Playwright: Sherman Yellen
and Wally Harper
At: Theatre Building Chicago
Phone: ( 773 ) 327-5252; $30
Runs through: March 26
Josephine Baker ( 1906-1975 ) was a great, original entertainer and a great, difficult woman who became a star in Paris at 19, having fled institutional racism in the United States. A recipient of France's Croix de Guerre, and a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur, she served with the Free French and Resistance in World War II. As stardom faded, she adopted more than a dozen children of all races, fighting prejudice until her dying day.
How do you capture such a life in a musical biography? The answer provided by Josephine Tonight! is not very well, although it has several entertaining moments. The authors focus on five early years in which Baker left her birthplace, St. Louis, to break into show biz through Negro vaudeville and ending with her sensational 1925 Paris debut. Problem is, these are her most uninteresting years. Sherman Yellen's book reveals a gangly and undisciplined adolescent of raw talent, ambition and anger over racial injustice ( developed in semi-comedic scenes of stereotypical white racism ) . Meaningful relationships—even with the husband from whom she took the name Baker—are given short shrift, except for Josephine's relationship with her mother, a kind of moral compass who fades in and out.
The show does reveal Baker as a passionate woman, but the passions aren't attached to a cause or a plan because Baker's character remains so unformed at the final curtain. We never see Josephine Baker the star, the sophisticate, the charismatic presence, the social activist, the anti-Nazi heroine.
Music might have filled in the blanks. Yellen's skillful and clever lyrics—they are his strong suit—and the tunes by the late Wally Harper are lilting and pleasant, but the authors have made two curious choices. First, the score is contemporary in familiar Broadway idioms. Harper didn't write pseudo-period music ( or use actual period music ) to give the show 1920s context and flavor, which it needs. Next, except for two brief snippets, Yellen and Harper do not recreate Baker's stage performances, so we never see or feel the originality and charisma that made her a star. We are told about them, but we don't experience them for ourselves. Think of Funny Girl, Gypsy and Cabaret in which there are 'off stage' plot and character songs, plus songs for the show-within-a-show scenes. The audience desperately wants to see Josephine Baker in a star turn.
Under musical director Jon Steinhagen, the talented company—they're worth seeing—effectively showcases the enjoyable score. Playing two roles, Monique Whittington carries the heaviest load of music and comedy and carries it well. Melanie McCullough as Josephine has the talent to bust loose big, but doesn't get the chance. Wynter Spears, veteran Senuwell Smith and Wayne T. Carr ( as love interest Eddie Baker ) provide engaging supporting work.