When the sun goes down on the streets of Harlem, Warren Carlyle (director) uses a solitary street lamp to guide you to the most beloved speakeasy in New York City, The Cotton Club. Broadway’s new hit musical, After Midnight, takes its audiences on a ride into the vibrant world of the Harlem Renaissance; a world ruled by big bands and big voices that can’t help, but make you want to join in the next dance number.
“After Midnight,” is more of a musical revue than a musical, straying away from the typical linear storyline model and focusing on showcasing the music, energy, dance, and styles of the Harlem Renaissance. The story focuses on the major events that take place in relationships such as “falling in love”, “the proposal”, and even dark moments like funerals. This is all done through electrifying crowd-pleasing dance numbers that will warrant multiple applause interruptions and vocals that fill you with the heat and sultry sound of the Jazz Age. The musical aims to showcase the Harlem Renaissance through the lens of two of it’s greatest pioneers, Duke Ellington and Langston Hughes. Dulé Hill’s character acts as a sort of guide into and through this world, using selected texts from the poems of Langston Hughes, he gives us a front row seat in the club as we are entranced in the music of Duke Ellington. The music is played by a band of 17 incredibly talented musicians, hand selected by Wynton Marsalis (a living jazz legend). The band is a formidable force throughout the play and always present, both musically and visually. The band not only supports the dancers, as they twirl and leap into the air, but also has multiple opportunities to shine apart from it all with trumpet and trombone solos placed within multiple arrangements.
The set flows, using backdrops, and transformative staircases to change the scene. The world is not broken by scene changes, but in fact choreographs the removal and placing of set pieces into the dance breaks, allowing the audience to stay focused on the show. The minimalistic choice of the set allows for people to fill and make the world. The 17 piece full band takes up most of the stage, but the choice makes sense as the music is what moves each scene along. While it is sometimes easy to forget everything else, the vivacious costume design of Isabel Toledo takes no backseat, as it channels the heat and life of the 20’s and 30’s.
But, where this musical really shines is in it’s vocal power and dance numbers. The lack of many lines allows for the story to be emoted through song and dance. A task Fantasia knows how to handle all too well, as she uses her patented growls and vocal range to scat her way into the audience’s heart as a sexy jazz lounge singer. By the time the band reached the song “Zah Zuh Zah”, Fantasia had slipped into her comfort zone giving the audience the rifts and trills we know and love her for.
While the vocals are spectacular, from the male jazz quartet to the all female trio that croon throughout the show, the dance numbers are encompassing. The choreography of Warren Carlyle melds modern, tap, and even break-dancing to create heart pounding and high flying dance numbers that seem to always deserve a rapturous applause when done. From the splits to the acrobatics, this show covers it all. Julius “iGlide” Chisolm (of the RemoteKontrol dance crew) and Virgil Gadson provide a modern take on Jazz Age dancing, imploring break-dancing into the mostly swing and tap heavy numbers. While the tap dancing provided by Jared Grimes and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards , as well as many others in the cast, is breath-taking. Dulé Hill even manages to impress, not shying away from dance, but embracing it as he smoothly taps and slides across the stage.
The musical showcases heavy star power, starting the run (which officially begins Nov. 3rd) with the Grammy Award-winning singer Fantasia and Emmy Award winning actor Dulé Hill (who you might recognize as the former co-star of the hit show Psych). While Adriane Lenox (Tony Award-winner and Broadway great) is an audience favorite as she plays the role of a wise blues singer who has lost the gift of subtlety, and prefers to tell it exactly how it is. The cast includes a male quartet comprised of Everett Bradley, Cedric Neal, T. Oliver Reid, and Monroe Kent III (whose individual voices are more than stirring on their own. And to balance out the male quartet, a female trio of Broadway vets makes numerous appearances to wow the crowd with their layered harmonies; this trio included Carmen Ruby Floyd, Rosena M. Hill Jackson, and Bryonha Marie Parham.
The play is a good time, leaving you warm and energized with positivity of an age of artistic progress. Everything about the play is big, from the band to the dance numbers. With multiple limited engagements the show is planning on keeping things fresh by adding Grammy Award-winners such as; K. D. Lang (2/11/14 – 3/9/14) and Toni Braxton & Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds (3/18/14 – 3/30/14). The show takes you on adventure you won’t soon forget and received a standing ovation during previews, I guess that means people liked it.
Other notable performances given by Marija Abney, Phillip Attmore, Christopher Broughton, Taeler Elyse Cyrus, C.K. Edwards, Danielle Herbert, Bahiyah Hibah, David Jennings, Erin N. Moore, Justin Prescott, Tony Award nominee Desmond Richardson, Allysa Shorte, Monique Smith, and Daniel J. Watts.
-JT Tarpav
