'The Devil's Music': Bessie Smith sings one last time
Some jukebox musicals have plots, strong characterization, and compelling narrative arcs (The Buddy Holly Story, Mamma Mia). Others don't even bother to hide their show's conceit.
Some jukebox musicals have plots, strong characterization, and compelling narrative arcs (
The Buddy Holly Story
,
Mamma Mia
). Others don't even bother to hide their show's conceit.
The Devil's Music, a 90-minute bioshow about the life of Bessie Smith, played by Miche Braden at People's Light, falls into the latter category. It starts with bassist Pickle (Jim Hankins) telling us we're watching Smith's last performance before she died in a car crash later that evening in Mississippi in 1937. He follows by adding, "Bessie never talked that much, but you couldn't shut her up that night."
And talk she does. About her impoverished childhood, her early years on the vaudeville circuit, her rise to fame as a recording artist (her first record sold 780,000 copies, she reminds us twice), her marriage to an abusive husband, and eventual descent into alcoholism and spite-filled infidelity.
Between biographical segments, Braden belts out Smith's most memorable tunes, hitting her stride in "Downhearted Blues," and never losing it after. Braden keeps things interesting, if not particularly engaging. She reels off quips like "They say I'm a hard drinker, but baby, that's the easiest thing to do," while flirting with the audience with the acumen of a veteran comedian. Most of the laughs come in these moments - the little asides that finally feel genuine in a book, by Angelo Parra, that otherwise fails to capture Smith's brazen persona, dispenses with conflict, and develops no narrative or dramatic arc.
James F. Pyne's Southern speakeasy set glows in hardwood hues and the soft tones of plush furniture, but Todd O Wren's lighting detracts from any sense of place. And it's not his fault - the story shifts among Hankins' voice-over narration, Smith's last performance, and a cutaway courtroom scene sustained only by Braden's potent portrayal of desperation.
The production never generates the magic to validate these shifts. Ultimately, this song-centered (though not song-driven) show falls into the category of jukebox musical that might transcend the fan base of the original artist, but doesn't give unfamiliar audiences many reasons to care.
THEATER REVIEW
The Devil's Music
Through Nov. 24 at People's Light and Theatre Company,
39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern.
Tickets: $26-$46.
610-644-3500 or peopleslight.org
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