‘PURPOSE’: (left to right) LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Glenn Davis, Kara Young & Jon Michael Hill. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

PURPOSE
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Phylicia Rashad
Through August 31, 2025
The Helen Hayes Theater
240 W 44th St.
https://purposeonbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play last year with the hit dysfunctional-family drama Appropriate. Now, he’s scored with another engrossing blockbuster about a toxic family, Purpose.

The story focuses on the famous Jaspers, an influential, affluent African-American family in Chicago. The Jaspers are renowned for their political influence and religion. Patriarch Solomon “Sonny” Jasper (Harry Lennix) is a former Civil Rights leader who now works as a pastor and beekeeper. He and his affable but tough-as-nails wife Claudine (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) have both helped the Jasper family make a good name for themselves, and they will do anything to maintain their respectable image. Claudine has a law degree, but she doesn’t really practice law and instead works as a socialite for human rights and various Black causes.

Meet the Jasper family

Purpose unfolds with narrator Nazareth or “Naz” Jasper (Jon Michael Hill) as he just returned home from New York with uninvited friend Aziza (Kara Young).  Naz is the youngest son and has dropped out of divinity school. He explains the family’s many shortcomings and the conflicts that ultimately result when everyone gets together for a reunion.

The play has ongoing themes of social prominence, social and racial justice, identity and faith. The story is not exactly anything new or original, but it rings with veracity and reality regardless.

Highbrow soap opera

The story unfurls like a highbrow soap opera as we meet the many troubled and flawed family members.

First, there’s Junior (Glenn Davis), the older son and politician who has just been released from prison after being convicted of mismanaging campaign funds. His fashionable wife Morgan (Alana Arenas) is in trouble and will soon do time behind bars for helping her husband with his crime.

The other character, Aziza, is not a family member. She’s the high-spirited, earthbound outsider from Harlem and is initially impressed by meeting the famous Jasper clan, but she soon learns the family is not as glamorous as they seem.

Dysfunctional dinner

Sparks fly when everyone sits down to dinner and Junior starts talking about incarceration reform. Sonny is not pleased that his oldest son has little interest in carrying on his legacy. The father is also unhappy that Naz has decided to become a nature photographer instead of a pastor.

When questions about Naz’s sexuality are raised, Aziza reveals that she is hoping to have a child with him, but marriage is not in the plans because she only wants Naz as a sperm donor. It would be unfair to reveal anymore because what’s most enjoyable about Purpose is hearing all the juicy secrets the family members reveal though arguing, complete with razor-sharp dialogue that is crisp, biting and often hilarious in a dark way.

Lies & deceit

The story is about the lies and deceit famous families spin, all to keep up appearances and maintain good PR in the media. The Jaspers could be the African-American Kennedys, and Sonny is a composite of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Dr. King’s portrait hangs prominently in the Jaspers’ living room) and countless other Civil Rights leaders.

Seamless direction & great cast

The show has so many good elements, from the outstanding scenic design of Todd Rosenthal to Phylicia Rashad’s seamless direction. Ms. Rashad gets great performance from everyone in the gifted cast.

Harry Lennix is perfect as Solomon, with his imposing voice and command of the stage. LaTanya Richardson Jackson is equally powerful as his scheming and manipulative wife, Claudine.

Jon Michael Hill is best known for his roles on the network TV shows “Elementary,” “Detroit 1-8-7,” “Law and Order: SVU” and the HBO series “Eastbound and Down.” As a stage actor, he is first-rate, acting as both narrator and the youngest member of the Jasper family. His scenes between his father Solomon and with older brother Junior are consistently convincing and sublime.

Superb supporting cast

Supporting cast members are all excellent as well. Glenn Davis is always riveting as the failed politician Junior. As long-suffering wife Morgan, Alana Arenas gives a knockout performance. Her shouting match at the dinner table is one of the show’s highlights, and she commands instant respect—and fear—when she has a meltdown.

Tony Award winner Kara Young (who won Best Actress for a Featured Role in a Play for Purlie last year) proves she’s a rising star to keep watching on Broadway. Ms. Young manages to make her character Aziza one of the only sane people in the show. She also has some of the best lines and dialogue, delivering them with aplomb and getting many laughs from the audience.

The play was originally produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, and Purpose deserves a decent run on Broadway. It’s an insightful, sometimes over-the-top but never dull evening of family drama at its best.

Published March 24, 2025
Reviewed at press performance on March 20, 2025

‘PURPOSE’: Jon Michael Hill & Harry Lennix. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘PURPOSE’: Jon Michael Hill & Glenn Davis. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘PURPOSE’: Kara Young. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘PURPOSE’: Jon Michael Hill. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘PURPOSE’: LaTanya Richardson Jackson. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘PURPOSE’: Alana Arenas & Kara Young. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘PURPOSE’: Harry Lennix. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘PURPOSE’: Jon Michael Hill, Kara Young & Harry Lennix. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘PURPOSE’: Glenn Davis & LaTanya Richardson. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

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‘HOME’: Brittany Inge, Tory Kittles & Stori Ayers. Photo: Joan Marcus.

HOME
By Samm-Art Williams
Directed by Kenny Leon
Through July 21, 2024
Roundabout Theatre Company
Todd Haimes Theatre
229 West 42^nd Street
(212-719-1300), www.roundabouttheater.org

By Scott Harrah

Home by the late Samm-Art Williams was first produced on Broadway back in 1980. Director Kenny Leon has brought the African-American classic drama back to Broadway for a brief summer run at the Roundabout Theatre Company at the Todd Haimes Theatre. On a sad note, Mr. Williams died just a few days before the first preview of this Home revival.

This simplistic one act focuses on the life of young Cephus Miles (Tory Kittles), a Black man working on the small Cross Roads, North Carolina farm he inherited from his family, struggling to survive in the segregated South. When his childhood crush Patti Mae Wells (Brittany Inge) rejects him and leaves for college, Cephus’s world is shattered. He refuses to serve in the Vietnam War and gets thrown in prison as a draft dodger.

Fast-forward to a few years later. Cephus is out of prison but he has unpaid taxes on his land and the farm has been seized. He flees up North to a big city and finds a brand-new life. Although he finds a good-paying job and a new girlfriend, his luck soon runs out. He loses his job and gets mired in a downward spiral of drugs and hookers. Fortunately, he manages to clean himself up and moves back down to North Carolina where Patti Mae is waiting for him.

Home captures a place and time, chronicling the life of an African-American man who is forced to face adversity and struggle. Not everything has aged well in the 44 years since the show was on Broadway, particularly the references to him jokingly saying he can “speak Indian,” referring to Native Americans. However, overall Mr. Williams’ story has profound things to say about the Black experience and how home is where both the heart and hurt is for many people.

The production is utilitarian and sparse, and Arnulfo Maldonado’s sets are minimalistic but still manage to depict different decades, from the 1950s to the 1970s. Director Kenny Leon gets fine performances from Tory Kittles, who is consistently riveting as Cephus, a man who never loses his sense of goodwill. Brittany Inge as Woman One/Patti Mae Wells and Stori Ayers as Woman Two both do an outstanding job playing multiple characters—everything from a bus driver to an alcoholic in the street. Home is, more than anything, a story of hope that is anchored by a talented ensemble cast that really make this 90-minute story shine and come to vivid life.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 19, 2024
Reviewed at June 13, 2024 press performance

‘HOME’: Stori Ayers, Tory Kittles & Brittany Inge. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘HOME’: Stori Ayers, Tory Kittles & Brittany Inge. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘THE PIANO LESSON’: Samuel L. Jackson. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

THE PIANO LESSON
Written by August Wilson
Through January 29, 2023
Directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
243 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), wwwPianoLessonPlay.com

By David NouNou

Of the 10 plays that August Wilson wrote that make up “The American Century Cycle”, The Piano Lesson is the fourth installment. Each cycle, as his bio states, “explores the experiences of the descendants of Africans brought to North America as slaves, decade by decade, over the course of the 20^th century.” Each cycle takes place in a certain decade. The Piano Lesson is set in 1936 Pittsburgh. In this amazing revival, the stellar performances lift the material up and make it shine.

