By Gretchen C. Van Benthuysen
The Two River Theater Company is closing its 25th anniversary season in Red Bank this month on a high note. Well, actually, on a lot of musical notes – high and low, sharp and flat – with “Oo-Bla- Dee,” a play with music.
It is directed by Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (“Jitney,” “Lackawanna Blues”) with story and lyrics by Golden Globe Award-winner Regina Taylor (“Crowns,” “I’ll Fly Away”) and music composed and orchestrated by two-time Obie Award-winner Diedre L. Murray (“Running Man,” “Eli’s Coming”).
First produced in 1999 at the Goodman Theater in Chicago (without Murray), the play was inspired by several real-life women, including jazz vocalist Billie Holiday, all-female jazz bands including the International Sweethearts of Rhythm (the first integrated, all-women American band), trumpet player Valaida Snow and jazz pianist, arranger and composer Mary Lou Williams who worked with musicians ranging from Duke Ellington to Miles Davis and wrote the song “In the Land of Oo-Bla-Dee.”
It’s 1946 and soldiers are returning home from fighting overseas in World War II and American music is moving from the era of swing and Big Band to the more complicated sound of bebop (fast, complex, lots of chord and key changes and improvisation).
It focuses on Evelyn Waters and the Diviners, a group of black women musicians traveling from St. Louis to Chicago in pursuit of a record deal. Their lives are getting more complicated as well.
The superb cast includes no-nonsense Evelyn (Marva Hicks) who has been touring for years. While her husband is stationed in Europe, her brother-in-law Shorty (Stanley Wayne Mathis) is managing the band (and secretly in love with Evelyn).
Straight-talking, pot-smoking Lulu (Stacey Sargeant) plays percussion and sensible Ruby (Monica J. Palmer) plays bass.
Replacing a pregnant saxophone player is Gin Del Sol (Allison Semmes), whose bomber escort pilot boyfriend Arthur (Cedric Sanders) is searching for her. She changed her name and left home with no forwarding address to pursue her dream of being a musician.
Watching the band and commenting on their choices – like a one-person Greek chorus – is Luna C (Amber Iman), who calls the moon home. Only Gin can see and hear her as Luna C looks down from the two-level set designed by Michael Carnahan with breathtaking projections and lighting designed by Alex Basco Koch and Jane Cox, respectively.
Also on the second level is the “real” band: conductor and pianist George Caldwell, saxophonist Corinthia Cromwell, percussionist Eli Fountain and bassist Mimi Jones. And they are terrific!
But this is also where some of the show’s problems arise, like having too much icing on the cake.
While the real band plays, the Diviners sway to the music, holding their instruments. It’s disconcerting. It’s also disappointing the band is only half female.
As Luna C, Iman’s singing is soulful and her voice rich. It’s very theatrical and I’d love to hear more of both, but what is her purpose here? These characters have no trouble telling us their thoughts and fears, so we need no interpreter. Or, give her a larger presence.
Chesney Snow, billed as the Vocal Foley, is a stage actor, musician, songwriter, and beatboxer and absolutely astonishing in the sound effects he makes with a microphone. But it takes us out of the story as we admire his talent.
On the other hand, Mathis brings us deeply back into the story when the band’s car is followed and stopped by racists late at night on a rural road. He knows his job is to act the fool and entertain the white folk and take the beating so the women in his charge aren’t hurt, or worse. His rage over the injustice – especially when black men are in uniforms fighting for their country – is palpable.
“Oo-Bla-Dee” continues through June 30 at the Two River Theater, 21 Bridge Ave. For more information, call 732-345-1400 or visit tworivertheater.org.
Gretchen C. Van Benthuysen’s theater news and reviews can be found on theatercues.com.
