For those who don’t have much time, let’s make this simple. If you would enjoy hearing four incredible voices giving superbly memorable performances of early blues and jazz classics, Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s “Blues in the Night” is a can’t-miss production. If jazz, blues, or music in general doesn’t appeal to you, stay home.
Although wrapped in stage device – an attractive set by Shaun Motley that creates a 1930s hotel, Celeste Jennings’ beautiful period costumes, wonderfully tight direction by Ron O.J. Parson, and acting chops that convey the life and attitude of the performers – “Blues in the Night” is mainly a revue with little real stage dialogue or plot. It does have plenty of stories, but they are told through the music and the wonderful singers who perform it.
The musical, nominated for a Tony for Best Musical in 1982, focuses on three women, living at the hotel. Each is at a different stage of life and has their own story and musical style.
Cynthia F. Carter is brilliant as the Lady of the Road, a blues singer who has begun to wonder if most of her life and career aren’t now confined to a steamer trunk full of old costumes and memories. She combines warmth and humor with an incredible voice, and her performance of the risqué “Take Me For a Buggy Ride” is a showstopper.