It’s impossible to tell the whole story of the blues in a little over two hours. But the Crossroads Theatre Company of New Brunswick, N.J., gives us a substantial crash course in It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues.
The show, which opened Thursday at Reynolds Memorial Auditorium, is a revival of a 1998 production that eventually wound up on Broadway. It has several authors: Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor and Dan Wheetman. The performers, directed by Myler, include Bevel, Eloise Laws, Sandra Reaves-Phillips, Carter Calvert, Chic Street Man, Gregory Porter and Danny Wheetman. They are backed by several excellent musicians.
The performers sit, play instruments or sing along as they wait their turn to get up and solo. Photos on two large screens remind us of the context in which the music was created—from the farm fields of the Mississippi Delta to the streets of Chicago. The blues’ roots in the African diaspora are honored as well.
Blues, which includes a racially diverse cast, makes several important points. One is that “the river of the blues flowed through the white South,” giving rise to innovations by whites and influencing musical styles, such as country, that are largely associated with them.
After intermission, we land in Chicago, where Southern blacks migrated to find jobs in the 1940s and ‘50s. We’re reminded of how radically the blues sound changed in this urban environment. Acoustic instruments give way to electric guitars and drum sets, resulting in more rhythmic, charged and explosive sensations.
Before intermission, the show detoured into gospel territory and some lovely harmonizing by the entire cast. What is one to make of this? Here’s one interpretation: Gospel and blues aren’t like apples and oranges; they are like oranges and tangerines. When one dies down, the other emerges.
■ The Crossroads Theatre Company will present It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues at 3 and 8 p.m. today in Reynolds Memorial Auditorium. Tickets, $42, are available at the box office at the Benton Convention Center and at the theater before the show.
■ Ken Keuffel can be reached at 727-7337 or at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).