I’ve always considered The Piano Lesson  the most complex and intricate of Mr. Wilson’s works. It deals with two principles: Is the item you possess worth more if you sell it and use the proceeds to put it to good use; or is the item you possess worth more for the history and the legacy of the spilled blood of its ancestors that it leaves behind? In the mix is thrown religious complexities and an exorcism.

Boy Willie (John David Washington) and Lymon (Ray Fisher) have come up from Mississippi in a broken-down stolen truck loaded with watermelons to sell in Pittsburgh. He has come up to visit his sister Berniece (Danielle Brooks) and their uncle, Doaker Charles (Samuel L. Jackson). Doaker and Berniece live together with Berniece’s daughter, Maretha (Jurnee Swan). Willie Boy hasn’t seen his sister in three years because he was in prison and has come up North for a specific reason. Now the conflict begins.

Willie Boy wants to sell the watermelons and the family piano that sits in Doaker’s living room, so he can buy his former boss Sutter’s property. This property is where he, his father and grandfather and other relatives had been slaves. Now that Sutter is dead, he wants to buy the property and own the land that enslaved his ancestors.

Berniece will have none of this and refuses to sell the piano and wants Willie Boy to get out of her house, contending that he has done enough harm to the family with his reckless, destructive behavior. Doaker tells Lymon the story behind the piano and the multiple carvings on it that has the faces and history of Berniece’s ancestors etched on it that belonged to Sutter’s grandfather, and how Boy Willie’s father and others stole the piano, and Boy Willie’s father was killed for it.

Berniece is being pursued by Reverend Avery (Trai Byers), who wants to marry her and make her lead singer in his choir. Wining Boy, Doaker’s brother (Michael Potts), comes on the scene and also tries to dissuade Willie Boy from trying to move and sell the piano. Berniece needs Avery to come the next day to bless the house and expel Sutter’s ghost which she has seen. She needs to exorcise all the demons that are in the house.

As I stated earlier, this is the most complex of Mr. Wilson’s plays and the story does get convoluted. Bringing this epic family history to life is LaTanya Richardson Jackson’s impeccable direction and the blistering performances she brings out from her brilliant cast.

For any theatergoer, the most memorable aspect of any show is witnessing outstanding performances. Starting with John David Washington, I’ve been a fan of his since seeing him in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman; his Broadway debut is phenomenal. His presence on stage is as magnificent as when I first saw his father, Denzel Washington, in the 2010 revival of August Wilson’s Fences.

Danielle Brooks’ Berniece is both shattering and beautiful. Playing sister, mother and a widow who could use some loving, she delivers a heartbreaking performance. Samuel L. Jackson when given a substantive role and delivers another powerhouse performance. This man just ages beautifully as vintage wine.

Included with the three top stars are three thrilling supporting actors, all of whom I’m sure may earn a nomination come Tony Award time. Ray Fisher, as the hapless Lymon, is outstanding as Willie Boy’s friend and ardent pursuer of women. His scene with Ms. Brooks is a joy to behold. Michael Potts as Wining Boy, Doaker’s brother, imbues so much heart and soul into the part that he is irresistible. Third but not least is Trai Byers as Reverend Avery. Mr. Byers is converting and healing souls nightly in each performance.

For an evening of outstanding, perfectly directed and fine-tuned performances, The Piano Lesson is a must-see.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 7, 2022
Reviewed at November 6, 2022 performance.

