Alberta Hunter was a survivor. Born at the turn of the 20th Century, she fought against racism while achieving a long list of successes in entertainment. Her professional career soared even as her personal life was the stuff of the blues. To present this long and tumultuous life, playwright Marion J. Caffey has created a doppelganger to represent Alberta at both ends of the spectrum; living in 1977, singing the blues at a Greenwich Village club, the Cookery, while re-living her rise and fall and rise on the global stage. Cookin' at the Cookery is a nightclub retrospective that allows the older Alberta to share with the audience her spunk, influences, collaborators and music, as well as the rocky trail that contained overwhelming amounts of soaring and crashing. Black Theatre Troupe and Director Danny Holgate do an excellent job of presenting this soulful, playful and earnest script.

Though initially confusing, the multi-talented Crystal Carol Harvey begins as the young Alberta, full of big dreams and sour notes, and the dynamic Rico Burton is the other end of the spectrum, the 82 year-old singer making yet another amazing comeback, this time from two-decades worth of nursing and avoiding the unforgiving "biz." Throughout, they leap back and forth, as Ms. Harvey dons many costume pieces and attitudes to become the key figures in Alberta's life, while Ms. Burton sweeps from the club stage to become Alberta's biggest influence, her mother. It may sound muddy, but once the conceit is established, the two move seamlessly between old and young, traveling through the decades and serving up the blues both in song and in life. Along the way, they dish up some wonderful renditions of such saucy and heart wrenching songs like "Rough and Ready Man" and "St. Louis Blues."

Textually, there are some rough patches, bumpy segues and telegraphed moments such as the awkward transition to a reminiscence of Alberta's film career. Keeping the action moving in between the ballads and duets is a challenge. This is a piece that depends on pacing, and to that end, Ms. Dunlap and her cast have found the right levels for most every scene and song. Given the difficulty of the concept, though, Ms. Dunlap, Ms. Burton and Ms. Harvey are very successful in moving through the 74 years this show encompasses.

Ms. Harvey is an adept actress, donning many characters of many colors and ages. Her triumph, though, is her turn as one of Alberta's stage partners, Louis Armstrong. She does an excellent job mimicking Satchmo, stopping the show with a recreation of the fabulous duet between Satch and Alberta on "When the Saints Go Marchin' In." The two also do a very good job of strutting through Reggie Kelly's choreography. Ms. Burton, ordinarily a strong singer, seemed a little tight opening night. I'm unsure if it is because she's trying to recreate Alberta's singing style, or a strained voice, but she still does an excellent job and her acting is solid.

The onstage jazz quartet of Musical Director Lawrence O. Dabney on piano, Kale Gans' bass, Adam Winn's guitar, and Dan Mock on drums never miss a beat or lose the mood. Craig Steenerson's set is a successful showbiz triptych of a central club stage surrounded by a dressing room and a living room, each sporting a patchwork frame to push home the memory element of the show. Michael J. Eddy's lighting works very well to establish mood, and Carol Simmon's extensive costumes are good implications of period for Ms. Harvey, though sketchier for Ms. Burton.

As Black Theatre Troupe makes the move to Herberger residency, Artistic Director David Hemphill must ensure a consistency in the level of professionalism of each production. The sadly small audience on Friday night saw him doing just that. It's exciting to see a minority-based company coming into its own, even as it's upsetting to see limited support from the overall community.

Production Details:
Cookin' at the Cookery by Marion J. Caffey
Black Theatre Troupe
The Herberger Theater Center Stage West, Phoenix (For a map to location, click this link)
(602) 252-8497
May 31st - June 16th, 2002

You are visitor number to this site since 4/14/99.