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If you don’t have a sweet spot for Pumpkin already— like just about every man in the room, or rather the Jazz Club/Hotel called Paradise Blue— you certainly will when you watch her attempt to puff out her chest to keep up with the newly arrived guest named Silver. Try as she might, poor Pumpkin just can’t win this contest! Silver has the kind of physique that might even make Dolly Parton feel under endowed. We can’t help but laugh as diminutive Pumpkin tries to swell to Silver size. Silver —who prefers to be called just Sil—-walks with great power too, and every man is glued to her swaying bottom as she leaves the room. Rumors abound about how Sil practices voodoo. Pumpkin might be the potential sweetheart of any man in the room, but Sil is the one who will get them drooling.
In this story, this moment of womanly endowment comparisons is but one of the great slapstick relief valves in playwright Dominique Morisseau’s Paradise Blue that helps us live in the darkness at the heart of the story— Blue’s tortured life that underlies the dramatic moment at hand.
Before the first words are even spoken, we see Blue’s anguish in the form of threatening lightening streaking across the set thanks to lighting designs that you too will likely admire as standout stagecraft. We come to learn that these storms are Blue’s demons that have been chasing him since he was a little boy.
Blue is a trumpet player who feels he is down on his game— always struggling to find that soulful and transforming gateway to transporting music called Love Supreme. With a temper like a switch knife and a control freak way of managing his band, Blue is a force to contend with. The band’s pianist Corn tries to counsel the band’s percussionist P-Sam on being more chill in order to just get along. Pumpkin is his woman, cook, maid and anchor— as best she can be. His band mates don’t know it, but Blue is about to betray them and sell the place as a way to leave Black Bottom Detroit and get a fresh start. When he shuts down Paradise Blue, it will likely begin the end of Black Bottom’s music and Black culture Mecca as a whole.
The script paints a world so complete that looking back we are somewhat surprised that there are only five actors telling this tale. We know these well-drawn and expertly performed characters well, in this writer’s opinion, even before intermission that arrives with a cliffhanger moment. That is, we think we know them, but as the story unfolds we get a shocker ending in the vein of an O’henry thriller. You’ll have to see it to find out— No spoilers here!
International Black Theatre Festival Brings Top Tier Performances to Winston-Salem
There is much talent in this production by Houston’s Ensemble Theater, in this reviewer’s opinion. Tight direction keeps the multi-scene script moving along, but always finding room to pause into windows on the various character’s inner lives. These are all actors at the top of their game.
How wonderful that after the performance and its electric volts ending we even get a chance to shake the actors’ hands and peek at the real people doing their parts. Whether you are in Houston or perhaps if the International Black Theatre Festival brings them back next time— note this as a performance not to be missed.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Photos: C. Stephen Hurst, NC Black Rep
PARADISE BLUE The Ensemble Theatre
CAST:
Blue – Jason E. Carmichael
P-Sam – Brandon J. Morgan
Silver – Liz Rachelle
Pumpkin - Crystal Rae
Corn – Curtis Von
CREATIVE TEAM:
Playwright – Dominique Morisseau
Director - Eileen J. Morris
Costume Designer – Original Design: Andre Harrington & Revised by: Krystal Uchem
Set Designer – Original Design: Larry Wesley & Revised by: James Thomas and Nate Wernig
Lighting Designer – Kris Phelps
Sound Designer – Adrian Washington
Prop Designer – Original Design: Corey Nance & Revised by: Jazmyn Bogany and Kiya Green
Hair & Makeup Designer – Sharon Ransom
Musical Consultant – Horace A. Young
Musical Composer/ Consultant – Robert White
Fight Choreographer & Intimacy Director – Kelvin Hamilton
Stage Manager – Original: Kellibrook Green & Revised by: Jazmyn Bogany
Asst. Stage Manager – Original: Stephanie McNeal & Revised by: Ryan Amie
Dramaturg – Joanne Davis- Jones
Production Manager – Krystal Uchem
Technical Director – Nate Wernig
Carpenter – Nicholas Lewis
Crew – Leevester Clay & Ryan Amie
For more information, visit the Ensemble Theatre of Houston website.
Bookmark the International Black Theatre Festival website.
About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