‘THE PIANO LESSON’: Samuel L. Jackson & John David Washington. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE PIANO LESSON’: Danielle Brooks. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE PIANO LESSON’: Samuel L. Jackson. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE PIANO LESSON’: Michael Potts. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE PIANO LESSON’: April Matthis & John David Washington. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE PIANO LESSON’: Trai Byers. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE PIANO LESSON’: The cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

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‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Corey Hawkins & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Kenny Leon
Through January 15, 2023
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.topdogunderdog.com

By David NouNou

Revisiting Suzan-Lori Parks’ 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is what could be called a brilliant revival, thanks in large part to Ms. Parks’ rhythmic writing, superb acting by Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, laser focused direction to every detail by Kenny Leon, and a claustrophobic set by Arnulfo Maldonado, bring a sharper focus than I remember from the 2002 version at the sprawling stage of the Ambassador Theatre and looser direction by George C. Wolfe.

As with all brother tales, they all seem to hark back to the biblical story of Cain and Abel. However, in this version it isn’t the proverbial good against the bad brother but the constant shifting in roles brothers play in each other’s lives. The love/hate of who is topdog and who is underdog is always evolving and never gets a resolution.

Witness at the onset Booth (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), practicing his pitch with the three-card Monte hustle atop a cardboard box propped up by two milk cartons, which he hasn’t yet mastered: The language or the movements. Enter older brother Lincoln (Corey Hawkins), his face smeared with white greasepaint, wearing a long black coat, fake beard and a long stove pipe hat dressed as Abe Lincoln, for his new job at the arcade where people can shoot him with cap guns. He has taken this job to leave behind the dangerous life of a three-card Monte conman.

The brothers live in squalor in a small apartment. They were abandoned by their parents when they were teenagers, Booth being 13, and Lincoln being 16. Their parents gave them these ironic names. When each parent left, each parent gave each child $500 to use only for desperate measures. Booth saved his; Lincoln blew it all away immediately. They have depended on each other since they were teenagers; now they are in their 30s. They struggle to make a life; Booth tries to get Linc back into the Monte game and teach him the tricks. Lincoln doesn’t want to go through that again. Thus starts the friction. In this mix, Booth has a fixation on a girl he knew, Grace. He is always waiting for her to come back to him. Connie left Lincoln years ago; she couldn’t take the pressure. The conversation about the girls gets dicey at times.

Here is where Ms. Parks brings the magic into the play. She has set up the scene, and gives the brothers a free reign with her words. Whether the brothers are loving and have fond memories of their earlier years, or are they bitter rivals for a con game. Do they look after each other or do they just play each other? Ms. Parks keeps dishing out the power struggles. This is where, director, Kenny Leon seems to ramp up the flip/flop tension with each progressive scene.

Besides watching the play, the viewer depends heavily on what the actors can deliver, and this I can easily say, you won’t see two better performances this season than from Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Both of them are cunning and sly, good or bad, topdog or underdog, their performances are absolutely spellbinding and unforgettable.

It won’t take a crystal ball to predict the Tony Award winner for Best Drama Revival of 2023, but it will take one to predict who will win Best Actor in a Drama: Corey Hawkins or Yahya Abdul-Mateen II?

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 26, 2022
Reviewed at October 25, 2022 press performance.

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Corey Hawkins & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Corey Hawkins. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Corey Hawkins & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

Topdog/Underdog video montage

The post ‘Topdog/Underdog’: A must-see revival appeared first on StageZine.

‘FOR COLORED GIRLS’: (left to right) Stacey Sargeant, Amara Granderson, Okwui Okpokwasili, Tendayi Kuumba, Kenita R. Miller, D. Woods & Alexandria Wailes. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF
Written By Ntozake Shange
Directed & choreographed by Camille A. Brown
Through June 5, 2022
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.forcoloredgirlsbway.com

By David NouNou

The late Ntozake Shange and her play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf were both ground-breaking. Ms. Shange was only the second African-American woman to have a play produced on Broadway by 1976. The first was Lorraine Hansberry and her immortal 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun.  Ms. Shange coined the term “Choreopoem” for her play, meaning poetic monologues accompanied by dance movement and music.  It tells the stories of seven African-American women who have suffered in a sexist society.

