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| Felicia Boswell as Felicia Farrell and the national tour of Memphis. Photo – Paul Kolnik. |
Memphis
Directed
by Christopher Ashley
Music
by David Bryan
Lyrics
by David Bryan & Joe DiPietro
Book
by Joe DiPietro
Reviewed
by Kathi E. B. Ellis
Entire
contents copyright © 2013 by Kathi E. B. Ellis. All rights reserved.
There’s
something satisfying about a tribute to an art form through the lens of a city
– brought to a city that itself has deep roots in music. And on Tuesday evening
the musical love letter to Memphis opened at The Kentucky Center for the Arts
here in Louisville, which has a long love affair with jazz. Memphis takes on the turbulent years of
the 1950s in terms of music, race and the media.
There
is much to like in this high-energy, polished national tour of the 2010 Tony
Award winning musical. It’s certainly the most accomplished of the Broadway
Louisville productions I’ve seen this season. On a side note, it’s worth
pondering if there is an unconscious visual theme that guided show selection: Flashdance featured Pittsburgh’s bridges
prominently in its design; Memphis bridges were also on display this week; and
in West Side Story (up next) set on
an island, the pivotal scene takes place under an overpass.
Another
connection among this season’s shows is the choreography of Sergio Trujillo – featured
in Flashdance, which he also directed.
His work will also return in next season’s The
Addams Family (which I recently saw in Lexington). Of these three
productions, his choreography in Memphis
is by far the most sparkling and exuberant. Maybe that says something about the
difference in dance forms in the 1950s and the 1980s. And this ensemble brings
precision and élan to every dance form we see in the production, including the
energetic jump rope sequence during a street scene in which white and black
kids are fine together – when they’re listening to and playing to the music.
Herein
lies the uneasy tension that’s part of this script. At too many times in the
story the music solves the problem, personal or societal, facing the characters.
Historically, music did help weaken race barriers; and it did take white DJs,
among others, to play “race music” on the airwaves to bring white audiences to
black music. But a well-placed song was not sufficient to solve the tensions
between the races or the generations. In this respect, the script is too
simplistic (though more effective than Hairspray
which traverses similar terrain). The story succeeds best when we see that it
is the money that makes the difference: the radio station owner (William Parry)
giving Huey the three-year contract because he’s number one in the ratings; the
NY producer (Christopher Gurr) insisting on replacing the black dancers with
white dancers in order to get national viewership. Nonetheless, many of the
songs drive the story forward, rather than being window dressing, making Memphis a powerful, more traditional,
book musical.
This
is a top-notch cast who, for the most part, overcome the sketched-in handling
of the complex nuances of this period in our country’s history. Bryan Fenkart
and Felicia Boswell play, respectively, Huey Calhoun, the geeky dropout who
loves black music, and Felicia the club singer with big dreams. Mr. Fenkart’s
nervous energy and lanky frame encapsulate Huey’s awkwardness and passion. Ms.
Boswell commands the stage every time she sings – as songstress and when it’s a
character-driven number. Together they make their underwritten romance
believable. Felicia’s brother Delray, Horace V. Rogers, brings a weighty
dignity to his role of nightclub owner and protector; “She’s My Sister” is
elegant in its power and simplicity. The long-silent Gator, Rhett George, lets
loose in one of those well-placed songs, which is nevertheless poignant and
powerful. At this performance, understudy Kent Overshown played Bobby, creating
an exuberant and likeable character willing to give this crazy white guy a
chance. Huey’s Mama, Tami Dahbura, is an unevenly written character. In the
earlier scenes, she’s a cartoonish bigot (who nonetheless gets some of the
biggest laughs of the evening) becoming a pragmatist who recognizes that her
son will do what he wants, and who, somewhat unbelievably, visits a black
church by herself and is swept up by the music – well-placed song anyone? – reliving
it in the foot-stomping Gospel-inspired “Change Don’t Come Easy.” The Be Black
Trio of Darius Barnes, Tyrone A. Jackson and Jarvis D. Mckinley fluidly morph
between music styles as the decade progresses.
The
conventions of night club, radio station and TV studio are convincingly and
efficiently created by scenic designer David Gallo, with Howell Binkley’s
evocative lighting design enhancing both locations and the emotional arc of the
characters’ journeys. Paul Tazewell’s costumes help the audience move through
the years, evoking the changing styles of the period. These elements, together
with the performers’ commitment to the music and movement, carry Memphis beyond the book’s drawbacks.
Memphis
April
2 - 8, 2013
PNC
Broadway in Louisville
The
Kentucky Center
501
West Main Street
Louisville,
KY 40202
502-584-7777
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