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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)

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