If there was ever a question whether or not Katrina Garvin is the first lady of Columbia theatre, that question is put to rest in perpetuity with her performance in the role of Angel in Pearl Cleage’s 1995 play, Blues for An Alabama Sky, which opened on March 15th at Trustus Theatre.
Having seen Garvin perform for years now, we knew to expect excellent work from this multi-talented actor, but this particular part allows Garvin the latitude to flex all her chops, from the exuberant and sometimes drunken highs, to the still wistful, but resigned lows. While Blues for the Alabama Sky is not a musical, we do get a nice sampling of Garvin’s considerable vocal talent, which punches up the storyline, making the character of Angel, an out of work singer, even more authentic.
Blues for an Alabama Sky is set in 1930, during the waning days of the Harlem Renaissance, a period of time well after the Great Migration and World War I, but smack in the middle of the Great Depression when the multitudes of Black families and artists who had fled from the South to Harlem were feeling the pressure of unemployment, scarcity, and cultural exploitation by wealthy whites. The play takes place after Garvin’s Angel has just been fired from the famous Cotton Club, Harlem’s pantheon of racial exploitation where Black performing artists like Duke Ellington and Billie Holliday were predominantly featured, but Black audiences were not allowed to enjoy their shows.
As a drunken and hilarious Angel is escorted home by her friend and on-again off-again roommate, Guy, flawlessly played by Lamont Gleaton, a stranger encounters the two and offers to assist Guy in getting Angel safely home. Guy is a gay costume designer in Harlem, but he dreams of traveling to Paris to design wardrobe for the famous ex-pat entertainer, Josephine Baker. The stranger is Leland, also exceptionally well-played by Equity actor, Samuel James Pygatt, who is a conservative Alabama carpenter visiting Harlem after the death of his wife and baby in childbirth. Leland lingers a bit as Guy and Angel go upstairs to Guy’s apartment where next door neighbor and social worker, Delia, played by Courtney Sims helps Guy settle Angel down. Delia is an employee of famed birth control activist Margaret Sanger and hopes to help Sanger establish a family planning clinic in Harlem. The next day we also meet Sam, played by William Paul Brown, who is an obstetric physician at a Harlem hospital with a complicated moral compass and a penchant for partying with his friends.
Over the course of the next eight stage weeks we see Angel faced with a number of choices about who controls her future; herself, or the pre-designed culture in which she lives that stacks the deck against a Black woman in a white man’s world. In fact, every character in the play is faced with a similar choice to one degree or another. Will Guy continue to be hopeful of a better future? Will Leland be controlled by his conservative religious roots? Will Delia continue to work for reproductive freedom despite a senseless backlash of violence and destruction? And will Sam compromise his personal values for a friend?
Blues for an Alabama Sky is a study in conflict, represented by the straightforward resignation of the blues versus the progressive complexity of jazz. Traditionalism versus progressivism. Forbearance versus optimism. Guy and Delia versus Leland. And Angel, who vacillates between all positions but must decide her own fate, whether she wants to or not, with Sam left to suffer the consequences of his friend’s not-always-steady decisions.
Blues for an Alabama Sky is also a study in history with notable icons of Black history surfacing in the dialogue and lending even more authenticity to the fictionalized story. In addition to Guy’s preoccupation with Josephine Baker, the friends also attend a party thrown by artist Bruce Nugent in honor of writer Langston Hughes. Margaret Sanger was the founder of Planned Parenthood. Booker T. Washington was the founder of the Tuskegee Institute (University) where Sam went to school. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. was the founder of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, the largest Protestant Church in the US at the time and the church that Delia attends, and his son, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. who began preaching at his father’s church in 1937 before becoming a member of Congress and advocate for Black voting rights, is teased as her potential suitor.
Opening Night for Blues for an Alabama Sky demonstrated an exceptionally solid cast, well-coached by veteran director Terrance Henderson. The use of alternative entrances to the stage brought the audience into the action from the beginning when Garvey’s Angel caused an appropriate but humorous stir as she made her way, with some intentional effort, to her place. And I’m just going to say it. Katrina Garvey looked beautiful in that black evening dress with bright red lipstick. As my viewing companion said, “She was adorable!”
Kudos to whoever did hair and makeup, as well as to costume designer Tashera Pravato, who dressed Garvin chicly, Sims orthodoxly per Delia’s character, Gleaton snappily with just the right amount of panache, Brown professionally but with a fabulous broad brimmed hat, and Pygatt like the country man come to Harlem that his character was.
Scenic and property design was handled by Ashley Jensen and G. Scott Wild, respectively, who created a textured and cozy period set that kept the audience exploring the details through the inordinately long pauses between acts. Lighting was designed by Mark Hurst and board operation was by William Kirven, with Trinessa Kirby assisting Henderson in direction, and stage management courtesy of Chastity Shell and Elizabeth Houck.
As can happen with live theatre, opening night suffered just a couple of flubs that were evident to the audience; an unavoidable lighting board crash, leading to one of those long pauses mentioned above, and a precocious doorknob. Making the best of the unfortunate doorknob situation, Lamont Gleaton improvised a solution, and he did so with a flourish, inspiring the audience to applaud the actor for both his ingenuity and his style!
This writer fell in love with all the characters with the exception of Pygatt’s Leland, whose job was not to make us love him. Henderson and his cast made us identify with the characters and care about them. The play, though almost 30 years old and set in 1930, holds up disappointingly well as American society still grapples with a woman’s right to control her own body, queerness, and racial equity. Some things are certainly better, but they are far from fixed!
Complementing the play in the Trustus lobby is an art exhibition by Columbia-based visual artist Thomas Washington. Washington’s mesmerizing art is also a study in contrast as it is both brooding but magical, dark but hopeful. And his price points for this show are more affordable than they should be. To see more of Washington’s work, visit his Jasper-sponsored exhibition, Love Quest, at the 701 Whaley Community Hallway Gallery or at Jasper’s Big Tiny Gallery at Richland Library through April 19th. Collect this artist’s work while you can afford it!
Blues for an Alabama Sky runs through March 30th on the Thigpen Main Stage at Trustus Theatre. For tickets, go to the Trustus website.