By Andrew Gans
19 Oct 2009

Terrence Riggins

A one-night-only benefit performance of the new musical Low Down Dirty Blues will be presented Oct. 19 at Off-Broadway's Cherry Lane Theatre.

Directed by BJ Jones, the reading features the talents of Sandra Reaves-Phillips, Deborah Blackwell-Cook, Gregory Porter, Mississippi Charles Beel and Terrence Riggins. Show time is 7 PM.

Low Down Dirty Blues was penned by Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman, the creators of the Tony-nominated musical It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues. The new musical, according to press notes, "features songs — rife with innuendo, if not blatantly sexual — made famous, or infamous, as it were, by such inimitable entertainers as Mae West, Muddy Waters, Ma Rainey, Sophie Tucket, Howlin' Wolf, Pearl Bailey and many others. The musical is a rousing depiction of the passion, soul and love of life depicted in these songs that have been part of our musical culture since the birth of the blues."

The evening benefits Cherry Lane Theatre's programs for playwriting.

Low Down Dirty Blues will have its world premiere in May 2010 at Northlight Theatre in Illinois, where Jones is artistic director.

The Cherry Lane Theatre is located at 38 Commerce Street in Manhattan. Tickets, priced $30, are available by calling (212) 989-2020. For more information visit www.cherrylanetheatre.org.