Reviewed by A.J. Muhammad
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| Image sourced by Urban Stages |
There aren’t enough accolades to describe the treasure that is Trezana Beverley who starred as the real life singer Mabel Mercer in “Mabel Madness,” an elegant solo-show that was also written by Beverley and produced by Urban Stages Theater.
Mercer was the biracial British born singer who came to prominence in first half of the 20th century and was the muse to composers and a generation of recording artists. In "Mabel Madness," we meet Mercer in her later years waiting for a meeting with a promoter who promises to revive her career. She then flashes back to her childhood in the U.K. as the daughter of a young single mother who was an itinerate singer, and a Black vaudeville performer. As a young woman she relocated to Paris during the 1920 and 1930s and made a name for herself performing her signature style of singing while seated. It was there that she encountered a host of celebrities including Marlene Deitrich and the African American performer Ada Smith aka ”Bricktop” who took over as the owner of the venue where Mercer sang and also became one of Mercer’s close friends.
Mercer was the biracial British born singer who came to prominence in first half of the 20th century and was the muse to composers and a generation of recording artists. In "Mabel Madness," we meet Mercer in her later years waiting for a meeting with a promoter who promises to revive her career. She then flashes back to her childhood in the U.K. as the daughter of a young single mother who was an itinerate singer, and a Black vaudeville performer. As a young woman she relocated to Paris during the 1920 and 1930s and made a name for herself performing her signature style of singing while seated. It was there that she encountered a host of celebrities including Marlene Deitrich and the African American performer Ada Smith aka ”Bricktop” who took over as the owner of the venue where Mercer sang and also became one of Mercer’s close friends.
Fearing for her safety, Mercer fled pre-war WWII Europe for New York City where she quickly became a fixture on the nightclub scene. The grueling demands on her and long hours proved taxing on her voice and spirits. A trip to the Caribbean to recover from her health conditions without her identification documents made her unable to re-enter the country for three years. While there, a sympathetic queer singer, Kelsey Pharr, proposed marriage so that Mercer could finally return to the states. Mercer agreed to the platonic union, but later found love and counted Frank Sinatra, who learned the techniques to deliver a song from her, among her suitors.
Beverley outlines enough details about Mercer’s life to fill the show’s 90 minute running time and played a host of secondary characters with considerable skill. She recreated a bygone era in two continents and included both racial and familial issues into the narrative to flesh out Mercer. Beverley, in excellent voice, performed a dozen of standards by composers such as Cole Porter, The Gershwins, Dubose Hewyard, and others. Kudos to musical direction and off stage accompaniment by Tuffus Zimbabwe.
Although in the context of the show having Beverley seated for long stretches makes sense, she could have used staging that was more dynamic and less static, as well as a bigger stage to fit her larger than life talents and Mercer’s incredible stories. Tech quality, including projections and video, underscored Mercer’s recollections nicely. Here’s to an encore!
"Mabel Madness" written by Trezana Beverley. Directed by Frances Hill and Peter Napolitano. Musical Direction: Tuffus Zimbabwe. Costume Design: Tabitha Pease. Lighting Designer: Christina Watanabe. Video Designer: Nicholas Blade Guldner. Technical Director: Douglas Mills. Choreographer: Brenna Hughes. Production Stage Manager: Jill Woodward. Ran from Feb 19- April 10, 2016 at Urban Stages Theater. 259 W. 30th St. NYC.
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