‘Bread ‘n’ Gravy: The Songs and Life of Ethel Waters’ @ Jubilee Theatre
—Jan Farrington
When Ethel Waters smiled, she could light up a room, a nightclub, a Broadway stage, a movie screen…even an itty bitty ‘50s television set. The smile was wide and warm, and let Waters keep her hurt and pain to herself. Troubles and triumphs followed her along a show-biz path that stretched from 1917 to the mid-1970s. She could be everything that the smile promised, but life taught her to be tough as nails. “Mean was how I survived,” she tells us. It gets a laugh…but it’s the truth.
Jubilee Theatre’s world premiere of Bread ‘n’ Gravy: The Songs and Life of Ethel Waters brings this legendary and complicated performer to vivid, shimmying, tune-filled life. And three actresses, not just one, play Waters at different stages of life—because for her, one just wouldn’t be enough.
Bread ‘n’ Gravy began for Jubilee with a lively staged reading last spring at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Frank Cullen and Donald McNeilly, historians of vaudeville and the stars of the early 20th century, wrote the script, and Jubilee artistic director Wambui Richardson directs—and gets plenty of charm, sass, and emotion from his small cast.
And right up front, the show’s song list and dancing must be mentioned. Choreographer Kiandra Brooks had me at hello, with the first twirl of 1920s fringe. The four actors (Gary Edwards plays the Man: dance partner, husband, lover, nightclub owner) break into fun vintage dance moves that sync up with the songs Waters made famous in the 1920s, ‘30s, ‘40s and onward.
And what a list, yowza! “Dinah,” “St. Louis Blues,” “My Handy Man,” “Am I Blue?,” “We’re Having a Heat Wave,” “Stormy Weather,” “Takin’ a Chance on Love”—and more. (And the pre-recorded music is perfectly calibrated to let us hear every word of the songs—a fine job from Los Angeles-based composer/arranger Ed Smith, and sound designer Ryan Simón.)
The young performer with the bright voice is called Sweet Mama (Water’s early nickname was “Sweet Mama Stringbean”—she was tall and thin back in the day). Sweet Mama, played with sexy snap by Kayla Marshall, loves to “Shake That Thing” and lives in the moment. She’s rising out of poverty and abuse, wined and dined by the gents, making her own bit of money…and for now, that’s enough. She gives the more mature versions of herself (all three players spend most of the show onstage together) the side eye—particularly the older Ethel, played by actress/singer Denise Lee.
Lee’s character, called Ethel, has found Jesus (and preacher Billy Graham) later in life—and has the long view of all her mistakes and mis-steps. She has sharp elbows but plenty of nurturing strength—and is full of advice for Sweet Mama, who isn’t inclined to take it. Lee’s resonant voice—she can fill the theater with her sound, but is just as compelling when she sings softly—draws us into the title number “Bread and Gravy” plus some of Waters’ most famous hits: “His Eye is On The Sparrow,” “Cabin in the Sky,” and the wrenching “Suppertime,” about a wife whose husband won’t be coming home again.
Crystal Williams plays Waters at mid-life: punching out the hits, being “the first” in so many things for Black women performers. (If you go, and you should, the actors will take you down the list.) Williams’ rich voice swings low and high for “Memories of You,” “Harlem on My Mind,” and others. She’s still raw from the tough road that got her here—and lonely, as men come in and out of her story. Edwards’ “Man” frequently proves unreliable, but he has the moves, and a light, clear voice that puts life in the songs—as he dances with whichever Ethel Waters is at hand.
I had a great time all the way through this energetic, fast-moving show. As scenes go by, the three actresses onstage stop being “singles” and begin to blend and blur into a whole (and very memorable) Ethel Waters; they grow closer to one another as we watch.
We can’t conjure up Waters’ lively nightclub and stage performances—but online, you can find audio of the hit songs, and video clips of her great film work in 1943’s “Cabin in the Sky” (there’s that killer smile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue_jOJ8GfhI ) and the 1952 “Member of the Wedding.” There’s even a 1969 video of a grandmotherly Waters singing “Bread and Gravy” with Diana Ross: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPML
WHEN: February 2-March 3, 2024
WHERE: Jubilee Theatre, 506 Main Street, Fort Worth
WEB: jubileetheatre.org
