Storyline: Celie, a fourteen year old poor black girl in rural Georgia in
the early years of the twentieth century, considered ugly and already pregnant
twice, is married off to an abusive man who terrorizes all who
come near him. He demands a submission amounting to servitude, sends her
sister away and prohibits any contact. As the years progress, however, her
inner strength helps her persevere and overcome all obstacles. She develops
a sense of self worth, breaks free of her abusive "Mister," achieves success
and is reunited with her sister and her children.
The disc captures the marvelous performance
of LaChanze who plays Celie from an early age to nearly 60. (This seems to
be a developing specialty for her as she was last seen in town in
Dessa Rose where she progressed from
16 to 80.) There are a number of very strong performances from this cast
including memorable Broadway debuts for Felicia P. Fields as a woman who
won't let her husband beat her (the first act highlight "Hell No") and
Elisabeth Withers-Mendes as the juke joint singer whose affection is the key
to Celie's emergent sense of self worth. Kingsley Leggs is a frighteningly
evil "Mister" and Brandon Victor Dixon is energetic, especially in his comic
duet with Fields, "Any Little Thing."
The score progresses through the decades of
the story, reflecting the musical styles early in the century, and from the roaring
twenties, the depression wracked thirties and into the post-war forties, but
always sounds like a musical written today. Any musical written at the
middle of the last century when this story ends would have been full of
variations on 32 bar songs to be spotlighted in a series of scenes. Here,
instead, the score proceeds through the musical evolution of the century
with mixtures of snatches of the songs and progressions set as scenes
themselves. The composers' songs work admirably in the theatrical context
crafted by Marsha Norman, who, with her Pulitzer for 'Night, Mother
and her Tony for The Secret Garden knows exactly how to structure a
story on stage.
In the theater, an orchestra of eighteen
delivers a full, solid sound. For the recording, however, those forces are
augmented with nine additional players to richen the sound of the violins,
violas and cellos. Strangely, the lovely low-stringed accompaniment for
LaChanze's first solo ("Somebody's Gonna Love You") is much richer in the
theater than on the disc, however. The handsome booklet includes enough photos to give you a
feel for what the show looks like on stage, but does not include the lyrics
which would have been useful for full enjoyment of the score. Those lyrics
are available online, but who knows how long they will remain there?
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