MANET/DEGAS
Nov 1, 2023DANCE REFLECTIONS VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
Nov 2, 2023
REVIEW By CELIA IPIOTIS
What’s really at stake in the recent revival of Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious? Perhaps it’s one’s soul. Life can be cut off bit by bit at work, by colleagues or even at home by family members. Being truthful to oneself takes courage; that — along with a Bugs Bunny ability to cheat death — animates the preacher, Leslie Odom Jr., in Broadway’s first revival of Purlie Victorious since 1969.
Directed with great verve and sympathy by Kenny Leon, Purlie stands on the talents of the entire cast. One of the strongest ensembles this season, every cast member creates a singular universe imbued with human frailties and the canny ability to outwit all detractors.
Determined to access a family inheritance of $500 in the service of raising his grandfather’s church, Purlie, a Black preacher, wrangles the warm-hearted, naive Lutiebelle into traveling with him to out maneuver Ol’ Cap’n (a stentorian Jay O. Sanders) the white plantation owner blocking access to the money.
Pretending to be the cousin next in line for the inheritance, the breathless, high pitched Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins (a sensational Kara Young) gets caught up during the cross examination swerving from the memorized script into improvisational chaos.
A physically comical performer, Young — lithe and spry as a mosquito–moves faster than her body can manage. Legs spread wide, she ricochets from one foot to another, her ankles collapsing, she climbs up people and objects like a frantic cat. Her vaudevillian instincts push physical humor to the very edge and imbue everyone with an added measure of hilarious bamboozlement.
The bouillabaisse of strong willed characters–Missy (Heather Alicia Simms), the cook Idella (Vanessa Bell Calloway)– stir up stereotypical images of Black people devised by white people who then cascade out of control.
Part charismatic preacher, part eloquent poet, Leslie Odom Jr. flashes his bracing talent across the ages, like a man sprinting towards a dream–one he can embrace, and one he fights forever to win.
EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis
