Wilson wrote one play for each decade of the African-American experience in the 20th century. Having previously produced “Jitney” and “The Piano Lesson,” “Ma Rainey” keeps the cycle moving along.
While previous Open Stage productions of Wilson’s work were set in Pittsburgh, this play transports us to a Chicago recording studio in 1927.
The playing space is divided into a rehearsal room for the band and the recording studio. The theater’s own technical booth serves as the recording studio’s booth, allowing the audience to feel that they are right in the middle of the action.
The title of the show is from a song of the same name that is being recorded by blues legend Ma Rainey. The play tells the story of an afternoon recording session with Ma, her band and entourage and the white producer and agent who profited from her gift.
While it does explore race relations between blacks and whites in the 1920s, it also delves more into the lives of the characters and their interracial conflict. While the band argues below in the rehearsal room over which version of a song to play, the producer and agent are in a constant power struggle above as they lay blame on each other and pay off crooked cops.
But the true heart of the play is the four men in the band, their love of music and the humorous banter as they tell stories and anecdotes that make up their rich and interesting lives.
Aaron Bomar is Toledo, the philosophical piano player who is always reading and quick to offer up words of wisdom and advice. Ronnie Banks plays Slow Drag, the bassist, whose antics will entertain you and his singing voice will make you swoon. Leonard Dozier is the horn player, Levee, who at first comes across as the party guy of the bunch who is obsessed with his expensive shoes.
But after he is mocked by the others, his heart-wrenching tale of his youth will leave a lump in your throat. Daniel Fordham is Cutler, the trombonist who is the peacemaker and voice of reason in the eclectic group. “There’s more to life than trying to have a good time — all the time,” he said.
Back in the studio, Jeff Luttermoser’s harried agent, Irvin, will do whatever he can to appease his temperamental client and is in constant altercations with James Robert Clark’s producer Sturdyvant.
There is an unspoken battle between the two that both actors handle adeptly. Then into the scene bursts Ma Rainey, played with incredible fire by Sharia Benn. Her portrayal of Ma is feisty; you don’t want to get on her bad side. She demands and she gets. And when she sings, she transports you back in time.
Ben Forer holds his own up against this powerhouse as a policeman intent on arresting her, but willing to be persuaded by easy cash. Jeremy Patterson is endearing as Ma’s stuttering nephew, Sylvester, and Tanisha Hollis as Dussie Mae does a nice job as she walks the fine line between where her true allegiances lie.
Kudos to director Donald L. Alsedek for once again bringing the beautiful words of August Wilson to life at Open Stage and to his fine cast who deliver a play that is entertaining and informative.
As Ma Rainey said: “You don’t sing to feel better, you sing to understand life. This would be an empty world without the blues. I try to fill it up.”
There was a reason she was called the mother of the blues.
IF YOU GO:
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 25. Open Stage of Harrisburg, 223 Walnut St., Harrisburg. Tickets: $29, $21 students. Info: 717-6736 or openstagehbg.com.
Dave Olmsted can be reached at djolmste@hacc.edu.
July 05, 2011
Up and down Germantown Avenue, people gathered to celebrate the Fourth of July while learning about the country’s past and Philadelphia’s role in the Revolutionary War. At three historic properties on Germantown Avenue—Cliveden, the Concord School and adjacent Upper Burying Ground and the Johnson House—special events took place in honor of Independence Day.
At Cliveden of the National Trust, actor Leonard Dozier appeared as the Rev. Richard Allen, who was born into slavery to the Chew family and went on to buy his freedom and establish Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. Allen delivered his eulogy for President George Washington in period costume and answered questions about his life and work.
Visitors were also able to take free tours of the buildings at Cliveden including the recently opened Servant’s Quarters. Once owned by the Chew family, Cliveden was a key site in the 1777 Battle of Germantown, where 150 Americans died trying to fight British troops barricaded in the house.
At 2 p.m., just blocks down the street at the Concord Schoolhouse, people collected in the Upper Burying Ground to listen to the schoolhouse bell toll 235 times—once for every year since the birth of the country in 1776.
John Pollack, president of the Concord School House, stressed that education was part of commemorating historical events.
“We are learning more [about these buildings] all the time,” he said, “discovering what we know and what we don’t know (about our history)."
The Upper Burying Ground was set aside in 1693 as a public burial space and continued to be used as such into the early 20th century. A diverse group of people are buried there, said Pollock, across class lines and ethnic and racial divisions. There are also “many hundreds of children” laid to rest in the cemetery.
In 1775 members of the community decided they needed a local place to educate their children, so they took a portion of unused land from the cemetery and built the Concord School. The one-room schoolhouse remains today, preserved as an historic site to be visited by the public. The second story and bell tower were added in 1818.
The Upper Burying Ground had been neglected for years until an all-volunteer group—the Board of Trustees of the Concord School House and Upper Burying Ground—cleaned it up and reopened it to the public.
“We’ve really reclaimed the spot,” said David Young, executive director of Cliveden and vice president of the board of the Concord School.
Young said there is strong a connection between Cliveden, Concord, and the Johnson House, which was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
“All three of these structures were built by the same person (John Johnson), and he’s buried right over there,” Young said, as he pointed to the far end of the Upper Burying Ground. “These three buildings were here the day the Declaration of Independence was signed, and they remain here so we can figure out the meaning of the document in our own lives."
The Upper Burying Ground and Concord School House continue to be open on the second Saturday of every month for public visitation and tours from 1 to 4 p.m.
October 05, 2011
Song of Thanks(giving) Plus Eliana Torres, the Jersey Rhythm Devils, Mental Projections and more.
By Raymond Tyler
ATLANTIC CITY — We all have our favorite Christmas carols, Halloween songs, and others that are popular during certain holidays, but what about Thanksgiving?
Well, soon Pleasantville’s own Leonard Dozier will fill that void, as he has penned a new song called "This Thanksgiving."
Dozier and his team are currently shooting a music video for the song, which will soon be made available. I’ll keep you posted in this column space.
Meanwhile, Dozier is hard at work campaigning for the role of Earvin "Magic" Johnson in the new Broadway play Magic Johnson/Larry Bird. You can visit Dozier’s web site to find out how we can all help him land on Broadway.
Hot Like Fire
October 24, 2011
Pleasantville actor stays busy
Pleasantville High School Class of 1997 member Leonard Dozier, a graduate of Fordham University with a theater degree, has been busy as an actor, voiceover artist and singer/songwriter this year.
He just landed a role in a Hollywood film called "Turning Point," about ethnic prejudices among various black communities in the U.S., he said.
Dozier, 32, who lives in Egg Harbor City, starred as African-American founding father and founder of the A.M.E. church Richard Allen in the documentary "Apostle of Freedom," which opened last February. That same month he starred as Boy Willie in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson" at Open Stage in Harrisburg, Pa., and began his stint as the new voice for Boomtown Casino in New Orleans.
Listen for his song "This Thanksgiving," on Christian radio stations soon, he said. Leonard currently is running a Facebook campaign called "Vote for Leonard Dozier as Magic Johnson (on Broadway)." For more information visit www.leonarddozier.com
January 08, 2012
Black history excursion
A local group is offering a chartered bus ride from South Jersey to dinner and the show Feb. 18 as a Black History Month excursion for $65 per person. Contact Robert Williams of TMarquise Entertainment at robert@tmarquise.com or 609-576-2705.
