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"Stormy Weather' at the Prince
Steve Cohen
Rags to riches to racism
STEVE COHEN
Stormy Weather: Imagining Lena Horne is a crowd-pleasing show. But writer Sharleen Cohen Cooper strives for something deeper. With additional work, her idea could be fulfilled.
In its world premiere, the play presents the legendary singer/actress in her mid-60s (circa 1980), in seclusion, refusing an offer to appear again on Broadway. When she recalls the turmoil of her career and her personal life, we see it enacted by young and beautiful Kearran Giovanni, who sings most of the songs while Leslie Uggams, playing the older Lena, sings very little until the final scenes.
This is the problem. Uggams is a star and she’s in fine voice, singing with more passion than I’ve ever heard from her. Not only that, her name above the title is what draws many ticket-buyers, and they expect to see and hear her sing more. As the play stands now, their expectations are frustrated.
My suggestion: Let Giovanni do the opening line of songs, then segue to Uggams singing while the younger woman pantomimes. But shine the spotlight on Uggams.
Drama abounds in Horne’s struggles with racism (from white folks and from fellow blacks alike), with her parents, her first husband and her son (who got hooked on drugs), and then with her stressful marriage to Lennie Hayton, the white pianist-conductor. A series of humiliations left Horne filled with repressed rage. So this is much more than rags-to-riches success story, and we are fascinated, even though we know the outcome.
Add to this a hit parade of songs associated with Horne’s career (by Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern and more) and you have an evening that’s pleasurable and satisfying, except for the frustration of seeing Uggams on stage with few songs to sing.
The supporting cast is excellent. Kevyn Morrow as Horne’s sympathetic friend Billy Strayhorn captures that composer’s appearance and style superbly. Daniel J. Watts and Jared Grimes play the team of black dancers who frequently worked with Lena, and they do a dazzling production number. Dee Hoty is a droll Kay Thompson, who helped Horne develop her screen style. But Davis Gaines is miscast as Hayton, presenting a suave, leading man with a cultivated baritone voice instead of the rough-hewn, behind-the-scenes operator.
The best moments of the evening occur when Horne/Uggams looks back at her life and quietly sings "Yesterday When I Was Young," and then when she returns to Broadway in a one-woman show— as she actually did in 1981— and belts "Stormy Weather."
STEVE COHEN
Stormy Weather: Imagining Lena Horne is a crowd-pleasing show. But writer Sharleen Cohen Cooper strives for something deeper. With additional work, her idea could be fulfilled.
In its world premiere, the play presents the legendary singer/actress in her mid-60s (circa 1980), in seclusion, refusing an offer to appear again on Broadway. When she recalls the turmoil of her career and her personal life, we see it enacted by young and beautiful Kearran Giovanni, who sings most of the songs while Leslie Uggams, playing the older Lena, sings very little until the final scenes.
This is the problem. Uggams is a star and she’s in fine voice, singing with more passion than I’ve ever heard from her. Not only that, her name above the title is what draws many ticket-buyers, and they expect to see and hear her sing more. As the play stands now, their expectations are frustrated.
My suggestion: Let Giovanni do the opening line of songs, then segue to Uggams singing while the younger woman pantomimes. But shine the spotlight on Uggams.
Drama abounds in Horne’s struggles with racism (from white folks and from fellow blacks alike), with her parents, her first husband and her son (who got hooked on drugs), and then with her stressful marriage to Lennie Hayton, the white pianist-conductor. A series of humiliations left Horne filled with repressed rage. So this is much more than rags-to-riches success story, and we are fascinated, even though we know the outcome.
Add to this a hit parade of songs associated with Horne’s career (by Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern and more) and you have an evening that’s pleasurable and satisfying, except for the frustration of seeing Uggams on stage with few songs to sing.
The supporting cast is excellent. Kevyn Morrow as Horne’s sympathetic friend Billy Strayhorn captures that composer’s appearance and style superbly. Daniel J. Watts and Jared Grimes play the team of black dancers who frequently worked with Lena, and they do a dazzling production number. Dee Hoty is a droll Kay Thompson, who helped Horne develop her screen style. But Davis Gaines is miscast as Hayton, presenting a suave, leading man with a cultivated baritone voice instead of the rough-hewn, behind-the-scenes operator.
The best moments of the evening occur when Horne/Uggams looks back at her life and quietly sings "Yesterday When I Was Young," and then when she returns to Broadway in a one-woman show— as she actually did in 1981— and belts "Stormy Weather."
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