Alberta Hunter

Leaving the Blues

I used to have a separate blog for each show but decided that was taking up too much air space...or whatever the hell the space is that these blog things hang out in.  So I'm launching GomezDramaDuchess which will cover all the theatre stuff I do.  I didn't want to be DramaQueen, I don't think I quite deserve that title although I do have my days!  And I've always wanted to be called Duchess since my father was called Duke.  So I've bestowed the title on myself!  It seems appropriate in this space where I get to share w/folks the love of drama that I have and the work I want to do.  Which brings me back to "Leaving the Blues."

In the 1980s I went to see singer/songwriter Alberta Hunter perform at the Cookery in the Village (NYC) about 5 times.  Once I took my grandmother, Lydia, who'd been a dancer around the same time that Hunter was in her heyday--1930's and 40's.  Lydia was the person who confirmed for me that Hunter, as the rumour had suggested, was a lesbian.  From that moment on I wanted to write something about her. She wrote Bessie Smith's first big hit.  She then wrote and recorded dozens of her own songs (which she held the rights to).  She had a reputation among blues musicians that she should be the one to premier a blues song because that would win it an audience first!

So I wanted to know what did it mean to survive as a woman, a Black woman and as a lesbian in those years?  What did it mean to be in control of your career and your music--not common for Black performers in general and women in particular?  And what was it that drove her as a performer; so strongly that she returned to singing after 20 years in so-called retirement which she spent being a nurse?

These questions lead me to writing "Leaving the Blues" a two act play that was commissioned by New Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco where it premiered in 2017.  The script was originally written with the actor Desiree Rogers in mind.  She'd played Lorraine in "Waiting for Giovanni" my earlier production.  I knew she had the moxie to capture both Hunter's tough, no-nonsense businesswoman persona as well as her vulnerability!

Desiree Rogers by Lois Tema

We had a rollicking time!  The entire cast melded with the idea of Alberta and her extraordinary life and the difficulties (like sexism, racism, lesbophobia, colourism) she had to confront as if they understood and were on her team.  I was extremely honoured to have that second amazing experience at New Conservatory Theatre Center.

Now I get to do it again with TOSOS-The Other Side of Silence.  After Mark Finley's emotionally wrenching and visually stunning mounting of "Waiting for Giovanni" at The Flea Theatre last summer he's wading back in to do "Leaving the Blues!"  I guess I wasn't too much of a nuisance...as some playwrights can be.  The company holds auditions in November and the play opens in January at The Flea. As I did with the last production I'll keep tossing out tidbits and pictures. 

I'll share some history here about Alberta Hunter and you can always find her music on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLoPKQZRjOQ

So watch this space and soon I'll have some pictures of the new TOSOS cast members!  And the inside scoop on how the show is shaping up in New York City!