Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at 1st Stage Theatre

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

1st Stage Theatre
1524 Spring Hill Road Tysons

A theatrical tour-de-force by one of America's greatest playwrights, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a searing drama from Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner August Wilson. Set in the 1920s on the south side of Chicago, a recording session with blues legend Ma Rainey and her band becomes an intense battle of wills between a hot-headed young trumpeter and veteran musicians -- and between Ma and her white record producers. Experience this first installment of Wilson's award-winning ten-part Century Cycle at 1st Stage Theater in Tysons.

Thru - Jun 25, 2017

Thursdays: 7:30pm

Fridays: 8:00pm

Saturdays: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Sundays: 2:00pm

Box Office: 703-854-1856

www.1ststagetysons.org/plays-events/#current-show

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Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Reviews

Average Rating based on 4 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...Deidra LaWan Starnes directs, and Starnes, an accomplished actor herself, has a keen ear for the counterpunching voices of the four men in Rainey's band (William T. Newman Jr. is the wise trombonist Cutler, and Jason B. McIntosh is the easygoing bassist Slow Drag). Thomascena Nelson is reasonably imperious as Rainey, while Tracey Farrar slinks around like trouble in a silk dress as Rainey's disloyal girlfriend, Dussie Mae. It's an early Wilson play, but at the opening performance you could see it scorching young ears getting a first taste of the earthy language and outsize characters."

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- Nelson Pressley

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...This is the best show I've seen this year. Starnes' directorial debut at 1st Stage brought forth not just sterling performances, but glimpses of real people. The performers received a stirring standing ovation, a perfectly appropriate response to the superior display of artistic eloquence that had been displayed on stage. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is the pinnacle of plays produced in the D.C. area this year. Buy a ticket and see theater the best it can be done."

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- William Powell

DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended

"...Director Deidra Lawan Starnes has drawn out first-rate performances from the ensemble, with Pelham a standout in the key role of Levee. Pelham is electric, whether good-naturedly jazzing up Ma's old "jugband" music and putting the moves on her fetching young girlfriend or unleashing a thunderous rage at the memory of a harrowing ordeal. His "challenge to God" monologue late in Act II is a breathless showstopper."

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- Roy Maurer

BroadwayWorld - Recommended

"...Ma Rainey's Black Bottom chronicles the role of music in the African American experience. Excepting Nelson's exceptional vocals, there is no authentic music in this production. The rest of the music in this production is mimed and not entirely successfully. For example, Williams is was forced to hover above the piano keys during musical numbers, which makes parts of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom appear almost farcical. There are a number of ways that Starnes could have combatted these failings."

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- Jenny Minich

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Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at 1st Stage Theatre