Paradise Blue
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Cititour.com Review
In works as diverse as “Skeleton Crew” and “Pipeline,” the playwright Dominique Morriseau can be heard clearly, often educating us about the truth of the African-American experience in the U.S. Her voice rings just as loudly in her new work, “Paradise Blue,” although both the work’s language and plot has been spiced up with a heavy dash of August Wilson and a pinch of both Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams. And while this may sound a sure-fire recipe for greatness, the result – even in Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s sure-handed production at the Pershing Square Signature Center –ends up tasting a tad undercooked.
Morriseau’s story revolves around Blue (J. Alphonse Nicholson), the troubled trumpeter/owner of Detroit jazz club Paradise, who struggles with many things throughout the proceedings: his potentially crippling mental demons (brought on by his constant memories of his father murdering his mother); his desire to sell the club and leave the city, preferably with sweet-natured girlfriend Pumpkin (Kristolyn Lloyd); and the sudden arrival of Silver (Simone Missick), a Southern “black widow” who has obviously come to town for more than just a pit stop. Still, the play’s outcome would really be never much in doubt – even without the fact that Morriseau more-or-less reveals it in the show’s initial scene.
However, Morriseau’s larger problem is her protagonist, who comes off as an overly entitled, too-angry man whom we never really believe would inspire the loyalty and devotion of Pumpkin, as well as longtime pals and fellow musicians, Corn (the excellent Keith Randolph-Smth) and Sam (a memorable Francois Battiste, who can handle exuberance, rage and melancholy with equal expertise). Admittedly, I think a different leading man might have helped here: Nicholson, who is decidedly reminiscent of a young Denzel Washington, gets an A+ plus for intensity, but more of a C- for vulnerability. (Sadly, his eventual breakdown wouldn’t cut it on a second-rate soap opera.)
It’s little wonder, then, that the two actresses here really soak up the spotlight. Lloyd, finally playing a grown woman rather than the high school student she personified so brilliantly for the past few years in “Dear Evan Hansen,” is a revelation: tender-hearted yet tough, timid yet ultimately proud, and quiet but fiery (in every sense of the word). And for those who saw her in the Tony-winning musical, Lloyd’s casting has another dimension, since much is made of Pumpkin’s supposed ability (or inability) to sing well. (I won’t spoil whether she finally gets to display her vocal prowess.)
As for Missick (a star of the series “Luke Cage”), she creates a supremely sexy, slithery femme fatale: a woman who knows how to use her brain as astutely as her body to get what she wants. Dressed in Clint Ramos’ tight, sometimes revealing all-black wardrobe and pacing the sidelines of Neil Patel’s clever unit set (in which the club and Silver’s bedroom constantly share the same space), her Silver is always a spider ready to bite, or more aptly, a snake ready to tempt and then devour its victim. But Missick, in a star-making turn, makes sure Silver never lapses into caricature, always remaining a three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood woman, one who is ultimately revealed to be the work’s most complex character.
Whatever the play’s flaws, Morriseau is to be lauded not just for the show’s much-needed history lesson (revealing a story about a part of Detroit in 1949 unfamiliar to most), but also for her prescient, timely reminder that female empowerment and racial equality have been issues for many decades and remain so to this day. In fact, given all of the work’s many strengths, one can’t help but feel a tiny bit blue that “Paradise Blue” falls short of being a masterpiece.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://www.signaturetheatre.org/shows-and-events/Productions/2017-2018/Paradise-Blue.aspx
Cast
Francois Battiste, Kristolyn Lloyd, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Keith Randolph Smith
Open/Close Dates
Opening 4/24/2018
Closing 6/17/2018
Box Office
212-244-7529
Theatre Info
Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
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