By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Thursday
March 1, 2007
It's almost a religious experience. The John Beasley Theater's production of the musical "Crowns," by Regina Taylor, features so much beautifully sung blues, gospel and old-timey church hymns, with just a little bit of preaching and a lot of high-stepping thrown into the mix, you'll feel like you've been to a revival meeting. But rest assured it's some of the most lively and entertaining church you'll ever experience, thanks to this cast of seven exceptionally talented singer-actors.
Taylor has written a 95-minute, no-intermission show about black women's love of extravagant hats, most especially worn to Sunday church. As six women characters expound on their experience with hats, elements of family, history and tradition are woven into the mix, along with all those wonderful hymns.
Beasley is the seventh cast member, serving in a variety of husband, father and preacher roles, and he shows off a pretty good set of pipes himself on songs such as "Hem of Your Garment."
The show hasn't so much a plot as a premise - a young girl (Brandi Smith) whose brother was shot to death in an inner-city neighborhood is sent to live with her grandmother in a small Southern town. At first she feels like a foreigner, singled out for her clothes and hair. Through a series of storytelling vignettes, the girl gets a new sense of her roots and cultural identity. But she also maintains her individuality as she's tutored and then absorbed by the group.
The vignettes, played out on a bare stage ringed by hat displays, instruct in all things hat-related, from how they reveal and conceal to how they stay in place right into the coffin or are handed down as rich heritage. Proportion, color and shape are crucial. Don't touch. Hug with care.
The purchase and storage of hats are a rich source of humor, along with the reactions of husbands and preachers who simply do not understand. Sometimes great sacrifice is required to afford that special hat. "I lend my children before I lend my hats," says one character. "My children know their way home."
Smith could give "American Idol" a run for its money with her gorgeous vocals on numbers such as "I Don't Know How This Dead Soul Can Rise Again." And although Millicent Crawford, Phyllis Mitchell-Butler and Mahalia Asanaenyi each has fine moments in the spotlight as well, Janet Ashley and particularly TammyRa grab that light and run away with it in a flourish of comedic skill, movement and vocal embellishment that leaves you breathless. Audience members were moved to shouts and applause, even getting to their feet to move along - the same kind of enthusiasm you see when Jennifer Hudson grabs you by the throat in "Dreamgirls."
Fletcher Nickerson's fine choreography and R. Leon Adams' stage-left combo of keyboards and percussion add considerably to the fun. Vocal director Curtis Leach and director Amy Laaker keep energy levels and pacing percolating at all times, and exceptional diction means you understand lines and lyrics clearly, all the way to the back of the small house.
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