Frank Higgins's depression era moving true story of the Library of Congress's efforts to collect, record and document American folk song. Although the 2 women play is fictional, Black Pearl Sings reflects the real efforts of folklorist John Lomax and later his son Alan who collected song from farmers, laborers and male convicts in the South to gather both past and present songs. It is a play filled with some 20 songs both spiritual and folk mostly sung a cappela which weave the story.
The play is set in the year 1933 and Pearl Johnson, an African American woman inmate wrongfully incarcerated for 10 years is working on a Texan chain gang, clearing land for a future golf course and is seeking the whereabouts of her daughter. The second actor Susannah Mulally, an ambitious white female ethnomusicologist from the Library of Congress is striving to succeed in a male dominated career. Susannah recognizes Pearl's vast array of songs with insights into our land's history. Both women although from such diverse backgrounds find commonality more than differences and a bond forms as they work together to get parole for Pearl while recording Pearl's generational music.
Both women's performances, Lynette Dupree (Pearl) and Colleen Madden (Susannah) are stellar in their delivery of witty, poignant, sincere, bold scripts and soulful music which had us laughing, tapping our feet, nodding our heads in agreement, and also tearing up. Black Pearl Sings's relevance mirrors society and its issues of sexism, gender, class and racism even today. It is a must see and will be playing in Milwaukee's Stackner Caberet until March 18th, 2018.
Take a listen and peek at one of Milwaukee Rep's promotional clips on youtube: Black Pearl Sings
Who knows you may even be seated with folks who want to linger after the play to talk more about the theatrical experience and mindfulness and maybe, just maybe that Milwaukee trout fisherman will take us up on fishing our end of the Coon Creek?
