In Production…
Blues in the Night
July 27 – August 28, 2018
Jubilee Theatre • 506 Main Street • Fort Worth, Texas 76102
Directors Notes:
The Lady remembering her brighter past, The Woman primping for her gentleman caller, the Girl making a fresh start in the big city, and the Man in the Saloon watching over it all… those are your hosts for Blues in the Night. They provide us with a taste of Chicago in the 1930’s – the dreams, the hard times, and the soulful blues that play long into the night.
How do you approach a show that has no noticeable dialogue and is all one evening of vignettes linked by 26 musical numbers? You have to understand the style of music and interpret each number through the characters. Who are these unique individuals and how does each song affect and influence them? With such a rich and glorious folio of music to play against, the characters must become deep and fleshed out if they are to survive. If they are only actors singing the songs, then you simply have a concert. The challenge is to make you recognize each different character and want to follow them on their individual journeys. You have to care about them as they sing of their sorrows, their loves, and their dreams on this long sultry night.
When I first sat down with this material and listened to the beautiful score, I was taken by the rich quality of blues itself. It is a style that evokes the greatest traditions of storytelling. The genre is made for theater, it is filled with: sorrow, happiness, loss, desire, regret, joy, and longing. Blues music has a deep history in America, tracing back to the slave camps and plantations of the south. The Blues began maturing and growing in the field hollers, the work songs, the tent revivals, and the juke joints that filled the lower states at the turn of the century. It grew in prominence and became more widespread during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Mention the Blues and names like Blind Lemmon Jefferson, Ma Rainey, Billie Holiday, T-Bone Walker, Fat’s Waller, B.B. King, and Sarah Vaughn come to mind. They each brought the genre to life and added to the rich tapestry of the Blues. Blues songs are seasoned by each performer, making even the oldest songs seem new and fresh with each new rendition. The songs meld and take on the qualities of the singer; Blues music has the ability to change from sorrowful to uplifting with each performance and performer.
In the immortal words of B. B. King: “People all over the world have problems. And as long as people have problems, the blues can never die… I’m trying to get people to see that we are our brother’s keeper. Red, white, black, brown, or yellow – rich or poor, we all have the blues.”
— Michael Serrecchia
Upcoming…
- A Chorus Line – Booker T. Washington • Opens September 13, 2018
- Pippin – Trinity River Arts Center • Opens November 8, 2018
- The Spectacular Senior Follies – The Eisemann Center, Richardson • Opens September 20, 2018
- TBA – Pegasus Theatre • Opens December 31, 2018
- Bubbling Brown Sugar – Jubilee Theatre • Opens March 22, 2019
- TBA – MainStage Irving Las Colinas • Opens November 8, 2019