PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

“The Joint” is Jumping at the Theater for a New City’s Dream Up Festival

September 9, 2016 | | Tags: Theatre for the New City

Off-Broadway Review: “The Joint” is Jumping at the Theater for a New City’s Dream Up Festival
Book by Curtis D. Jones Based on a Concept by Denise Gray
Music and Lyrics by Timothy Graphenreed
Directed and Choreographed by Kenneth L. Roberson
Reviewed by David Roberts Theatre Reviews Limited

Queen (played with a powerful exterior that belies a deep yearning for redemption by Sheila K. Davis) has a secret that has been tormenting her for many years. To betray that secret would require a spoiler alert of epic proportions. But then everyone in the splendid cast of “The Joint” is harboring a secret. It is the collision of these mysteries that provides the engaging plot of this new musical currently featured in the Theatre for a New City’s Dream Up Festival.The multi-layered plot plays out in the upstair-downstairs juke joint called The Joint.

The Joint in the town of Stuckley,Virginia, circa 1957 to 1967. Upstairs is Minister Brinkley (played with a sorrowful tortured soul by Erick Pinnick) who once – before his conversion – worked downstairs at Queen’s juke joint. Mr. Brinkley’s daughter Corrida (played with a brittleness ready to crumble by Crystal Joy) has returned from New York City where a relationship with Jacob (played with a vengeful core by Devin L. Roberts) and a record deal have both somehow gone very wrong. Corrida’s mother Evelyn (played with a tenderness inspired by suffering by Brenda Braxton) left Corrida and her father in the past on the same quest for a career in music. Corrida’s friend Sunny (played with a spirited joyfulness by Shani M. Worrell) wants Corrida to work at The Joint with Queen.

Complicating matters is Queen’s relationship with Buster (played with an air of suspicion by Albert Christmas) who refuses to marry Queen and wants to broker with The Dude (played with a Wagnerian stolidness by Richard E. Waits) to expand The Joint and its “offerings” to the community – think a casino and a massage parlor and the image of the diabolical Dude comes into focus. Curtis D. Jones’s book is full of surprises and his characters are well developed, each with an interesting conflict that helps to drive the plot. The musical has an interesting dramatic arc. There are parallel stories of redemption: one a spiritual saga, the other a musical path to redemptive release. Both stories have characters who have been tempted and fallen – some seek reconciliation, others choose to continue to separate themselves from healing.

Timothy Graphenreed’s music is inspired by Broadway and spiritual sources and his songs are both interesting and inspiring. Ms. Davis’s (Queen) “Stand by Me Kinda Love” and “Stop” exhibit the composer’s ability to write lyrics that touch the heart and the spirit of survival. And her duet with long-time bartender and protector (and want-to-be-beau) Hank (played with a loving sternness by Lee Summers) brings the audience to a comedic frenzy as the two woo each other’s lonely hearts. Ms. Joy’s (Corrida) “Work on Me” with the delightful and talented Khiry Walker (Pretty Tony) is armored with truthfulness and transparency. The orchestra/band supports the cast with an impressive craft.

The ensemble is not simply a chorus of dancers. The talented performers also serve as a Greek Chorus and a conscience for the characters as they find their various ways through the thickets of confession, forgiveness, and redemption. Each dancer articulates his or her movement with precision and grace, sometimes with a fluidity of jazz movement and sometimes with the expressiveness of improvisation and very personal interpretation of Kenneth L. Roberson’s choreography. It is difficult not to take one’s eyes off these remarkable dancers, especially the moves of Devin L. Roberts and Hollie E. Wright. Mr. Roberson also directs “The Joint” with a keen eye and keeps the piece moving with a steady hand.

“The Joint” is in its initial stages of development and has all the underpinnings of success as it moves forward. It is an intriguing venture into the realms of love imagined, love fulfilled, and love unrequited. It is also a daunting exploration of the vicissitudes of the human experience and the contours of redemption and release.

AUDIENCE BUZZ ABOUT THE JOINT

“The Joint is the first play in the history of TNC’s Dream Up Festival reading series to sell out  with standing room only (SRO) audiences.”

“The music was wonderful – I couldn’t sit still.  They were rockin’.  I would buy this soundtrack and I would come back and see this show again and again.”

“A good solid show and very commercial. The book avoids clichés at the expected moments and uses "talk" language, not writer self-consciousness. Songs and lyrics speak with sincerity and warm musicality. Set is necessarily sparse but moved by Cast with Directorial imagination. Cast is solid and they deliver. The audience was fully and audibly involved. This is a first-rate production.” 

“Intermissions are always useful, but this time I didn’t want it to stop … Sitting here wondering how the plot will unfold.” 

“The Joint is important to me for it shows a world that does not include race as a villain, as a through line as a shadow, nor as a cause and effect. It is about a group of life loving black people in the south. Standing together and taking care of one’s own and everyone from any ethnic group can admire and enjoy such a notion. THE JOINT; a mini Wakanda with a juke box, a southern bop and a song!”

“Damn, this show is hot.  I saw myself; I am Corrida!!!”

“Again, I just loved the cast. What a delightful and talented group!”

“Congratulations to everyone involved in this production.  You made a lot of people feel.”