Melancholy With a Few Laughs

Blues in the Night – Porchlight Music Theater

Because it’s the birthplace of the Blues and the longtime home of Jazz, this musical revue is, quite naturally, set in Southside Chicago, at a rundown hotel during the Great Depression. The show is the 1980, Tony-nominated creation of TV and film director, Sheldon Epps. Although there’s no dialogue to connect the songs, the musical selections seem to kind of blend into a sketchy story set in this Windy City boardinghouse. Never given actual names, the main characters are simply called The Lady from the Road, The Woman of the World and The Girl with a Date. Together with The Man in the Saloon and with frequent appearances by The Dancing Man (a character created especially for this production), the fragmented plot centers on the women’s relationships with the same repugnant Romeo.

The original production, which spawned several additional performances in New York, San Francisco and London, featured no less than 25 songs. These Jazz and Blues hits were culled from many composers, but chiefly from the work of Bessie Smith. Some additional music is blended into the revue by such greats as Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Ted Koehler, Billy Strayhorn, Leola & Wesley Wilson, George W. Thomas, Willard Robison, Alberta Hunter, Ida Cox, H. Grey and Ann Ronell. Porchlight Music Theatre’s production is a bit more modest, choosing most of the songs from the original score, eliminating some and adding in a few additional tunes.

This new production is skillfully directed and brilliantly choreographed by the world famous, Kenny Ingram. He’s assisted by Ariel M. Dorsey, and joined by Porchlight Musical Director, David Fiorello. Associate Musical Director, Maulty Jewell IV, also conducts the talented onstage jazz combo, while playing the piano himself. The magnificent scenic design for this show is by one of Chicago’s finest and most prolific theatre artists, Angela Weber Miller. It’s finely lit by Brandon Wardell. And, once again, that gifted Renaissance Man of Chicago’s theatre scene, Rueben D. Echoles, has beautifully costumed and wigged this production with perfect period style.

The extraordinarily gifted cast transports the audience back to the years of extreme economic desperation that were felt so strongly by everyone, particularly the women. Without two pennies to rub together, the three ladies in this soulful revue grieve their impoverished state, while mourning the loves they’ve known and lost. One of Chicago’s greatest musical and theatrical treasures, the incomparable, Tony-nominated Felicia P. Fields stars as The Lady From the Road. In this musicale she plays a former Vaudeville star who’s trying to recapture some of her lost memories. She’s matched, note for note, by the brilliant Donica Lynn, as The Woman of the World, a lady who is seeking to relive the special time she shared with her husband at this hotel. He’s long gone, but the Woman’s memories remain bittersweet and strong. The third member of this trio is lovely Clare Kennedy, a newcomer to the Chicago Theatre scene and a recent graduate of Northwestern University. She displays dazzling vocal versatility, as The Woman with a Date. And while Ms Kennedy makes a strong impression with her impeccable vocal technique, sometimes she doesn’t seem quite as connected to her songs’ subtext as her costars. More experience will surely become her best friend.

One of the strongest and best-loved leading men in Chicago musical theatre is the astounding Evan Tyrone Martin. He’s been seen all over the Chicago area, creating some truly memorable roles at Paramount Theatre, Mercury Theater and Music Theater Works, to name a few. Here he’s The Man in the Saloon, the singer with the hotel band, who’s experiencing some dire domestic difficulties of his own. And completing this cast, the handsome and superbly talented Terrell Armstrong portrays The Dancing Man. A familiar face at Paramount Theatre, Drury Lane and here at Porchlight, Mr. Armstrong is one of the finest dancers to grace a Chicago stage. He’s so unbelievably limber and agile, you’d swear he’s made of rubber. As he magically weaves his way around the stage, Terrell becomes the romantic object of all three women’s affections, both good and bad.

The musical highlights from this show are songs primarily made famous by the wonderful Bessie Smith. They include “Blue Blues,” “Baby Doll,” “Dirty No-Gooder Blues,” “It Makes My Love Come Down,” “Reckless Blues” and “Wasted Life Blues.” Other standout melodies consist of “Four Walls (And One Dirty Window),” “New Orleans Hop-Scop Blues,” “Stompin’ At the Savoy,” “Willow Weep For Me” and, of course, the titular and familiar “Blues in the Night,” written by Arlen and Mercer.

Porchlight Music Theatre is once again doing what it does best: providing an enthralling afternoon or evening of music, directed and choreographed impeccably, and performed by an accomplished cast of triple threats. This revue, although it provides some thoughtful, melancholy moments, as well as a few laughs, has a storyline that’s shapeless, a bit confusing and, at times, uncertain. It does allow the audience to tap into their own experiences and use their individual imaginations to formulate a plot, but the story’s not always crystal clear. However, it’s the songs and the singers who absolutely sparkle in this production, and every one of them bring a polished glow to the Blues that are sung in the night.          

Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented February 9-March 13 by Porchlight Music Theatre at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N Dearborn St., Chicago.

Tickets are available at the theatre box office, by calling 773-777-9884 or by going to www.PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.