Commentary
Reviews (2)
A Collector of Southern Songs and a Gospel-singing Prisoner Form an Unusual Alliance
Holly Johnson | The Oregonian [30 Apr 2012]
Memories may fade, but songs from our early years stay close. In Frank Higgins’ heartwarming, feisty Black Pearl Sings! at Portland Center Stage, African folk songs open a door to history, and lead one woman out of prison. In the 1930s Susannah (played by Lena Kaminsky), a white woman from a privileged New York family, travels the South recording folk songs and indigenous music. When she hears African American prisoner Pearl (Chavez Ravine) singing in a Texas high-security lockup, she knows she’s tapped a rich vein of treasured music reaching into the past. She wants the songs, but Pearl needs something from her in return, and as the two negotiate an exchange, friendship grows. Ravine and Kaminsky shine in their roles. Both sing shimmering a cappella pieces and deliver a dry humor that enriches the play.
Bringing Life the Voices of Generations Long Gone
Chloe Hagerman | Be Portland [30 Apr 2012]
Portland Center Stage’s play Black Pearl Sings! by Frank Higgins got off to a roaring start at Gerding Theater in the Ellen Bye Studio. Chavez Ravine, who plays the title character, lets off a large and moving collection of melancholy folk songs. If you find yourself taking a seat in the studio, be prepared to sing in one of them yourself as part of the chorus.
Read Full Review »The play is based on the real life relationship between folk musicologist John Lomax and musician and singer Huddie William “Lead Belly” Ledbetter. Higgins reincarnates Lomax in the form of Susannah Mullally, a musicologist working for the Library of Congress. Her mission is to find and record old folk songs significant to America’s past before they are lost to history. While searching for material in prisons, she meets Alberta “Pearl” Johnson, Higgins’s reincarnation of Lead Belly. Pearl is an African American woman who has been in prison for 10 years, is anxious to find her daughter, and has a plethora of folk songs. The two strike up an uneasy quid pro quo relationship; Susannah promises to help Pearl find her daughter in return for Pearl giving her songs to record.
Through recordings of Pearl’s songs and her own persuasion, Susannah has Pearl released from prison, and the two move to New York to open a show so Pearl can share her songs with everyone. The pair begins to butt heads as their ideas differ. Pearl thinks of her daughter while Susannah wants to use the show to secure a better future for herself. Pearl eventually concludes that she must “protect her people from progress,” and intends to use her newfound celebrity status to do so. With one woman bound to the past and the other bound to the future, we are left with the sobering conclusion that this partnership may be doomed to fail, much as the real life partnership between Lead Belly and John Lomax did.
The Actors’ Equity Association provided two excellent actresses, Ravine and Lena Kaminsky, who play Pearl and Susannah respectively. I applaud both of their performances, how effortlessly they brought to life the unlikely and unsteady partnership for all of us (I say partnership because even now I’m still not sure if I would call them friends).
In the 1930’s setting of this play, race, gender, and the lingering shadow of slavery all play a part. In several of the discussions between Susannah and Pearl, you get the very real impression of one walking on eggshells when they address the other. Although the theme of Black Pearl Sings! is most certainly a serious one, Higgins still manages to work in several intimate moments of laughter between the two women, a style that I very much admire and always enjoy watching. And Ravine’s singing brings to life the voices of generations long gone, generations that endured horrific pain but found a way to hold on to hope.
Comments (5)
Loved it! These two performers really rocked the house. The music was amazing. I loved the memories some of the songs brought back for me. Lovely!
Just got back from watching Black Pearl Sings! It is the first play I have attended at PCS and was blown away. Like others, I laughed, I cried, and a clapped genuinely and enthusiastically. Quite moving and emotional; I did not want the actresses to leave the stage. Chavez Ravine is absolutely wonderful and riveting. Sing it girl, you are a powerhouse! Definitely going to see it again and will also invite others to come along.
I loved this play. It was my favorite of the season so far. The actors transported me into their world.
I too laughed, cried, at at the end, stood and applauded.
Don’t miss this play.
Thank you so much Charlie! We’re thrilled that you enjoyed this production. Hope to see you here again soon!
- Kinsley Suer, PCS
Quite simply: WOW.
To find such a well written play brought to life passionately by the powerful duo of Ms. Ravine and Ms. Kaminsky is, without a doubt, marks one of the pleasures of my year so far.
I laughed, I cried and, at the end, I stood and applauded heartily.
Go see this play.
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