Shuffle Along or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed ****

There is an embarrassment of riches onstage at The Music Box in this tribute to the first all-black musical to reach Broadway. Brian Stokes Mitchell plays the genteel F.E. Miller and Billy Porter is Aubrey Lyles, his abrasive partner in a blackface vaudeville team who suggested expanding one of their skits into a musical. Joshua Henry is lyricist Noble Sissle and Brandon Victor Dixon is composer-pianist Eubie Blake, the pair who join them in this enterprise. Audra McDonald is Lottie Gee, star of the new show. In addition to their usual talents of acting and singing, the five leads join the fantastic dancers in performing Savion Glover’s brilliant tap choreography. Mitchell, whom I have found overbearing in recent years, manages to submerge his ego into the role with fine results. McDonald, as always, is a phenomenon; it is inconceivable that she was not Tony-nominated. Dixon and Porter are both fine. Adrienne Warren is a knockout both as the show’s second female Gertrude Saunders and as her successor Florence Mills. Brooks Ashmanskas, the sole Caucasian onstage, is a delight playing several of the men who placed obstacles in the production’s path. The abundant talent of the performers is equalled by the superb sets by Santo Loquasto, the riotous costumes by Ann Roth, the evocative lighting by Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhower and the wonderful arrangements and orchestrations by Daryl Waters. Director George C. Wolfe keeps the show moving energetically. It is the book, also by Wolfe, that I found wanting. The story of mounting a show against all obstacles seems cliched, even with racial prejudice added to the list of problems. With five main protagonists, there is too little time to develop any of them very deeply. Perhaps the book should have focused on Lottie, especially her long affair with the married Blake and her sacrifice of career advancement for him. I don’t see how the show could possibly have been considered a revival because Wolfe tosses out virtually the entire book of the 1921 show. Only one song “(I’m Just) Wild about Harry” is presented in its original context. The second act, which chronicles the fading fortunes of those involved with the show and the show itself is more told than shown. At times I felt I was watching an illustrated history lesson. Nevertheless, you won’t find more talent on one stage anywhere else on Broadway. With all the book’s flaws, the story represents an important piece of theater history and black history that should not be forgotten. Sadly the audience was practically all-white. Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes. NOTE: Avoid seats in the first few rows if you want to see the dancers’ feet.

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill ****

One could argue whether Lanie Robertson's 1986 work is a bioplay with music or a concert with monologues. Whichever it is, let's just be grateful that it has been revived as a vehicle for the multi-Tonied Audra McDonald in a limited-run production at Circle in the Square. Adding another superb performance to her long list, McDonald both vocally and dramatically inhabits the role of troubled jazz singer Billie Holiday near the end of her tragically short life.  McDonald's ability to disappear into Lady Day's persona is uncanny. In between songs, she relates many -- perhaps too many -- stories of her difficult life and career. Also onstage are a talented jazz trio (Sheldon Becton, piano; Clayton Craddock, drums; George Farmer, bass). Becton plays her music director and babysitter Jimmy Powers. Her pet chihuahua Pepi (Roxie) makes a memorable appearance too. James Noone's set designs fills most of the playing space with nightclub tables with a bandstand at one end and a bar at the other. Holiday's costume by Esosa is perfection. Lonny Price's direction is effective. The half-hearted use of projections is not. Ultimately, who cares as long as we have 90 glorious minutes of Lady Day as channeled by McDonald.

Porgy and Bess ****

(Click on the title to read the entire review.)
Considering today's glut of high-concept, revisionist opera productions, I find it ironic that the new Broadway production of "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" directed by Diane Paulus has caused such a stir. Surely much more violence is done to composers' and librettists' intentions on any given night in opera houses around the world than anything that takes place on the stage of the Richard Rodgers Theatre. A Broadway musical is not an opera; it has different conventions. A viable Broadway version of Porgy in no way detracts from its validity as an opera. For me the question is whether the present adaptation, by Suzanne-Lori Parks and Diedre L. Murray, works as a Broadway musical and my answer is an emphatic "yes." It is musically glorious and emotionally gripping. Rarely will you find such a talented group of singing actors on one stage. There is not a weak link in the cast. I expected Audra McDonald to shine as Bess and she does not disappoint; her singing and acting are marvelous. The revelation for me was Norm Lewis, whose Porgy is absolutely riveting. David Alan Grier makes a properly lubricious Sportin' Life and Phillip Boykin perfectly captures Crown's malevolence. Much as I enjoyed the evening, I will grant that all is not perfection. Some of the orchestration seemed too jazzy. Occasionally the blocking seemed awkward. Finally, the set by Riccardo Hernandez is oppressively ugly and looks more like a decrepit airplane hangar than a tenement in Charleston. I know Catfish Row shouldn't look like Park Avenue, but this hideous set cheapens the entire production. Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable evening.
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes including intermission.