Black Ensemble Theater’s “Blue Eyed Soul Sung By Brown Eyed People,” with Taryn Welch, Tia Jemison, Britt Edwards, LaRon Jones, Direoce Junirs, Dennis Dent, Raeven Carroll and Trequon Tate/Photo: David J. Girson Photography
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The big idea of Jackie Taylor’s current show, “Blue Eyed Soul Sung by Brown Eyed People,” which Taylor wrote and directs, is that there have been great pop songs written in the mode of Black soul music, but created and performed by non-Black stars. Of course, the catalog of songs influenced by soul music is a kind of infinite subset in the infinite universe of pop music. This show is a trademark B.E.T. jukebox show—great band, many wonderful singers who give their all, and a book with an uplifting message—except that instead of broadcasting the all-too-true fact the work of Black artists was covered by white stars, “Blue Eyed Soul” lets a talented cast of Black performers put their twists on original works by non-Black artists.
The rousing opening number is a very, very, very oldie by a white guy, Richard Strauss’ 1896 composition, “Also sprach Zarathustra,” which was borrowed for the musical theme for “2001: A Space Odyssey.” But it’s Deodato’s 1973 jazzy-funky Grammy-Award version that gets us moving. Taylor weaves the songs together with a book that locates the performers in an ethereal Neverland and puts them in roles meant to represent different aspects of humanity. There’s Mind and Intellect, a couple; and Soul, Passion, Spirit, Humanity, plus a three-character chorus that backs them all up. The proceedings are led by the always charming and dulcet-voiced Rhonda Preston. The peace and love message of the book may be a way to convey that the soul-inflected music of the white hitmakers is fine to enjoy and celebrate, even for Black audiences. Indeed one of the first full songs in “Blue Eyed Soul” is Rare Earth’s “I Just Want to Celebrate.” It isn’t always clear how the dialog in the show relates to the music, but there seems to be some tension deep in the script that is wrestling with whether it really is okay to embrace to white stars’ music unreservedly. Having said that, the performances make it hard to do anything but.
Black Ensemble Theater’s “Blue Eyed Soul Sung By Brown Eyed People,” with Direoce Junirs, Vincent Jordan and LaRon Jones/Photo: David J. Girson Photography
Among the songs in the show, there’s Michael Bolton’s “You Don’t Know What It’s Like,” Mariah Carey’s “Visions of Love,” The Doobie Brothers’ “Takin’ It to the Streets,” and “Jailhouse Rock” by, well, you know. Yet even The King doesn’t get the biggest tribute in the show. That honor goes to Sir Tom Jones, who gets a whole mini set of tunes, including “She’s A Lady” and “It’s Not Unusual.” Every number in this show gets the audience moving, singing along or both. The songs stick to a narrow band of pop megahits, which highlight how durable the forms of the soul ballad and perkier dance tunes are.
Of course, a two-hour show has limits, but if there were an encore, it would be fun to see what Taylor’s cast would do with the songs of non-Black artists such as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Laura Nyro, Amy Winehouse and Adele who were deeply influenced by soul music, but also were innovative in the ways they pushed beyond the mainstream. Among the strong cast, Britt Edwards is a tiny tower of power, and Tia Jemison has especially thrilling turns.
Black Ensemble Theater’s “Blue Eyed Soul Sung By Brown Eyed People” runs through November 10 at Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 North Clark. Showtimes: Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm; and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets are $56.50-$66.50 including fees, available by calling (773)769-4451 or at blackensemble.org.