The seven women in the play have no names except for the beautiful colors of the rainbow. They are simply known as (placed in alphabetical order): Lady in Blue (Stacey Sargeant), Lady in Brown (Tendayi Kuumba), Lady in Green (Alexis Sims), Lady in Orange (McKenzie Frye), Lady in Purple (Treshelle Edmond), Lady in Red (Kenita R. Miller) and Lady in Yellow (D. Woods), and beautiful they are.

Their stories are many: They are singular but yet they blend into each other, lyrical and yet poetic. Some have been battered but they are survivors; they have been abused by their men but have come out the other end of the rainbow stronger. They celebrate their color and their womanhood through dance, music and the joy of their lives.

The women are a cohesive unit. They are the perfect ensemble that is so intertwined, they pick up where the other leaves off. They are in sync together; it is impossible to single out one from the other; they are a beautiful rainbow team, all of whom I mentioned by name earlier. These magical performances are beautifully staged by Camille A. Brown, an actress, dancer and choreographer. Ms. Brown has used her talent and expertise injecting the show with rhythm, passion and joy. The stage is in constant motion. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf is an ode to the women in the play and the women they represent.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 27, 2022
Reviewed at April 26, 2022 press performance.

‘FOR COLORED GIRLS’: (left to right) D. Woods, Kenita R. Miller, Alexandria Wailes, Tendayi Kuumba, Okwui Okpokwasili, Amara Granderson & Stacey Sargeant. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

The post ‘For Colored Girls’: A lyrical, haunting reboot appeared first on StageZine.

‘SKELETON CREW’: Joshua Boone & Chanté Adams. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

SKELETON CREW
Written by Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Through February 20, 2022
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200),www.manhattantheatreclub.com


By David NouNou

There is a universality that hits hard in Dominique Morisseau’s new drama Skeleton Crew. It deals with hard times, power struggles in jobs, loss of jobs, homelessness, resilience and dignity. It could be any depressed city in the United States, but in this instance, it is set in Detroit in 2008 at a car-stamping plant.

Faye (Phylicia Rashad) has been working at the plant for 29 years, waiting for her 30^th in order to collect her retirement pension. She is a chain-smoking labor representative and a den mother to her fellow workers. She has been abandoned by her son because she is a lesbian. The company manager Reggie (Brandon J. Dirden) is conflicted by the fact that the plant will be shutting down and has to remain silent about it but has concerns for the employees.  Two of the hard-working and loyal employees are Dez (Joshua Boone), a young rebel who has heard rumors of the shutdown, and Shanita (Chante Adams), a young, single expectant mother who truly enjoys her job and takes pride in what she does.

Ms. Morisseau fleshes out her characters well. We get to know them and feel for them. But there is a hitch here. There is a feeling of déjà vu. It is a variation of Lynn Nottage’s  2017 play Sweat. Both plays are written by women who understand the everyday fears people face from losing their jobs to the daily perils that exist outside their confines. However, in this case, Skeleton Crew is less convoluted.

It’s great to see Phylicia Rashad back on stage. Her Faye is sass personified and resilient. She has fallen many times but remains a survivor because she has no other choice. She infuses Faye with the dignity she so richly deserves. Ms. Rashad is a constant joy to watch.

Having seen Brandon J. Dirden in Enron, Clybourne Park, All the Way as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jitney, it is gratifying to see an actor grow with each successive role. He is perfect as the company man who has to be tough and still have the capacity to care about the employees’ future. I can’t wait to see what he does this spring in Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out.

Joshua Boone and Chanté Adams are the younger members of the cast, and they make their presence known. As Dez, Mr. Boone is a likeable rebel that doesn’t just go down with the ship, he has plans and ideas to eventually succeed. Ms. Adams is a delight as a young expectant mother who doesn’t let things get her down.

Although familiar in nature, Skeleton Crew offers memorable performances.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published January 31, 2022
Reviewed at January 29, 2022 press performance.

‘SKELETON CREW’: Phylicia Rashad. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SKELETON CREW’: Brandon J. Dirden & Phylicia Rashad. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SKELETON CREW’: Joshua Boone, Brandon J. Dirden, Phylicia Rashad & Chanté Adams. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SKELETON CREW’: Adesola Osakalumi. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

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‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: Brandon Micheal Hall, LaChanze & Chuck Cooper. Photo: Joan Marcus.

TROUBLE IN MIND
Written by Alice Childress
Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright
Through January 9, 2022
American Airlines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
(212-719-1300), www.RoundaboutTheatre.org

By David NouNou

Written and first performed in 1955 as an Off-Broadway show to critical acclaim, Trouble in Mind was meant to transfer to Broadway in 1957 but never came to fruition because the playwright, Alice Childress, refused to tone down the racial discourse in her play to make it more palatable for white audiences.

Being an actress herself, Ms. Childress was tired of playing maids and other types of demeaning roles, so she wrote this play within a play and created the role of Wiletta Mayer, the title character. Wiletta has been an actress for many years and has played by the rules of the stage games of complying with everything she has to do to stay in the game.

We meet Wiletta (LaChanze), walking across the stage on the first day of rehearsal, stopping center stage in order to absorb that solitary moment where she is alone on the stage and savoring the thrill of that magical moment. She is about to star in a drivel of a play set in the South. Fellow cast members waft in: John Nevins (Brandon Micheal Hall), a young actor who will be playing her son; Millie Davis (Jessica Frances Dukes), the best friend; Sheldon Forrester (Chuck Cooper), veteran of the stage playing Wiletta’s husband; Judy Sears (Danielle Campbell), the white ingénue who becomes friendly with John Nevins; and the imbecilic white director, Al Manners (Michael Zegen), a guy who has stereotypical notions of directing this show about a black family and whose word is the only word that counts.

On the third day of rehearsals, the fur begins to fly. The director wants all the wailing and flailing and broad gestures associated with black characters from his cast.  However, Wiletta tries to explain that she can’t play the character that way and wants to play it in a normal, natural, and real manner. Floodgates open.

Racial issues are at the core of this play but they are intertwined with both humor and seriousness that makes it relevant to this day.

LaChanze is a Broadway veteran who received her first acclaim and Tony nomination for Once On This Island and has never stopped being a force of nature. We know her mostly for her musical performances, but in Trouble in Mind, she hits new heights as a dramatic actress. Her blowup/meltdown in Act II leaves one breathless.

Michael Zegen, better known for playing Joel Maisel in Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” is in the unenviable role of delusional director, Al Manners. His name is an oxymoron.

Chuck Cooper adds nobility to every role he plays, and newcomer Jessica Frances Dukes keeps the laughs coming.

Not as universal in theme as Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Alice Childress shows the universality of what every African American actress has had to endure.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 22, 2021
Reviewed at November 21, 2021 press performance.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: LaChanze, Chuck Cooper & Michael Zegen. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: LaChanze. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: LaChanze. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: Jessica Frances Dukes & LaChanze. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: LaChanze & Simon Jones. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: Michael Zegen, Alex Mickiewicz & Don Stephenson. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: Danielle Campbell & Michael Zegen. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘LACKAWANNA BLUES’: Ruben Santiago-Hudson (center) & (seated) Junior Mack. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

LACKAWANNA BLUES
Written & directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Through November 12, 2021
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.manhattantheatreclub.com

By David NouNou

Set in Lackawanna, New York, past and present, this is an autobiographical play in which Ruben Santiago-Hudson portrays himself as the child Ruben, and the adult version of himself as well as multiple characters from the past fondly remembered. Mostly it is a beautiful tribute to his adopted grandmother, Nanny, Ms. Rachel Crosby.

