would never want to cast me in the show because they would feel, 'Well, if he can't even say his name how is he going to get on stage and perform?' But it's funny how God took the very thing that was supposed to be my stumbling block and he made it my stepping stool. Every city that I perform in I visit a school and I talk to children about that. Because you have a lot of kids that are overweight, a lot of kids who don't feel confident within themselves, and a lot of kids who have speech problems. I go in there and I speak to them and I say, 'Listen, I was that kid in the back seat who couldn't talk and was chubby and the whole nine. And now I have half of Hollywood working for me. And I turned it into a million-dollar business.'

Which leads me to my next question, how do you feel that 'The Clean Up Woman' is still selling out venues across the nation despite the current state of the economy?

JD: "You know it's really weird. What we have right now being the #1show out. I think a lot of it comes from great quality work. I think when people come in they realize it's not one of those typical shows where we're promoting violence. There's no guns in the show, there's no foul language. And not to take away from anything else that anyone's doing, but I don't think you have to do all that to have a good time. No one's ripping off their shirts. It's just wholesome fun. And I think with the economy being the way that it is, people are looking to just fully release. They're looking to go out and have fun. Because when you live in a bad neighborhood where you're ducking from guns all the time you don't want to come to a show and see the same thing. So I'm just trying to create an environment where people can come and forget about their problems for two-and-a-half hours. And it's a nonstop party. I also incorporated in the show a 15-minute party. I have DJ where he's doing old-time tunes and stuff like that. Back in the day tunes with Al Green and all that kind of stuff. People are up and dancing in the aisles, and all the venue owners are saying they never seen that ever.

Where do you see your brand in five years from now?

JD: I'm definitely not going to leave the theater. I want to do more mainstream Broadway stuff that way I won't have to travel as much. But I definitely want to stay within the theater world. And I would like to eventually have my own TV and movie network. We don't have a very strong African-American network out there that's promoting us in a positive way.

JD Lawrence's 'The Clean Up Woman' Upcoming Tour Dates

Feb. 5 - Spartanburg, SC
Feb. 6 - Birmingham, AL
Feb. 7- Huntsville, AL
Feb. 11- Lawton, OK
Feb. 12 - Tulsa, OK
Feb. 13 - Shreveport, LA
Feb. 14 - Monroe, LA
Feb. 18 -20 - Miami, FL
Feb. 21 - Orlando, FL
Mar. 4 - Sacramento, CA
Mar. 5-6 - Sacramento, CA
Mar. 7 - Fresno, CA
Mar. 10 - Bakersfield, CA
Mar. 11- Riverside, CA
Mar. 12 - Long Beach, CA
Mar. 13 & 14th - San Diego, CA
Mar. 16-21- Los Angeles, CA