There’s sweet uplift for the spirit
“Crowns,” a co-production of Ebony Repertory Theatre and the Pasadena Playhouse at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, serves as both bittersweet memorial of hard times past and rousing celebration of cultural renewal present.
The story centers on emotionally battered Yolanda (crystal-voiced Angela Wildflower Polk), a young Brooklyn girl sent to live with her grandmother in the South after her brother’s murder. Yolanda’s Mother Shaw (authoritative Paula Kelly), a devout churchgoing lady, tries to mend Yolanda’s broken spirit by declaring, “Our crown has already been bought and paid for. All we have to do is wear it.”
That quote, borrowed from James Baldwin, forms the thematic fulcrum of the play, which is broken up into segments emulative of various church services, with an emphasis on ritual -- wedding, funeral, baptism.
First staged in 2002, “Crowns” was based on the bestselling coffee-table book by author-playwright Craig Marberry (“Cuttin’ Up”) and photographer Michael Cunningham, whose striking portraits of African American women in elaborate church hats were not mere images but a retrospective of the female African American experience in all its resilient glory.
“Crowns” was later adapted for the stage by Regina Taylor, perhaps best known for her role as Lilly Harper on the early 1990s television series “I’ll Fly Away.”
Director Israel Hicks stresses the celebratory in his richly spontaneous, often joyful staging, and a seasoned cast, which includes Sharon Catherine Blanks, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Suzzanne Douglas, Ann Weldon and Clinton Derricks-Carroll, makes the most of the diverse blend of music, dance and monologue.
All have ample opportunities to shine. On opening night, the performers were obviously buoyed by the rapturous crowd response. Mostly, that was a very good thing. However, occasional overemphasis and pregnant pauses proved a drag on the pacing and momentum.
Certainly, that small glitch can be smoothed out over the course of the run. Otherwise, “Crowns” is a steamroller entertainment with a sweetly uplifting message. Keith Young’s lively choreography takes on a deliberately tribal thrust that stresses the importance of generational influences upon these women, who adorn their heads as their African forebears did before them.
Helming a delightful onstage band, music director Eric Scott Reed contributes additional arrangements that are a tantalizing fusion of traditional gospel music and jazz.
Considering the feminist message at the play’s core, it’s somewhat ironic that Derricks-Carroll so frequently steals the show playing a variety of roles. His ripping, evangelistic rendition of “If I Could Touch the Hem of His Garment” raises the rafters and brings down the house.
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‘Crowns’
Where: Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington., L.A.
When: 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends June 14
Price: $40 to $55
Contact: (323) 964-9768
Running time: 2 hours
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