By Darlene Donloe
As the play begins, Grammy-winning blues guitarist, actor, and composer Chris Thomas King plays his heart out as he sits in the corner onstage draped under a warm spotlight. The next image we see is of Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago Hudson standing opposite the guitarist. He, too, is draped under a warm spotlight. Then it begins.
Santiago-Hudson starts to weave a tale about his life through a magical, musical reminiscence called Lackawanna Blues.
This autobiographical narrative is a funny, emotional, intense and authentic look at Santiago-Hudson’s life starting with his 1950s childhood in a small town on the banks of Lake Erie.
The piece pays homage to Rachel Crosby, otherwise known as Nanny, a woman who came to raise Santiago-Hudson as her own after his birth mother could no longer care for him. Nanny found out the mother was leaving the child alone in her rented boarding house room with only a hamburger to his name. Nanny was a no-nonsense, but loving woman who wanted only the best for Santiago-Hudson. From humble beginnings she opened a boardinghouse for society’s castaways and quickly became the neighborhood’s enforcer, confidant, saving grace and mother to the entire community. Santiago-Hudson watched it all unfold.
As he masterfully works the stage, Santiago-Hudson takes on more than 20 colorful characters – all coming to life through his various voices, gentle movements, and rapid delivery. All of the characters that came through the neighborhood and, specifically, the eccentric boardinghouse, are distinct with their individual voices and distinct gait. The childhood characters that pervaded Santiago-Hudson’s life included everyone from would-be philosophers and petty hustlers to lost souls and abandoned lovers.
And they all had intriguing names. Let's see, there was one-legged Lemuel Taylor, Cockeyed Shakey, Numb Finger Peter, Lackawanna Smitty, Bo-Jack, and Finger Willy, just to name a few.
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| (l-r) Chris Thomas King and Ruben Santiago-Hudson |
Live blues music – courtesy of Chris Thomas King and played throughout the show, brings an added layer of drama to the celebration of the eccentric boardinghouse he grew up in.
Santiago-Hudson has skillfully crafted a pleasing and riveting piece taken from the pages of his life. It’s interesting to see just how each encounter Santiago-Hudson had led to his growth and development.
While there really wasn’t anything funny about Santiago-Hudson’s upbringing, there are some magical and comical moments in the show – mostly courtesy of Ol’ Po Carl, an old Negro Leagues baseball player who describes his hard-drinking sickness as “roaches of the liver” and calls the New York skyscraper the “Entire State Building.” And let's not forget how “beauty is in the behind of the holder” when describing African-American women who dance provocatively in order to seduce men.
While his acting, writing and directing skills are on display – his harmonica playing can’t be ignored. Santiago-Hudson plays it with finesse as if it’s another character. He and King together bring depth and emotion to the show.
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| Ruben Santiago-Hudson |
Lackawanna Blues, originally produced by New York’s Public Theater in 2001, is written, performed and directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Original music for the production is composed by Bill Sims Jr. with additional music performed and composed by Chris Thomas King, who took over for Sims Jr., who made his transition earlier this year. King is nothing short of brilliant.
Kudos to Michael Carnahan’s set design, which is simplistic, yet bold. The backdrop is of a brick boarding house. Jen Schriever’s lighting also deserves a round of applause.
On the DONLOE SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likable), O (oh, yeah) and E (excellent), Lackawanna Blues gets an E (excellent).
Lackawanna Blues, Mark Taper Forum, At The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angles; 8 p.m., Tues.-Fri.; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Sat.; 1 p.m. Sun. through April 21; added 6:30 p.m. Sunday performances in lieu of a 1 p.m. performance on April 14 and April 21; no public performances on Tues., March 19; Wednesday, March 20; Thurs., March 21 and Fri., March 22; no 8 p.m. performance on Tues., April 16; $30-$109; 213.628.2772; www.centertheatregroup.org
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