Bessie Smith fans, this one's for you! The Devil's Music: The Life & Blues of Bessie Smith now on stage at Mosaic Theater on H Street, in one of the most dynamic theaters in Washington, D.C.
The music of Bessie Smith (1894-1937) and parts of her life are the story here, told in song and sketches by Miche Braden who belts out the blues in her strong and passionate voice, supported by a trio of consummate musicians: Jim Hankins on bass, Anthony E. Nelson, Jr., playing sax, and Gerard Gibbs, pianist who provide verbal, visual, and sexual backdrops.
Miss Smith's big hits are all here: I Ain't Got Nobody, St. Louis Blues, Taint Nobody's Bizness If I Do and ten more.
She enters from a center door atop steps to descend to a crowded, though handsome set (by Brian Prather) of heavy Victorian design with lamps, plants, and liquor bottles, several which sit on a table and suggest the arrival of another much needed actor to join the dialogue, but it doesn't happen.
Before the show, theatergoers are warned by a sign at the entrance to the auditorium that the script contains adult language which is, indeed, coarse, and more hard-core than expected.
The simulated sex sax scene is off putting and denigrates the singer's reputation, even if she was as boorish as portrayed.
The music clearly is what this is all about and the show delivers on this most important element.
Designer Patricia E. Doherty dresses Ms. Braden in an elegant purple gown which flows with her swings and sashays throughout the evening, seeming to fill the stage at times. The musicians' apparel (three piece suits and ties) is right in keeping with the vestments of the age.
Known as the "Empress of the Blues," Ms. Smith was "the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s....often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era" and "a major influence on other jazz singers," says Wikipedia.
Born in Chattanooga (which has a Bessie Smith Cultural Center), Bessie got her start around age 18 dancing for her brother's troupe before she climbed the ranks to become the highest paid black entertainer of the time. Her shows included 40 performers. Ms. Smith traveled in her own railway car.
Too soon, the Depression (1929-1939) suspended her stardom, decimating the recording industry, about the time talking movies effectively ended vaudeville show like Ms. Smith's. Her last hit, Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, was recorded in 1929, but she continued entertaining during the market downturn until her death from an automobile accident on a Mississippi highway in 1937.
Her grave in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania went unmarked until 1970 when Janis Joplin and a former Smith housekeeper, Juanita Green, bought a headstone for it. Ms. Smith's estranged husband was unsupportive of a gravestone for his wife, keeping the money contributors gave for one.
Bessie Smith was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989.
What: The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith by Angelo Parra. Conceived and directed by Joe Brancato with musical arrangements by Miche Braden. Todd O. Wren, lighting designer; C. Renee Alexander, stage manager
When: Extended through October 1, 2017. Shows at 8 p.m., Thursdays - Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. on Sundays, 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees, and a student matinee at 11 a.m. this Thursday, September 14.
Where: Lang Theatre, Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20002
Getting there: Riding public transportation from Union Station on the streetcar is easy and free, if you can master the first hurdle, that of finding the streetcar behind Union Station. Signage in the station is inadequate. For those who wish to travel by private automobile, there are parking options: Advance valet parking is $15 for subscribers with vouchers; $20, without; or park in a nearby lot or for free on city streets Sundays.
Tickets to the show start at $20. Buy online, phone (202-399-7993, ext. 2), or at the box office.
Language: Adult
Duration: About 85 minutes without intermission.
patricialesli@gmail.com
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