Theatre News Wire

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company has unveiled the cast and creative crew for Blues for an Alabama Sky, which marks the inauguration of their 2023-2024 season. The play is penned by Pearl Cleage and will be under the direction of Mikael Burke, from September 14th to October 15th, at Theater Wit, located at 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

Blues For An Alabama Sky presented by Remy Bumppo Theatre Company

The year is 1930, and the setting is Harlem. Jazz vocalist Angel, portrayed by Tiffany Renee Johnson, is shown the door at The Cotton Club. With the backing of her tight-knit group of friends, Angel aspires for another moment in the limelight. In the meantime, Guy, a costume designer played by Breon Arzell, dreams of crafting gowns in the City of Lights, while Delia (Jazzlyn Luckett Aderele) endeavors to establish family planning clinics in the neighborhood. However, the arrival of Leland, a newcomer from Alabama played by Ajax Dontavius, threatens to shatter their dreams. Is Leland the soulmate Angel has been yearning for, or will his presence irreversibly change the fabric of their cherished community? Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage delves into themes of transformation, tribulation, and jubilation, taking place amid the turbulent period of prohibition, the ascendancy of jazz, and the dawn of The Great Depression.

"I'm so jazzed to be back with Remy Bumppo to direct the remarkable Blues for an Alabama Sky this season," expressed Director Mikael Burke. "With the current onslaught against reproductive, trans, queer and women's rights, coinciding with an impending economic recession, we're living in a world of dwindling hope and increasing hostility more akin to depression era Harlem than most of us would prefer. But Cleage's found family of dreamers who dare to envision better lives for themselves and their community are a great reminder of how we can hope to survive our present troubles. We have to dream so big, believe so strongly in what is possible, that reality has no choice but to comply. Because if we doubt ourselves and own power for even a moment and put the keys to our happiness in anyone's hands other than our own, reality won't hesitate to bring our dreams crashing down."

The cast for Blues for an Alabama Sky features Tiffany Renee Johnson (she/her/hers, Angel); Breon Arzell (he/him/his, Guy); Edgar Sanchez (he/him/his, Sam); Jazzlyn Luckett Aderele (she/her/hers, Delia); Ajax Dontavius (he/him/his, Leland); Michelle Bester (she/her/hers, Angel U/S); Jelani Julyus (he/him/his, Guy U/S); Jordan Gleaves (he/him/his, Sam U/S) and Monty Kane (he/him/his, Leland U/S).

The creative and production team for Blues for an Alabama Sky includes Mikael Burke (he/him/his, Director); Jasmine B. Gunter (she/her/hers, Associate Director); Martine Kei Green-Rogers (she/her/hers, Dramaturg); Shadana Patterson (she/her/hers, Dialect and Vocal Designer); Lauren Nichols (she/her/hers, Scenic Designer); Gregory Graham (he/him/his, Costume Designer); Becca Jeffords (she/they, Lighting Designer); Peter Clare (they/them, Sound Designer); Sam Paulson (he/him/his, Properties Designer); Jean E. Compton* (she/her/hers, Stage Manager); Anna Vu (she/her/hers, Assistant Stage Manager); Addoris Davis (they/she, Production Manager); Manuel Ortiz (he/him/his, Technical Director) and Nick Chamernik (he/him/his, Head Electrician).