‘Blues’ has audience tickled pink

By Milan Paurich

For a play ostensibly about the blues, Sheldon Epps’ Tony-nominated musical revue “Blues in the Night” feels remarkably ebullient in the stellar production that opened to a rapturous crowd Friday night at the Youngstown Playhouse.

Credit director John Cox and his outstanding cast for that enviable feat. Carla D. Gipson, Nikita R. Jones, Martin Charles Moore and Playhouse newbie Amariah McIntosh give such spirited performances that their joie de vivre becomes downright infectious. These are actors clearly reveling in the sheer joy of performance.

Everyone on stage — including the pitch-perfect Juke Joint Band led by musical director Debra Fears — is having a ball, and so will you. Judging by the dancing I observed in the aisles, “Blues in the Night” won’t leave anyone with a case of the blues.

In vague outline, the show resembles an August (“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) Wilson play in which the late Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s poetic dialogue has been replaced with classic blues songs (Benny Goodman’s “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” Bessie Smith’s “It Makes My Love Come Down,” et al).

Set in a rundown Chicago hotel sometime in the 1930s, “Blues” assembles an archetypal group of women of varying ages and backgrounds and lets them sing their hearts out, mostly about their individual man troubles. Watching from a distance — or at least stage right — is “The Man in the Saloon” (Moore), the hotel nightclub’s emcee. Like a one-“Man” Greek Chorus, he occasionally offers his two cents’ worth about the ladies’ woes. He’s not a terribly sympathetic observer either. According to the Man, “Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues,” so they should all just shut up about the men who did them wrong.

As the eldest of the femme trio, “The Lady from the Road” gets most of the big solo numbers, and grande dame McIntosh is more than up for the challenge. A onetime chorus girl on the chitlin circuit, the saucy, plus-sized “Lady” spends most days waxing nostalgic over her former showbiz glory. The sexual innuendo-laden “Kitchen Man” (“that boy really knows how to handle some meat”) becomes a down-and-dirty tour-de-force in McIntosh’s supremely confident hands. Plus, she’s the beneficiary of costume designer Cherie Stebner’s most outrageous get-ups (including a cowgirl outfit that had the audience howling with approval).

The middle-aged “Woman of the World” (Gipson) is the most reflective of the bunch. Although still beautiful, she has a hard time dealing with the fact that her looks are now fading.

The wonderfully empathetic Gipson makes “The Woman” the show’s most poignant, haunting figure, and her rousing audience participation number (Alberta Hunter’s great “Rough and Ready Man”) is one of the evening’s many highlights.

Newly arrived in the big, bad city and still wet behind the ears, “The Girl With a Date” (Jones) hasn’t had time to become jaded or bitter yet. Still brimming with youthful naivet and romantic idealism (Jones really nails the buoyantly wistful “Taking a Chance on Love”), she hopes to mend her recently broken heart by falling in love again. But from the look of things — her dream “Date” never materializes — “The Girl” is soon headed for disillusionment and additional heartache.

In such a diva-centric setting, it’s only natural that the most enigmatic character is “The Man.”

I’m not certain whether it’s a flaw in Epps’ original conception of the role, but I was never entirely convinced of his connection, real or imaginary, with “The Lady,” “The Woman” or “The Girl.” The fact that Moore has less stage time than his co-stars doesn’t help. At times, “The Man” seems to have wandered in from an entirely different show. Deft hoofer Moore, however, truly delivers the goods with his two major dance showcases (Duke Ellington’s “I’m Just A Lucky So-and-So” and Bessie Smith’s “Baby Doll”). I just wish that he’d been more smoothly integrated into the overall production.

The handsome set design (by Jim Lybarger) and dramatic lighting effects (John Pecano and Lybarger) are both strikingly, seamlessly accomplished. Except for some minor opening-night mic gaffes — the terrific musicians occasionally drown out the equally marvelous singers — Cox and his esteemed company have crafted a blues musical that even dyed-in-the-wool rock-’n’-rollers should love.

“Blues in the Night” plays through Aug. 9 at the Youngstown Playhouse.

For tickets or additional information, call (330) 788-8739.