The bittersweet, soulful sounds of the blues come to life on the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Stackner Cabaret with Blues in the Night. In this surefire crowd pleaser, a quartet of top-notch singers and dancers run through a cavalcade of hits from the 1930s.
The show originated at the Off-Broadway Playhouse 46, created by Sheldon Epps and featuring tap-dance legend Gregory Hines. Blues in the Night then reopened at Broadway’s Rialto Theater, and it was nominated for a 1982 Best Musical Tony Award.
With such a favorable pedigree, it isn’t difficult to see what audiences first enjoyed about this show. In the Milwaukee version, directed by Megan O’Brien, the setting is a scruffy hotel room in 1930s Chicago. A bare light bulb hangs above the single bed. At stage right, there’s a band. The several excellent musicians occasionally switch from their “main” instruments to add a banjo, a harmonica or a washboard as needed. In addition, they are assisted by the cast, whose members gamely pick up a trumpet, strum a string bass or provide drums as needed. This set-up adds an extra musical dimension that further impresses the audience.
It is the songs, though, that provide the show’s texture and context. No words of dialogue are needed as the ensemble move effortlessly from one song to another.
The show’s best-known song is undoubtedly “Blues in the Night,” by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. But it isn’t even served up until the second act, long after the cast has sung a parade of tunes by Bessie Smith and Duke Ellington.
This show is all about the women, as three of them outnumber the lone male cast member. Of the three women, Zonya Love makes the evening’s first impression as The Lady, a former star of the “chitlin’ circuit.” It’s clear that her best years are behind her. She pines for her former onstage glory, which evidently wasn’t enough to provide for her semi-retirement. “My head is like my wallet; there ain’t nothin’ but memories,” she sings. But if Love’s character isn’t favored by fickle audiences anymore, she demonstrates that her powerful voice hasn’t lost its ability to raise the roof.
The Woman, a woman in her prime, is played by Lili Thomas. She shines in all her numbers, practically bringing down the house with her trumpet playing and scat singing. She is red hot, and her fiery costumes emphasize this. The youngest of the three women, The Girl, is portrayed by a doe-eyed Halle Morse. Vibrant and sassy, she longs to achieve the stardom of The Woman. Together, they form a formidable union, which is carefully divided by Carl Clemons-Hopkins as The Man. Each of the women has a seductive vocal duet with The Man before the night is over. Clemons-Hopkins is tall and good-looking, and it’s clear his character admires a woman’s physical “assets.”
In a solo number, Clemons-Hopkins deserves a lot of credit for tackling a Bessie Smith tune, “Baby Doll,” that is clearly intended for a woman’s voice.
The night isn’t a litany of complaints, aches, tears and yearning. A number of novelty tunes bring some lighter moments. In one memorable number, some excellent choreography practically puts us onboard during a bumpy “Take Me for a Buggy Ride.” In this duet, Zonya Love tries to give some comical life lessons to Clemons-Hopkins. Another upbeat tune, “Kitchen Man,” is also sung by Love. Her suggestive movements give new meaning to lyrics that include, “I can’t do without my kitchen man; he never fails to satisfy me.”
Many of the show’s other songs say it all in their titles, such as “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” “When Your Lover Has Gone,” and “Dirty No-Gooder’s Blues.”
Blues in the Night is tailor-made for blues fans, but it also deserves attention by those who want “something different” for their night-on-the-town. These talented singers and musicians certainly qualify in this category.
