Dominique Morisau’s smoky, seductive and immersive staging Paradise BlueStudio Theater raises heat and suspense. Part of the playwright’s highly regarded Detroit trilogy – Skeleton Crew and Detroit ’67 – The story is set in 1949 in the city’s prestigious black bottom area within a paradise within a fictional club. The club’s jazz is spiced with blues and bebop thanks to a house band led by trumpeters and club owner Blue (Amali Cheatum).
The blue sounds are like fragrances fascinated by the cool breeze, beckoning audiences within the studio’s Victor Chargay Theatre, transformed into a paradise of Raymond O. Caldwell’s production. Patrons settle on tables and chairs given a view of the bar, stage and parquet floor where the action takes place.
Set designer Lawrence E. Morten III is equipped with exposed bricks in the club and chip-painted walls where better days have been seen for a while. Behind the club, a second raised stage opens gorgeous curtains on a bedroom set on the second floor of Paradise.
Depending on the stool in the seat or bar, looking at any sparkling scenes in that bedroom or main floor requires active care, sometimes to swirl your head and whole body.
Some may be corning the need for such physical effort. There’s also an actor on his shoulder, or an actor a few inches from his face, can be pulled violently at a halt of disbelief.
But it is also the beauty of an immersive experience. It’s about succumbing to your imagination and the present moment. The visceral accusations of being embedded in the play’s steamy, jazz-infused action cannot be denied.
But performers most often act alone in paradise. We were only a part of them, looking through the veil, and handed this club to our son, unlike Blue’s late dad, Clyde.
Trumpeter Michael A. Thomas appears as Clyde’s ghost and plays the unforgettable tension of blue jazz, accompanied by bassist Mark Saltman. When it gets cold when he sees him, Cheatum captures the fear of blue blood. But he also captures the fierce thing of a man who doesn’t disappoint his fear of something or someone else.
In his speech, Cheatom lends Blue a charismatic reserve, highlighting the authority he exercises in his territory here. Outside the black bottom, playing with the White Club means entering only through the back door, meaning a smile and nod while playing exactly what he was told.
But in Paradise, Blue is what his clubs, his sound and his bands – the gentle manager piano player Cone (Marty Austin Lamar), hot temper percussionist P Sam (RO Body), and just discovered bassist never see.
The blue rule, handed equally to his woman, the poetry and faithful pumpkin (Karen Robinson), is passionate about maintaining poetry and peace in paradise. Her sweat and hardships continue to run throughout the place. Pumpkins clean and wash in clubs, and on the second floor of the room, blue lets go to people like P-Sam.
She cooks for the border and band. She is the heart of paradise, the glow of Robinson, the heart of the play. As Pumpkin frequently interrupts her household chores to recite poems by her latest favorite, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Robinson draws out the innocent warmth, curiosity and beliefs of the character.
Pumpkin’s naiveness feels exaggerated, but it also seems to be a feature of Morissau’s script, making her very straightforward and straightforward as ripe for. A jet black fur femme fatale, a series of pearl fast widow silver (Anji White) designated as as straight as one that has been corrupted for work.
Caldwell supplies silver with a delicious entrance. She thrusts into paradise through a swing door, illuminated charmingly by Keith Perham. Costume designer Cidney Forkpah offers her killer wardrobe. And White’s intense performance is completely present in the auspicious intro, creating a rivet friction between silver and blue, and a romantic tension between her and corn.
Through White, do we see enough silver opportunist mo to wonder if she’s working corn, or is it a toy to keep occupying her while he works for someone else? Is it a pumpkin or blue?
Blue is considering his own opportunities, including plans for the future of Paradise. For now, the club has locked its black entertainment strip known as Paradise Valley. But the city’s changes, and the black bottom and Paradise Valley, may not be able to withstand the redevelopment of invasions and the coming Chrysler highway.
In fact, they didn’t survive. Blackbottom residents were evacuated, and Paradise Valley venues were closed and demolished. Morisaw skillfully respects their loss and revives their memories in blue music, Clyde’s nightmare vision, and his struggle to make the most of his slices of paradise.
Paradise Blue (★★★★☆) It will run at the studio theater at 1501 14th St. NW until June 22nd. Tickets range from $55 to $125 with discount options. Call or visit 202-332-3300 www.studiotheatre.org.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
