Combining classic blues torch-songs and the interweaving stories of three lonely women in a Chicago hotel, Memphis Black Repertory Theatre presents Blues in the Night, at Theatreworks Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee on Nov. 5-22.
Blues is set to twenty-six torchy blues numbers, like Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," Bessie Smith's "It Makes My Love Come Down," and "Wild Women Don't Have the Blues" by Ida Cox, and weaves them into narrative piece -- originally conceived by Play On! creator Sheldon Epps.
In Blues, a once-famous vaudeville blues performer, a "woman of the world" and a Girl seeking a new start all share the same fate of being in the same Chicago hotel in the late hours of the night. The flirtatious and cocky Man in the Saloon narrates these events and even jumps into the action at times.
Blues in the Night runs Nov. 6-22, at Theatreworks (2085 Monroe). For tickets ($20) or more information, call (901) 726-4656.
-- By Sean McGrath