MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM [ 1/2]
Royale Theatre, 242 W. 45th St., (212) 329-6200.
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WHEN August Wilson burst upon Broadway in 1984 with “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” two stars were born – Wilson, a new playwright of stature, and his lead actor, the hitherto unknown but explosive Charles S. Dutton.
Last night at the Royale Theatre, Wilson, Dutton and Ma Rainey – freshly enthroned in the imperious presence of Whoopi Goldberg – were back for an encore.
So what has time done for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” – improved it, shriveled it or left it much as it was? The answer seems a bit of all three.
What is certain is that Wilson has abundantly lived up to his early promise, having nearly completed his aim of producing a 10-play cycle charting, decade by decade, the history of the black experience in America during the 20th century.
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is set in ’20s Chicago, unlike his other plays, which are set in Philadelphia. Here, in a recording studio, the great blues singer Ma Rainey – a real and celebrated figure in jazz history – is laying tracks for a series of 78-rpm discs.
Rainey is a diva, the best seller on the Paramount “Race” label – and a shrewd, canny bitch, complete with a young lesbian lover (with wandering eyes), a protégé nephew and a tremulous if rancidly determined white manager.
The nephew stutters, but Ma insists, all the same, that he provide a spoken introduction to her song.
Goldberg is one of the joys of this new production. She sings well – granted, she’s no Ma Rainey or Bessie Smith – and acts with a cutting force.
This Ma Rainey knows that while she’s a star, a big star, she’s also a black star who, when she walks out of the studio, can’t call a cab on the street.
That kind of irony – the interplay between black and white culture, before civil rights – was the real strength of Wilson’s play.
Still, Wilson has done it better in some of his later plays, even his earlier play “Jitney,” and seeing “Rainey” in its new place in the cycle highlights its weak construction, particularly in its melodramatic ending.
On the other hand, Wilson’s sense of characterization is masterful. His portraits of Ma; the ambitious, abrasive trumpet player Levee (Dutton); and all the other jazzmen and hangers-on are etched in the blood of reality.
Marion McClinton’s staging is smoothly conversational, David Gallo’s raggedly ratty setting proves superb, while Toni-Leslie James’ neatly period costumes are perhaps a shade too elegant.
The acting is beautiful, with an exquisite interplay between the three sidemen, Carl Gordon (Cutler), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Slow Drag) and the marvelously laconic Thomas Jefferson Byrd (Toledo).
Dutton is still a storm. He seethes with the constant menace of thunder, but a Levee in his early 50s is rather different from a Levee in his early 30s.
This “Ma Rainey” doesn’t generate the same excitement as it did back in 1984 – but it’s definitely worth seeing.