I’ll make this short and sweet. Go see Miche Braden as
Bessie Smith in The Devil’s Music at
the Cleveland Play House. I have only hear the real Bessie Smith on scratchy
old recordings from the 20’s and 30’s, but if she was nearly as good as Ms.
Braden is in this play than she was quite the talent.
The one act 90 minute production is filled
with great versions of old blues tunes like “Dirty No-Gooder Blues,” “Blame it
on the Blues,” “Devil Dance Blues,” “‘t Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do,” and “I
Ain’t Got Nobody.” Throughout the show Braden is backed by three talented
actors/musicians, George Caldwell on piano, Jim Hankins on bass, and Keith
Loftis on sax. The monologues and story telling between songs are wonderful.
The
Play House has really hit home runs on their annual musical biographies they
have staged over the years, and this is another one. What a great night of
musical theater.
The
Devil’s Music is running through March 10 downtown at the Play House’s new
Allen Theater home. For more information go to www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment