Local acting company and theater, the Black Theatre Troupe, will be performing Sheldon Epps’ Broadway musical revue Blues in the Night from Sept. 13 to 29.
Audience members can expect to hear blues classics ranging from Duke Ellington to Ida Cox at the theater located at 1333 E. Washington St.
The troupe’s Executive Director David Hemphill directed the show. He said he wanted a challenge after being on the board of directors for years and jumped into directing.
The production is centered around the musical elements, rather than the plot or dialogue, according to Hemphill.
“From my perspective, I think it is basically an opportunity to sing some of the greatest blues songs in the American songbook,” he said. “It has very little story to it. In fact, it doesn’t really have a story as much as it has observations.”
The Black Theatre Troupe usually performs shows that deal with serious political or social underpinnings like its February production of Detroit ’67, which takes place during the 1967 Detroit race riots.
“It’s just a thinly veiled excuse to sing a number of wonderful songs,” Hemphill said. “There is an entertainment appeal. It’s not like our regular productions that address social issues with a message.”
Hemphill said he believes downtown Phoenix is a great place for this production to be introduced to because of its historical connection to blues music.
“I think the downtown community really has a strong history of enjoying blues and that’s why it’s important to Phoenix as a whole,” he said. “Phoenix has always been very vibrant in terms of the musical genre of the blues.”
Mike Traylor has been acting with the Black Theatre Troupe since 1983. He said he found them out of college and hasn’t looked back since.
“I was recently graduated from school at NAU and I noticed in the paper and I went down to audition and started doing shows with them,” Traylor said.
Traylor said he hopes every production he is a part of is entertaining and informative for the audience as well as for himself.
“My goals are always the same—to present something fresh and to portray characters and have fun doing it,” Traylor said. “It gives us something artistic to do.”
He said the troupe’s mission and work provide a voice to writers that are often overlooked within the realm of theatre, but have widely relatable content.
“Black Theatre Troupe is unique in that we try to showcase African American writers and try to show that the themes are universal,” Traylor said. “It is a specific niche because we try to show the African American experience.”
Ríco Burton, an actress with the troupe, started working with them about 25 years ago. She said she always had a passion for the arts and the Black Theatre Troupe helped her express that passion.
“Acting and the theatre is something I’ve always enjoyed and loved,” Burton said. “When I moved here I was looking for a good community of theatre and I found out that Black Theatre Troupe was doing good work.”
She said the production reflects how people can relate to each other in all walks of life.
“Everybody can be at a different place in their life, just like real life,” Burton said. “The songs reflect what’s going on in each of their lives at that given movement with where they are and where they hope to be.”
Burton said the music of Blues in the Night conveys the theme of having hope in times of hardship.
“From my perspective, Blues in the Night tells the story of various people about their struggles, hardships, triumphs, hopes and dreams from a musical standpoint,” she said.
Burton said this show is an opportunity for the downtown Phoenix community to understand diversity through the scope of blues music and see how universal the message of the musical performance is.
“We all come together because theatre and music can do that for you,” Burton said. “It matters not who sings it or who does it, everybody can just enjoy it.”
Contact the reporter at Hfoote1@asu.edu.
