Dr. 2's surgery with patient Crowns at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre
Patient: Crowns
Legal Guardian: Playwright Regina Taylor, Director Tim Rhoze and Co-Director Bria Walker
Surname: Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre
Address: The Fleetwood Jourdain-Theatre 927 Noyes St, Evanston, IL 60201
Insurance: Bookmarx Medical
Symptoms: feathers, sparkles, ribbons
Diagnosis: good hair day
“Put a hat on your head.”
Operation Overview:
WAM, BAM—what an intro. The patient hit a home run on the first pitch. These women were on fire, and the only thing keeping them cool were those thousand dollar hats. I felt like I lost my hat virginity in this intimate shotgun of a show. My crown, she is deflowered.
The legal guardian's main plot was just a tad basic, but it gave way to a string of short stories that went with every hat on stage. At first I wondered why Fredrick Harris as "Man" was the only man on stage. Man, he was The Man. This was a woman's show; there's no doubt. Man, however, was not marginalized. He was such a powerful shaman that I felt washed in the river sitting in the second row. The sermon turned African…the lights shifted orange… things got primal. We were on that base level. It was fun and it was spiritual.
Everyone in the patient's cast was a superstar. The ladies were a sassilicious joy from the start. Asia Jackson as Yolanda was an explosion of energy—every show needs something like her as an opener. Qiana McNary as Mable and Robin Beaman as Wanda were the black-lady-humor wizards of the show. Tuesdai Perry faithfully delivered darling zinger after darling zinger. If Harris was "The Man," then Mardra Thomas as Mother Shaw and Renee Lockette as Velma where "The Women." They responsibly carried the profound through line of what it means to be a black queen. The photos on the wall smiled for all the actors.
I was confused that we went to surgery with such a healthy patient. The master of ceremonies was the only prick in the performance. While he was exciting, I was turned off by the trumpeting of the actors' and playwright's resume. The playbill itself is a festoon of virtue vocab: no artistic statements? Not in my Indie Office. 300mg of Humilitin will be prescribed for this blip. With faithfulness to the Rx, the patient will recover with a five star health rating.
