One Night at the Blackbird – A Ghost Story

By Alix Cohen

The Blackbird Café is owed by Lucy (fer) (Aria Jackson) and managed under duress by Herman (KC Wayne Simmons) Every night, it’s all-star band plays great jazz. Satch (Xavier Rodney as Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong) has been there since the get-go; Allen Toussaint (Duane Chivon Ferguson as the legendary pianist), for innumerable years.

Three of them are, of course, long dead. The musicians’ opportunity to perform with iconic peers every night keeps them where they are – as opposed to “moving on.” Unfortunately, Lucy is bored and discouraged. Not until the end do we learn that the establishment was set up as an unsuccessful lure. She’s on the verge of shutting down.

Panicked by the unknown after, Herman suggests that perhaps bringing in Mahalia Jackson (Alexandria Thomas) for a gospel change-up would entertain. After all, “jazz was born from pain and grief,” he says touting similarities in the music. Sworn to sing only for God, Jackson might put in an appearance as a personal favor to longtime friend, Satch.

The seduction of a half-way house in which souls can continue to practice the art that sustained them is intriguing as motivation for its creation would be if comprehensible, but the piece is too ambiguous. Neither Lucy’s reason nor the play’s resolution is clear. Forgiveness increasingly comes up in dialogue without explanation.

On one hand, directorial (Michael Hagins ) caveats are many: That the actors don’t play instruments is curiously not a drawback; both convey apt mood, though Satch’s never putting the trumpet to his lips goes a bit far. That two actors briefly sing badly jars. Herman sweeps (literally) and reacts to Lucy as a discomfiting Stepin Fetchit caricature. Aria Jackson conveys not a single devilish moment.

On the other, Xavier Rodney and Duane Chivon Ferguson are excellent both as jazzmen and characters with decisions to make. When KC Wayne Simmons is allowed to eschew groveling, it’s clear he’s also an able thespian. As Jackson, Alexandria Thomas might’ve made her role more distinctive, but it serves.

Costumes (Kat Santomoreno) add color and verisimilitude. Mens’ suits and hats, especially the musicians, are spot on. That the designer portrayed Toussaint’s proclivity for sandals with socks is nifty.

Photos by T. Mullen

One Night at the Blackbird – A Ghost Story
by Maria Messias Mendes and Thomas Mullen
Directed by Michael Hagins
Broadway Bound Theatre Festival
AMT Theater 354 West 45th Street