Nanny took him under her wing at an early age when he was left in her care by his mother. On multiple occasions he states that she was more like a mother to him. Nanny took him everywhere and they shared their life together. Along the way many characters crossed their path. Mr. Santiago-Hudson imbues all these characters, good or bad, with humanity and respect. Utmost is his respect for Ms. Rachel. Their love and their bond is palpable. Not only is the love and respect coming from Mr. Santiago Hudson, but from the many people whose lives Ms. Rachel touched. Their stories are told in little vignettes.

Mr. Santiago-Hudson has written this play and directed it in such a vivid way that you can visualize Nanny and all the quirky characters they both met along the way. You can almost taste the glazed ham and the cornbread that Nanny made for him and all her boarders. The show is mostly noteworthy for the mega-talented Mr. Santiago-Hudson himself. His performance is absolutely riveting, from the twinkle in his eyes when he impersonates Nanny to the tears in his eyes at the end.

Mr. Santiago-Hudson is accompanied by the brilliant guitarist Junior Mack, who anchors the mood of the play with a soulful blues style. Incidentally, in addition to his many talents as actor, playwright/director Mr. Santiago-Hudson is an excellent harmonica player.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 5, 2021
Reviewed at November 4, 2021 performance.

‘LACKAWANNA BLUES’: Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

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‘THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN’: Da’Vinchi and Dyllón Burnside. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN
By Keenan Scott II
Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III
Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
212-239-6200, https://thoughtsofacoloredman.com/

By Scott Harrah

The stories of seven African-American Brooklyn men are interwoven into Keenan Scott II’s thought-provoking Thoughts of a Colored Man, a 90-minute drama that recently opened on Broadway.  The stories are all things we’ve heard before—from poverty to success to coping with societal expectations, biases, dead-end jobs, etc.—but they ring true to life and propel the stories with enough heartbreak to keep audiences both sympathetic and interested.

Each character is named after an emotion.  We have Love (Dyllón Burnside), Happiness (Bryan Terrell Clark), Wisdom (Esau Pritchett), Lust (Da ’Vinchi), Passion (Luke James), Depression (Forrest McClendon) and Anger (Tristan Mack Wilde).

The entire show is presented as a series of vignettes and some work better than others.  Standouts include the first-rate Forrest McClendon as Depression, a man in his 30s who still lives with his mother and works at a Whole Foods for minimum wage.  Mr. McClendon gives a sincere, touching  performance as a man who puts his family’s needs above his own and even tries to buy his younger brother a pair of $200 sneakers.  Some might remember Mr. McClendon and his Tony-nominated role a decade ago in The Scottsboro Boys.

Bryan Terrell Clark is truly dynamic as Happiness, a well-educated gay man who, unlike the other guys in the show, is from an upper middle-class family and has enjoyed many privileges, but finds himself in the awkward position of being looked down on by other black men because they think he’s had it too easy.  The reality is being a gay man of color is a double whammy.  He’s struggled as much as the other men, just in a different way.

Esau Pritchett gives one of the show’s most straightforward performances as Wisdom, an older barber shop owner who has lived through decades of African-American struggles.  He doesn’t allow foul language in his shop, and reprimands one of the younger customers for using the “f” word gay slur in front of Happiness because he wants everyone to feel welcome in his establishment.  Mr. Pritchett is a wise father figure to all the guys who come into his shop, and we know he’s lived through too much grief and speaks from experience. He has learned that tolerance and understanding go a long way in a rough neighborhood and wants everyone to realize this.

The stories of some of the other men are less compelling, such as that of Anger (Tristan Mack Wilds), a college basketball coach who works with athletes that are more into getting big endorsement deals than anything else.

The action all takes place on a minimalist set, mostly using Sven Ortel’s projection designs.

Steve H. Broadnax III extracts fine performances from the cast and keeps everything moving fluidly.  Of all the new fall 2021 Broadway plays depicting African-American experiences, Thoughts of a Colored Man so far is the best.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 17, 2021
Reviewed at October 16, 2021 press performance.

‘THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN’: (Left to right) Luke James, Esau Pritchett, Da’Vinchi, Forrest McClendon, Dyllón Burnside, Tristan Mack Wilds, Bryan Terrell Clark. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN’: Da’Vinchi & Dyllón Burnside. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN’: (Left to right): Luke James, Esau Pritchett, Da’Vinchi, Forrest McClendon, Dyllón Burnside, Tristan Mack Wilds, Bryan Terrell Clark. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN’: Luke James. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

The post ‘Thoughts of a Colored Man’: 7 men’s stories appeared first on StageZine.

‘PASS OVER’: Namir Smallwood, Gabriel Ebert & Jon Michael Hill. Photo: Joan Marcus.

PASS OVER
Written by Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu
Directed by Dayna Taymor
Through October 10, 2021
August Wilson Theatre
245 West 52nd Street
(888-985-9421), www PassOverBroadway.com

By David NouNou

One of the many things I was taught as a child was that it was offensive to say or use the “N- word.” Watching a performance in a theater where the word is constantly used—to the point of every other word in this 90-minute play by Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu—is a hard sit-through. However, there is a point to it; that being, who can use the word, and who is not allowed to utter it.

If the premise of this play seems familiar, it’s because it loosely resembles Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Instead of Didi and Gogo being stuck on a dirt road and a tree, the current two men stuck in place are Moses (Jon Michael Hill) and Kitch (Namir Smallwood), both of whom are conversing on a ghetto street corner with a street lamp. Their conversation consists of “getting out of this place” and listing their “top 10 desires in the promised land,” with every other word or sentence consisting of the N-word.

Interrupting this conversation enters a tall, lanky white man in a white suit with a Luciferian manner known as Mister (Gabriel Ebert). He has lost his way to his mother’s house, bringing her this special basket full of food: everything from collard greens and pinto beans to apple pie, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, champagne, and whatever is on the top 10 list for food comes out of this little picnic hamper. Over the course of time, Mister’s benevolence changes to “Master” and the trouble he feigns by using the start of wrong words and claiming “that’s not what I meant.”

After his missteps, Mister leaves in a huff and takes all the leftover food and drinks in that little hamper, except for a small apple pie which Kitch pilfered. Left alone again and back to the conversation of getting away, passing over to the promised land, and the top 10 list, this time Moses and Kitch are interrupted by Ossifer, a white policeman (Gabriel Ebert), from taking away the apple pie and the language used; the rest is left to the viewer’s interpretation.

The three performances by Jon Michael Hall, Namir Smallwood and Gabriel Ebert are all riveting.

Broadway has been closed since March 2020. I’m not sure if this was the right vehicle to jump-start Broadway’s return. Pass Over pushed its opening from September 12 to August 22, 2021. This was a rushed opening, considering previews started on August 4. Pass Over isn’t so much as reopening Broadway but more like sending the proverbial canary inside the coal mine to see if it is safe to return to Broadway

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published September 12, 2021
Reviewed at September 11, 2021 press performance.

‘PASS OVER’: Namir Smallwood & Jon Michael Hill. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PASS OVER’: Namir Smallwood & Jon Michael Hill. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PASS OVER’: Namir Smallwood & Jon Michael Hill. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PASS OVER’: Namir Smallwood & Jon Michael Hill. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘PASS OVER’: Namir Smallwood & Jon Michael Hill. Photo: Joan Marcus.

The post ‘Pass Over’: ‘Godot’ visits the block appeared first on StageZine.