The Bandeles: Charmed by Central Gardens

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Ekundayo “Ek” and Nicole Bandele met at a basketball game at Tennessee State University.

“Her roommate tried to say I looked like trouble,” recalled Ek. “Despite the first impression, we got married in Memphis at the courthouse on February 4, 1994. Our best memory is when I surprised her on our 15th wedding anniversary with a wedding, a renewal of our vows, so her father could walk her down the aisle and give her away.”

Since 2015, the couple has made Central Gardens their home. Their family has grown with daughters Hatshepsut Bandele, 29, and Oluremi Bandele, 28, as well as canine companions, Bigger, a 5-year old English Bull Dog and Thutmose, a 1-year old English Lab Retriever.

“We moved to Central Gardens primarily because we love the old historic houses,” explained Nicole.

“Ek has always wanted to live in a Tudor style home. Also, our daughter Oluremi is differentlyabled so we always needed a bedroom on the ground floor, but you almost never find that in a historic home. In our house, we actually have three bedrooms on the ground level with one upstairs, so it really fits the needs of our family.”

“I love walking around the neighborhood,” added Ek. “Every house is different in Central Gardens.

So, when I’m walking the boys (our dogs), I always notice something different among the homes. We have a corner lot close to Union, which is a busy street, but because of how our house is situated, we have our own little oasis and I love that. Also, we had the oldest tree in Central Gardens on our property, and on a very balmy day in April 2016, that tree just straight-up, fell over dead. The news did helicopter coverage because it was such a large tree, the way it covered all the streets and brushed the houses across the street. Nicole and I were in our sitting room and we thought Jesus was coming back because all of a sudden the sun just came through. It was the tree falling over. I was like ‘Lord, I ain’t confessed yet, give me a minute!’ ”

Now the founder and executive director of Hattiloo Theatre, Ek was an entrepreneur with other businesses to his credit.

“Prior to opening Hattiloo Theatre, I had a mobile detailing business called Bandele’s Wash Works Mobile Detailing and I ran it from 1996 until 2009,” said Ek. “I also owned a clothing store called Threads and on the weekends I would convert it into a theater called Curtain Theatre where we had local performers, spokenword showcases, and pop-up acts for the community. I opened Hattiloo Theatre in 2006.”

Ek continued, “I don’t think people really know how distinct Hattiloo Theatre is above our seasons of plays that also help us achieve our mission to develop a Black theater that is accessible to, relevant to, and reflective of a multicultural community. Hattiloo has a Self-Identity Theatre Camp that helps Black children develop cultural coping skills, the Hattiloo Black Theatre Managers Fellowship program, an international partnership with an Italian theatre, an accredited course at Memphis’ only HBCU, LeMoyne-Owen College, and the only collection of original paintings of Black thespians in the world.”

Adding to his busy schedule, Ek is currently a senior at Morehouse College majoring in Theatre and Performance, so he splits his time between Memphis and Atlanta. Other current commitments include serving on the boards of Memphis Brand and the African American Museum of Performing Arts in Chicago.

“Also, I enjoy reading historical fiction and magical realism – Gabriel García Márquez is one of my favorite writers along with Toni Morrison and William Faulkner,” said Ek. “My favorite playwrights are August Wilson, as well as Arthur Miller and Dominique Morisseau out of Detroit. And, I have a bucket list hobby, which is learning to play the upright bass, but because I’m a morning person and not a night person, when I do finally learn and join a jazz band, I’ll only play brunches – no night time shows. I also like watching reality competition shows like Survivor and I love the Philadelphia Eagles.”

Nicole stays busy with her family and is a second grade schoolteacher at Downtown Elementary.

“Our daughter Oluremi got her certificate from Memphis Theological Seminary, so she is very well-versed in Christianity and The Bible,” said Nicole. “Hatshepsut enjoys fashion and is big on styling people for videos and fashion shows. She also makes hand-crafted essential oils.”

In talking about their family, Ek shared, “One of the things we all look forward to is Christmas — it has traditionally been the only time Nicole cooks. She makes monkey bread on Christmas morning. We wait all yearlong for that. However, now that I’m living in Atlanta part-time she has to cook more.”