If you’ve never read August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the title could fool you into thinking that Ma Rainey is the star of this show. You’d be wrong. Wilson’s writing puts Ma Rainey’s band as the characters that we spend the most time with, but the Detroit Repertory Theatre’s production allows each actor to have their moment.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom opened at the Detroit Repertory Theatre on Friday, Jan. 10 to a packed house. The show is the second production of the theatre’s 68th season.
It’s the third play in Wilson’s American Century Cycle, which looks at the experiences of African Americans during each decade of the 1900s, and the Detroit Rep has already put on the first two — Gem of the Ocean and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom takes place in the 1920s during a recording session in Chicago where raucous blues singer Ma Rainey is late for her own gig. Meanwhile, her backing band is at odds with each other as they combat themes of religion, surviving racial trauma, and dreams deferred.
Evan Lewis Smith is the embodiment of trumpet player and music composer Levee with a loud, defiant, and confident voice — so much so that T. Pharaoh Muhammad, who plays Toledo, is almost drowned out on stage by his performance. Heavy emphasis on “almost.” Early on I found myself slightly annoyed by how small his voice was, wondering if the people in the back of the theatre could hear him. By the end, he proved to me that his quiet and level-headed performance was a smart choice to juxtapose Levee — a book-smart, grounded, and earthy spirit vs. the spirit of fire that will burn whatever unfortunate soul unfortunate enough to be nearby. Well played.
If this play were set in 2025 (or like 2015) Muhammad would play a hotep, preaching a bunch of nonsense about the Black community that feels like poignant commentary on the community’s role in its own suffering, but leaves the listener wondering what the fuck he is talking about. By the end of the play, we might find out how true his words were.
I’m used to seeing Will Bryson take center stage at the Detroit Repertory Theatre like his previous appearances in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and Topdog/Underdog. In Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Bryson takes a quieter role as Slow Drag, and unlike some actors with a big stage presence who don’t know how to tone it down, he doesn’t take the light away from the other actors.
Amongst all the wrenching, soul-crushing monologues delivered by Smith, Muhammad, and Antoine McKay (who plays Cutler), James Herriotte was the unexpected highlight of the show. His debut professional performance as Ma Rainey’s stuttering nephew Sylvester left me laughing so hard I cried until I was embarrassed at my rowdy cackling and had to settle down. Just thinking about the moment before he finally gets the introduction to the title song right, stutter-free, stills makes me giggle, while I’ve already forgotten some of the more serious beats in the play.
Ma Rainey’s reputation precedes her, setting her up as a diva long before she appears — and she takes a long time to finally come to the stage. Melanie Jones, who plays the boisterous singer, lives up to that reputation. Her fiery performance in insisting that Sylvester record the opening to Black Bottom no matter how many takes, stopping the session so she can get a Coke, knowing that the recording cannot happen without her, feels natural. With the entire cast onstage it feels like we are watching a live studio recording.
You done seen the rest. Now I’m gonna show you the best. Ma Rainey at the Detroit Repertory Theatre is going to show you how to cast and direct a production where all roles, no matter how small, shine.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom runs at the Detroit Repertory Theatre through Sunday, March 2. For tickets and full schedule, see detroitreptheatre.com.
Published in conjunction with Detroit Metro Times.
