Tag: Soul Train

Take the Soul Train to Christmas

If you can disregard the paint-by-numbers plotting of Ekundayo Bandele’s Take the Soul Train to Christmas, now playing at Ensemble Theatre, you can sit back and relax while the song and dance numbers play like sugarplums in your head. There is mighty fine talent on display, especially from the young thespians who are a delight, although their faux bickering gets a bit annoying as the show progresses. But they can also stop the show like the pros-in-training they are.

Kyra Bob (Ida), Imani Belle Giles (Rosa), and Raimi Alford (Ned) are school chums writing an essay on how Blacks have celebrated Christmas through the years. They awaken Ida’s grandpa (a sprightly Kevin Davis, Jr.) and before you can say magic pixie dust, he summons up the Soul Train to whisk them back into history. He was a proud Pullman Porter in his day. So off they go, bickering all the time, especially Ned and Rosa, the bossy one. The train is conjured by the diverse seven-member ensemble who chug and choochoo to Aisha Ussery’s perfunctory choreography, but they sing like angels.

There’s also a slinky Narrator (Ramaj Jamar) in high hat, aubergine coat, and canary yellow shirt and trousers, twirling a cane like a drum major, who sets the scenes for us. He appears throughout as spectator or commentator, changing his top hat for an Igbo cap in the ‘80s. Jamar has a devious charm, sort of a stepchild of Cabaret’s master of ceremonies at the Kit Kat Club. He weaves his way into the narrative as he sings and struts, insinuating himself into the proceedings.

First stop is an antebellum plantation during the 1800s accompanied by drumbeats and the Nativity tale, “The Drinking Gourd.” Swoosh, off to Harlem during the ‘20s Renaissance where Billie Holiday sings “I Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” sung with aplomb and velvety charm by Brytanni Davis. At the end everyone breaks into a jive dance, one of Ussery’s best numbers, if fleeting.

Except for Holiday’s classic, the songs are original, and credited to a “Don Wright,” which turns out to be the name of the musical production company of Ussery and Soul Train’s music director Melvin Johnson. I assume the duo composed the songs. The numbers are not listed in the playbill, which is a grave slight on Ensemble’s part, considering this is a musical. Not to list the songs and the singers who sing them is disrespectful. So here they are: Hindolo Bongey, Ryhan Brown, Brytanni Davis, Jarius Jones, Melody King, Fortune Onwunali and Brianna Wyatt.

Eras are ticked off like an old movie’s calendar pages: the ‘60s are mired in Civil Rights protest with “We Shall Overcome,” with power to spare by Jones and Wyatt; the ‘80s boast big Afros, dashikis, and the nascent Black Pride Movement with a cute contest for biggest hair. The ‘90s are rap-fused with a slam contest between Ida and her girls, and Ned and Rosa with their posse. Along the way, little Alford blows the roof off the Ensemble with a plaintive blues number, “Someday at Christmas.” He croons like a soul singer from yesteryear, ending in heavenly falsetto, and received the loudest applause all night. He deserved it. Young Kyra Bob is a natural scene-stealer with a mega-watt smile and dance talent for days. I hope she uses her talent well, for she’s going to be a star. Mark my words.

Well, that’s the kids’ trip down memory lane. Christmas seems shoehorned into this pageant that doesn’t have enough singing and dancing. It feels under-baked with so many avenues of history left undiscovered.

But there’s always Grandpa’s truckin’ and the kids’ prodigious talent on display to keep your interest. This musical is a pleasing stocking stuffer, just not enough of a grand present to unwrap under the tree.

Take the Soul Train to Christmas continues through December 21 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays at Ensemble Theatre, 3535 Main. For more information, call 713-520-0055 or visit ensemblehouston.org. $45-$65.

A Christmas Carol

The Alley Theatre needn’t rely on auto-pilot – its actors are too good for that – but muscle memory is definitely required for A Christmas Carol.

In Artistic Director Rob Melrose’s production from 2022, the choreography is as important as Dickens’ goose gravy-rich prose. Characters enter, say a line, then are replaced by another character carrying on the dialogue. Everybody keeps moving. It’s an immensely fluid staging and permits Dickens’ timeless tale to sled along as if played on snowy Cornhill.

This adaptation is one of the most faithful to Dickens. Dialogue is taken verbatim from the 1843 novella, so we are treated to some of the most fragrant prose in the English language. It’s a delight to hear, but the young ones might be a bit perplexed with such ripe descriptions and old-age adjectives. But the story is clear-cut, the characters well-defined, and the cast is superb in delineating each Victorian portrait.

Obviously, there are still theater goers new to Carol’s wonders, for there were audible gasps when complications arose that most of us know by heart. No matter, Dickens’ little ghost story never grows stale, and Melrose’s production breathes refreshing life into it. The tale almost feels new.

This year’s cast is nearly the same as last year’s, but the Alley pros always manage to find something new in their interpretation, some little expression or piece of business that keeps everything crisp. David Rainey reprises his patented Ebenezer Scrooge and delights as the covetous old sinner morphs into the very spirit of Christmas after the visitations of the three Ghosts: Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Blustery and mean in his counting house, when his reclamation arrives Scrooge does a jaunty little jig as he learns his dire fate isn’t set in stone. He can “expunge the writing.” I can hear the little ones, “Mommy, what does expunge mean?” But they get it through osmosis. And Rainey shows them the way.

All the familiar Alley resident actors fill out the cast in subsidiary roles: Elizabeth Bunch as Christmas Past, all light and white; Dylan Godwin as good and pure Bob Cratchit; Michele Elaine as flirtatious Cornelia; Chris Hutchison as a very scary Marley, whose proclamations echo ominously; Melissa Molano as an underwritten Belle; Christopher Salazar as nephew Fred, among a host of others like Adam Gibbs, Julia Khron, Luis Quintero, unrecognized as the looming Ghost of Christmas Future; Brandon Hearnsberger, Jeremy Gee, and many more. Former resident company member, now retired, Todd Waite is boisterous Fuzziwig, without his Scottish burr from last year.

But the scene-stealer deluxe is Shawn Hamilton as the rousing Ghost of Christmas Present. His laughing entrance, rising from under Scrooge’s bed, in front of a stained glass window, was greeted by rousing applause. He earns it. What a stunning portrait in his sweeping green gown and bedecked with dreadlocks. He plays with this juicy role like a sly cat pursuing a mouse. He plays with us, too. Slowly he wraps his fingers around his magic staff to bestow Christmas cheer to the dispossessed and sad. When he presents “Want” and “Ignorance” from under his voluminous robe, he booms his denunciations. We lean back into our seats. This sly puss is not messing around. Take heed.

The Alley’s new version of A Christmas Carol is perfect holiday entertainment. Glossy in production and execution with Michael Locher’s wood and brick warehouse look, Raquel Barreto’s detailed Victoriana, Cat Tate Starmer’s Hallmark card lighting, Cliff Caruthers’ sonic sound design, some Christmas carols, some dancing, and Shawn Hamilton in diva Rasta mode (where has he been?), who could ask for a better present? Unwrap this now!

A Christmas Carol continues through December 28 at various times and dates with matinees and evening performances at Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Avenue. For more information, call 713-220-5700 or visit alleytheatre.org. $36 – $138.

Related