By Manning Harris
fmanningh@gmail.com
The Alliance Theatre is currently performing Pearl Cleage’s comedy/drama “Blues for an Alabama Sky,” running through May 10.
This is the 20th anniversary production of “Blues,” which premiered on what is now the Alliance’s Hertz Stage in 1995. It’s now on the Mainstage, and it’s a first class show in every way: acting, directing (by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth), scenic design (Riccardo Hernandez), costumes (Lex Liang), and of course Ms. Cleage’s superb script.
I would say that this is a show that makes you understand why that Tony Award (for outstanding regional theatre) is proudly perched in the lobby. “Blues for an Alabama Sky” has become a staple of the American theatre and is produced in top theatres across the nation.
The Harlem Renaissance has been called “the most significant event in African-American intellectual and cultural life in the 20th Century.” Although historians usually say it began after World War I and lasted through the Great Depression, it reached its zenith during the Roaring 20’s. “Blues” is set in Harlem in 1930, at a time when “the creative euphoria of the Harlem Renaissance has given way to the harsher realities” of the depression, as the program states.
The play throbs with hopes and dreams and delusions and the vibrant, sensuous street life of Harlem, New York City.
Angel (Crystal Fox) is an attractive out-of-work blues singer whose witty, seductive moxie keeps her afloat in tough times. She has a guardian angel and friend named Guy (Tyrone Mitchell Henderson), a costume designer who dreams of designing dresses for the legendary Josephine Baker, who by this time was the toast of Paris, headlining at the Folies Bergère.
In the meantime, the flamboyant Guy designs for Angel and next door neighbor Delia (Tinashe Kajese-Bolden), an activist and social worker who is organizing a family planning clinic.
They have a friend named Sam (Keith Randolph Smith), a doctor who pulls long shifts at Harlem Hospital delivering babies. Finally, there is a recent Southern transplant to the city named Leland (Neal A. Ghant), a quite conservative widower who falls under the charms of Angel, who is not conservative.
Suddenly we realize that playwright Cleage is dealing, effortlessly, with issues that are decidedly modern: widespread unemployment and culture wars over gay rights and abortion. The times were a changin’ long before Bob Dylan sang about them in the 60’s.
This play, as we have said, is alive with hopes and with dreams deferred, dashed—and realized. There is life, death, self-betrayal, and triumph. There is romance, hilarity, hooch, and desperation.
The cast delivers: Ms. Fox’s Angel is simmering, seductive, and also heartbreaking. Mr. Henderson’s Guy is brilliantly funny, strong, and a life force who doesn’t know the meaning of defeat. These two actors anchor the show.
Ms. Kajese-Bolden, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Ghant all give marvelous, memorable performances.
Pearl Cleage’s dialogue snaps and crackles with wit and sensuous longing. This is easily her finest work. It will endure.
In a preface to her published play, she wrote: “I still believe that theatre has a ritual power to call forth the spirits, illuminate the darkness and speak the truth to the people.” “Blues for an Alabama Sky” does those things. It’s a great evening in the theatre.
For tickets and information, visit alliancetheatre.org.
