Playwright: Jackie Taylor. At: Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark St. Phone: 773-769-4451;$55-$65. Runs through: Open run
First, the new theater is simply gorgeous: a big sign facing Clark Street, a patio for intermission smoking and strolling, valet parkingindoor garage in the worksand major-route bus stops at the corner, a spacious lobby with latrines near the doors, an elevator to the balcony (balcony!), a checkroom for coats and a concessions stand, all on the ground floor. The auditorium itself adheres to the basic configuration of its resident company's former quarters, with audiences seated around a circular thrust, the band located above the stage where we can see them, and characters parading up and down the aisles to make for maximum actor-spectator interaction. In short, it has everything we loved about the old Beacon Street basement and none of what we didn't.
Included in that survey is the return of The Jackie Wilson Story, Black Ensemble's longest-running hit (nearly two years, before transferring to the East Coast, where star player Chester Gregory is currently appearing on Broadway). The role of the legendary singer is now played by Kelvin Roston, Jr., recently seen in Court Theater's Jeff-winning Porgy and Bess, delivering his persona's trademark falsetto hollers with ice-cutting clarity, as well as the much-copied gymnasticsone-foot shuffles, no-hands splits, back-bends to the floorwith never a waver in vocal pitch.
The biodrama structure also remains intact. We start in a hospital, with nurses attending the comatose patient that was Wilson. His rise and fall is then chronicled in flashback, concluding with his death, after which the chorus eulogizes him in a rousing "Higher and Higher." That same chorus, featuring a bevy of BET favorites, provides narrative and musical support for a period rhythm-and-blues score encompassing such showstoppers as "Lonely Teardrops," "To Be Loved" and a stirring rendition of the Irish lament "Danny Boy."
The downside to a bright, shiny, paint-not-yet-dry theater, however, is restricted on-site rehearsal time. So if the tempo was just a wee bit slow at the opening performance, the side-to-side crosses on the wider stage just a few seconds longer and the smiles ever-so-slightly tentative, the practice opportunities offered by a full Wednesday-to-Sunday performance schedule should soon have the show humming with a dynamic energy to set a once-gloomy stretch of Uptown shimmering and shimmying for many months to come.