I first heard of
Sister Rosetta Tharpe when I saw
Park Square Theatre's regional premiere production of the play Marie and Rosetta in 2018. Known as the "godmother of rock and roll," she certainly should be more well known, and this play makes sure that she is. Yellow Tree Theatre was scheduled to do the play last season, but had to reschedule it to this season, and it was worth the wait. Written by
Playwrights' Center affiliated writer George Brant, Marie and Rosetta imagines the night of the first performance of Rosetta and her protege/duet partner
Marie Knight. A night in 1946 Mississippi when there was no room at the inn for two black women singers, so they rehearsed and slept in a funeral home with a kindly owner. This play with music paints a beautiful picture of these two very different women, their music, and their relationship, as well as the hardships both faced in their lives and careers, and brings these two musical legends to vivid life.* Unfortunately I caught the show at the end of the run - there are only four more performances before it closes this Sunday, so
get out to Osseo soon to catch this great two-hander!
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Sister Rosetta (Adair Gilliam) and Marie
(Chaz Shermil Hodges, photo by Alex Clark) |
When Rosetta met Marie, she was already a gospel recording and performing star. Marie was a young singer just starting out, singing in a quartet and trying not to stand out. But Rosetta saw something in her and asked her to join the band. The play opens with Marie nervously doing Rosetta's make-up in the funeral parlor where they're also going to rehearse for that evening's show. Rosetta slowly draws Marie out of her shell, and it turns out she's not quite as innocent as she seems. Rosetta wants Marie to make the act a little more "church," but also wants to bring out the "swing" in Marie. As they try out songs for their performance, they settle somewhere in the middle of their two styles, and the result is magic. This is a play in which not a lot happens, but much is learned and shared in the exploration of these two lives.*
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Sister Rosetta (Adair Gilliam) and Marie
(Chaz Shermil Hodges, photo by Alex Clark) |
Ansa Akyea and Richard Thompson join forces to direct the piece, and the result is 100 minutes of more or less one long scene that flows seamlessly from music to dialogue and back again, from reality to... somewhere else. The cast features two relatively new performers to #TCTheater in star turns. Adair Gilliam has impressed in
a couple of supporting roles at Artistry the last couple of years, and it's great to see her in a lead (or co-lead) role here. She's excellent as the more experienced musician, full of life and spirit, with a great voice and truly impressive guitar skills (acoustic and electric). The last time I saw Chaz Shermil Hodges on a #TCTheater stage
was coincidentally also in 2018, and she is perfectly cast as the less experienced Marie, sweet and naive but also standing up for herself.
The two women sing about a dozen gospel standards, including "Up Above My Head," written by Rosetta and Marie, while accompanying themselves on piano and guitar (gospel guitar? oh yes!).* Adair and Chaz are a great duo, and their harmonies are outstanding. From where I was sitting, it looked and sounded like they both were actually playing the piano too, or else they do a great job faking it. But I wish they had been able to be unmiked in Yellow Tree's intimate space. (Music direction by Gary Hines, who also music directed Park Square's production, and vocal direction by Jamecia Bennett, who played Rosetta in Park Square's production.)
Yellow Tree's tiny stage has been transformed into a realistic funeral parlor, with a piano and a coffin, wainscotting and funeral home appropriate wallpaper on the walls, somber drapery over the door. Lighting varies subtly, with a couple of glowing sconces on the walls. Both women are dressed in lovely period dresses, shoes, and wigs. (Scenic design by Sarah Brandner, lighting design by Alex Clark, costume design by Samantha Fromm Haddow.)
This play is a great portrait of an important figure in the history of American music, who doesn't get the credit or recognition that she deserves. Although she was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 2018 shortly after this play premiered. Yellow Tree's production does justice to the legend, the musician, and the woman.
