FromthefrontMezzanine

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom     By Joseph Cervelli First, thanks needs to be paid to Denzel Washington for being responsible in bringing the late August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" to Netflix. His goal (bless him!) is to bring all ten of the incomparable Wilson's canon of plays in the "Pittsburgh Cycle" that depict the struggles of African Americans through the 20th Century to film. "Ma Rainey" which appeared on Broadway in 1984  and may have been the only one in the series that I missed, is now gloriously brought to life. Directed with fierceness and tenderness by George C. Wolfe  it boasts the superb Viola Davis as the lead character and an overwhelmingly amazing performance by the late Chadwick Boseman. It is astonishing that he was so ill making this his last film and looking so sadly frail that I sat in awe at how  he could pull this through. He died at such a young age that I still think back at how versatile (an overused word th

  Thursday, March 5, 2020 Darling Grenadine--A Beautifully Touching New Musical        By Joseph Cervelli There is still time to rush over to the Black Box to see one of the best shows of the season, thus far, "Darling Grenadine" with book, music and lyrics by Daniel Zaitchik. His  catchy tunes and insightful lyrics are very reminiscent of Jason Robert Brown. Maybe, not as stylish as Brown. but there is enough here in especially two of his songs that definitely make this composer/ writer worth keeping an eye out for. It is a bittersweet tale with Harry (a wonderful Adam Kantor) who writes jingles and only one really seems to have made it big--well as big as jingles could go. He is an aspiring songwriter but something  is keeping him back. That "something" sadly is his addiction to alcohol which starts to play a prominent role in the show. Harry who plays the piano in his brother Paul's  (an always excellent Jay Armstrong Johnson) bar falls in love with a Broadwa

  72 Miles To Go...--So Many Missed Opportunities        By Joseph Cervelli The most stunning moment in Hilary Bettis' uninvolving and labored new play "72 Miles To Go...." at the Laura PelsTheatre is the physical transformation that occurs in one of the five characters near the end of the show. You might be tempted, as I, to immediately check your Playbill to see if there was another actor taking over. No makeup change nor prosthetics. Just a few minor alterations, and it was quite amazing. You may find yourself staring at the actor and losing concentration of the dialogue which would not be a huge loss for nothing of much significance is spoken about. It is hard to conceive of a play that deals with immigration and DACA turning out to be so dull and situations just don't really make a great deal of sense or fully explained. Billy (Triney Sandoval) is a Unitarian minister who lives with his daughter Eva (Jacqueline Guile) who is about to graduate high school as class