By
on February 22, 2013 at 12:00 PM, updated February 22, 2013 at 1:28 PM
There is a spectral synergy crackling between Miche Braden and the "hot and hungry mama" she embodies in "The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith," now at the Cleveland Play House. You can feel it in one of the show's most roof-raising numbers.
"The devil said, 'Bessie, can I have this dance?' / And I said, 'sho nuff daddy,' " Braden sings in "Devil Dance Blues (Sho Nuff Daddy)," a joyful flip of the bird to those who would judge Bessie and her outsized appetite for life -- including her unapologetic taste for booze, bad boys and broads, particularly showgirls.
Photo: John Quilty
But consult the program: The irreverent tune isn't from Bessie's songbook, but from the pen of Miche (pronounced "Mickey") Braden. In tone and sentiment, Braden's composition sounds like something the "Empress of the Blues" would have happily belted out -- amid belts from a flask filled with bathtub gin, that is.
"They say I'm a hard drinker, but baby, that's the easiest thing I do," she says, speaking directly to the sold-out, opening-night crowd at the Allen Theatre on Wednesday. It's one of many bons mots that pepper the script by Angelo Parra -- really souped-up patter between songs -- that could have easily fallen from the wry lips of Mae West, Smith's deliciously debauched sister from another mother.
Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2013/02/in_the_devils_music_miche_brad.html
0 Comments:
Post a Comment