**** Recommended **** Porchlight Music Theatre’s production Blues in the Night is smart, sophisticated and sassy. Oh, and let’s not forget sexy and slightly suggestive. Blues in the Night is essentially a revue without dialogue, or even a story. It does have a powerhouse cast singing the blues with a live combo playing the music right on stage. Director/Choreographer Kenny Ingram has put together a terrific show. On a personal note, title song, Blues in the Night (my mama done told me… when I was in pigtails), was one of my mom’s favorite songs – she sang it all the time! 4 Spotlights
The blues, for those who’ve never sung them, is a music form which started from African-American work songs and spirituals, played in juke joints and urban clubs, incorporating new styles and rhythms over time. Chicago has had a long love affair with the blues, so it’s fitting that Blues in the Night is set in a seedy hotel on the South Side.
Angela Weber Miller’s set really has the vibe of a past-its-prime hotel, with just three rooms occupied. The Lady from the Road (Felicia Fields) has the largest room (fourth floor rear) filled with memories from her days in Vaudeville. She has a tiny bit of patter in the midst of her songs, but the rest of the cast never says a word.
The Woman of the World (Donica Lynn), who has loved and lost, has a smaller room (third floor right). Just off the bus from the boonies, The Girl with a Date (Clare Kennedy), has the smallest room (second floor left). Although not a guest, The Man in the Saloon (Evan Tyrone Martin) can often be found near the bar and the bandstand on the first floor. Another not-guest, The Dancing Man (Terrell Armstrong), who is, apparently, the lowlife romancing all three women. He dances his way in and out of scenes throughout the show.
The Lady reflects on her loneliness and her waning career in a monologue with The Man, The Blues is a Woman. Then Felicia Fields goes on to sing three Bessie Smith originals. New Orleans Hop Scop Blues, Take me for a Buggy Ride and Wasted Life Blues. It’s a match made in blues heaven!
Donica Lynn’s powerful alto shines in two Benny Goodman tunes, Four Walls Interlude and Stompin’ At the Savoy. She enjoys an evening out in a duet with The Man, Lush Life / I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So, but only unleashes her inner tiger when it comes to Freda Payne’s Rough and Ready Man.
Although Clare Kennedy doesn’t look like she can sing the blues, she definitely can. The Girl from the sticks does is hopeful - Ella Fitzgerald’s Taking a Chance on Love. She’s disillusioned in Billie Holiday’s Willow Weep for Me, a duet with The Man, and wide-awake as she sings Bessie Smith’s Reckless Blues.
Fields, Lynn and Kennedy together are dynamite, especially with the Dirty-No-Gooders Blues and Nobody Knows You (when you’re down and out).
The Band includes Maulty Jewell IV, Piano/Conductor; Rafe Bradford, Bass; Ricardo Jimenez, Trumpet; and Darius Hampton, Reeds. In the Wild Women Entr’acte at the beginning of Act II, each member of the band has a solo jam.
Note: Guests must show proof of vaccination before entering the theater. Guests are required to wear masks while inside the building.
Porchlight Music Theatre’s production of Blues in the Night has been extended to March 20th at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. Valet parking is available. Running time is 2 hours including an intermission.
Performances are: Thursdays at 7:00 pm; Fridays at 8:00 pm; Saturdays at 3:00; Sundays at 2:00 pm. Open Caption Performances: Saturdays, March 5th & 12th at 3:00 pm. Tickets range from $25 - $74. FYI (773) 777-9884 or www.porchlightmusictheatre.org.