Skip to main content

THE INSERIES BRINGS IT FROM U STREET TO THE COTTON CLUB





It may be  230 some miles from U Street to the Cotton Club in Harlem  but it will seem like you are right there at the In Series From U Street to the Cotton Club, now playing at The Source Theatre in Washington DC.
DC’s musical contribution to the sound and soul of the Harlem Renaissance unfolds through poetry and music in  this extraordinary production. And it doesn’t just tell the history, it gives the audience  a chance to experience where it all started. There’s a special tour before the play of just where some of the clubs mentioned in the musical were on the U Street corridor.  
The exceptionally talented cast stars Michelle Rogers in duel roles as Little Lena.  Kasi Rogers and Mecca Rogers play her two children who find this musical legacy of their Grandma Lena in a trunk in the attic.
 Sybil R. Williams script of a play with music with the inclusion of poetic texts, 
weaves an operatic work of the journey of African American music from slave ships to churches to night clubs.
Memorable moments from the performance are soprano Detra Battle Washington’s sophisticated rendering of  the Duke Ellington classic “Sophisticated Lady.  Mezzo Pam Ward is sassy as she sings “Fats” Waller’s  “Ain’t Misbehavin.” Tenor Brian Quenton Thorne with the Cab Calloway special “Minnie the Mooocher” and baritone Greg Watkins in “This Joint is Jumping” turn back the clock to bring to life on stage the fun of the times. There were a few teary eyes as  the depression brings the show to a halt, with its sad 1930 number, “Brother Can you Spare a Dime?
Kudos to the fine live musicians:  Stanley Thurston on piano, Percy White on bass, and Richard Slye on percussions, and to director KenYotta Rogers and choreographer Angelisa Gillyard.
Inseries continues with its innovative program and its contribution to the community  to show the r(E)volution! -ary power of song.  Coming next will be La Paloma at the Wall at GALA Hispanic Theatre on March 23-31, 2019.

(PHOTO OF CAST BY ANGELESA GILLYARD)

WANT TO KNOW MORE
202-204-7760










Popular posts from this blog

  Once is here again!   The Brooklyn Gallery Players reach into the treasure chest of great musicals to bring Once alive and on stage in Brooklyn (until to December 17, 2023). Director Mark Gallagher , and Music Directors David Fletcher and Brendon McCray have crafted a vibrant production, seamlessly integrating the 15 member cast in roles  as both actors and musicians. Set in Dublin, the  formula for the poignant love triangle  is simple. Patrick Newhart  plays Guy, an Irish musician who has given up  on love as he sings the award winning classic  Falling.  Newhart mastered the bombastic busking guitar style and performed each of his songs with intensity and passion Sophie Smith-Brody  is Girl,  a Czech woman  who will inspire him to try again both in  love and with music. Smith-Brody performed each of her disparate songs with aplomb,  from the opening classical piece to her plaintive solos – If You Want...
Read more
From EUGENE ONEGIN  to  DER ROSENKAVALIER  (Or Everything you want to know about love is at the MET OPERA) Great music and great literature meet on a great stage at the Met Opera’s production of Eugene Onegin on the big screen on April 25, 2017.  The words are Pushkin’s from his  Russian novel-poem.  The music is by Tchaikovsky  for what he termed “lyrical scenes.” Tchaikovsky’s music is forever embedded in our consciousness  with his fantasy ballets like  Nutcracker   and Swan Lake .   Pushkin’s work has provided the inspiration for dozens of musical works, including another famous Russian opera, Boris Godunov.     This team of Tchaikovsky and Pushkin is a sure thing but while there are many scholarly interpretations of Pushkin’s work, there is none that so gets it at its core as this opera. Using the very words from Pushkin’s poem,  Tchaikovsky built the opera through a series of powerful co...
Read more
THE GREY SUIT SOCIETY   A STORY OF FAITH, FAMILY, DEVOTION, BETRAYAL AND…RATS? A message that might seem so obvious in real life turns into a magic moment of awareness when it is takes to the stage with talented directors and a fine cast. Carlos Heredia is the actor, director and writer who with David Fletcher as music director has brought together a group of actors for a family friendly opera. Together they sounded as good as the show’s beautiful theme of peace. Who is the star of a show that is about family and devotion?   Leading the cast, is Analia Heredia as Nia who must go against society’s grain, to bring human hypocrisy into the light.   As she hopes to move out of the shadows in to a bright new world, her family includes Claudillea Holloway as Jelani,  Georgia Fender as Etana,  Sonya Rice as Achi, Carly Ameling as Jane,   Codie Milford as Omari,  Liz Neitge as Janna,  andTiana Markman as Dini. The “others” are ...
Read more