At Last: A Tribute M
to Etta James P
K.R. Williams
Auditorium at
WSSU
Wed, Aug. 5 8 p.m.
Thurs, Aug. 6 8 p.m.
Fri, Aug. 7 8 p.m.
Sat. Aug. 8 3 p.m.
Sat. Aug. 8 8 p.m.
$48 I
M
No one can bring a bio-musical
to life quite like Jackie Taylors
Chicago-based Black Ensemble
Theater. Teddy Pendergrass, Dionne
Warwick, Marvin Gaye and Jackie
Wilson are among the icons whose
musical highs and personal lows were
masterfully spun into infectious stage
productions by Taylor, founder of the
Black Ensemble and writer and director
of most of its greatest hits.
"At Last: A Tribute to Etta James" is BE's National Black Theatre Festival offering
this year, and, like the many productions before it, it has left audiences in Chi-Town,
where it was recently restaged, wanting more.
Dubbed "The Matriarch of R&B," James was born as Jamesetta Hawkins in Los
Angeles in 1938. Her childhood was not easy; there were foster homes and abuse.
She first sang in the church. Her deep, rich pipes packed them in at South Central
L.A!s St. Paul Baptist Church. By the time she was 16, James was a sought-after
nightclub performer and began recording and touring. Her first breakout hit was
"All 1 Could Do Was Cry!' A string of other classics, recorded for various labels,
would follow over the decades; they include "Trust in Me," "Somethings Got a Hold
on Me," "Styp the Wedding," "Push Over!' "Tell Mama," "Sunday Kind of Love" and
her signature hit, "At Last."
Five singer/actresses portray James, who died in 2012, at various points in her career in
the production. Taylor, who wrote and co-directs with Daryl D. Brooks, said James' labyrinth
of a life could not be encapsulated by just one actress.
"As the playwright, I found it impossible to tell this story using only one
person as Etta James," Taylor said. "Her life was so complex that one actress just
couldn't do her justice. That is why I've chosen five Ettas to bring this play to life."
i
For its Chicago revival late last year, Candace Edwards, Arzula Gardner, Melanie
McCullough, Alanna Taylor and Yahdina Udeen played James, taking audiences
from her teen years in the '50s to her evolving superstardom in the '60s and 70s
to her struggle to take control of her life and restart her career in '80s and to her
triumphant comeback in the 1990s. "The actresses impressively execute dozens of
James' songs along the way.
Daniel Phillips, Mark Hood and Adrian Byrd represent some of the men
in her stormy life. Ms. Real, a fierce drag queen who was played by Rueben
Echoles, leads the audience through the story. Robert Reddrick is the
music director.
Taylor founded the Black Ensemble Theater on Chicago's South Side in 1976 with
a mission "to eradicate racism and its devastating effects upon society through
the theater arts." The Black Ensemble has long had a presence at the National
Black Theatre Festival and is credited with bringing what was arguably the most
successful production in NBTF history, "The Jackie Wilson Story (My Heart is
Crying, Crying)." ?
A vintage image of the
real Etta James.
Performers Yahdina
Udeen, Candace Edwards,
Melanie McCullough, Arzula
Gardner and Alanna Taylor
as Etta James.
The women of "At Last: A Tribute to Etta James."