Review: In LACKAWANNA BLUES, Ruben Santiago-Hudson Pays Tribute to the Incredible Woman Who Lovingly Raised Him

There is something special about the magic which is created during a live theater performance that cannot be duplicated on television or film as the interaction with an audience allows well-written and directed stories, starring incredibly talented actors, to soar into the history books as an event not to miss. Such is the case in LACKAWANNA BLUES, Ruben Santiago-Hudson's theatrical memoir in which he returns to his roots in a tour-de-force performance accompanied throughout by live blues music.

In it, he takes us back to his beginnings through a blues-infused portrait of the surrogate parent he found in Rachel Crosby, a radiant soul who more than earned the nickname of "Nanny," a well-known and incredibly big-hearted mother to the entire Lackawanna neighborhood in which she owned and managed a boarding house for society's cast-offs, including gamblers, drug dealers, battered women, prostitutes, and abandoned children. And never doubt that Nanny stood up to the local brutes who threatened those she took under her wing.

Many of those heartwarming, personal tales are brought into focus by master storyteller Santiago-Hudson, a Tony Award-winning actor and talented stage director, who appears onstage with a harmonica in hand, ready to accompany Grammy-winning blues guitarist, composer and actor Chris Thomas King (who replaces the recently-departed original music composer and multi-talented musician Bill Sims, Jr.) in the current production of LACKAWANNA BLUES at the Mark Taper Forum through April 21, 2019. Their collaboration is not to be missed for the shear genius of its overall presentation, with the many characters brilliantly brought to life so thoroughly by its writer/director/actor Santiago-Hudson with perfect musical accompaniment backing up his emotional tales.

Michael Carnahan's authentic scenic design immerses you in front of the brick boarding house, immaculately lit by Jen Schriever with colors every shade of the rainbow, as the two performers pull you in and keep your attention focused on the often sweet as well as bitter, blues-infused stories being shared as a reminiscence of his 1950s childhood in a small town on the banks of Lake Erie. In it, Santiago-Hudson takes on more than 20 colorful characters - from would-be philosophers and petty hustlers to lost souls and abandoned lovers - in a brilliant celebration of the eccentric boardinghouse in which he grew up where many recently paroled and now partying people resided.

Most prominently among them is Nanny's former husband and all-around philandering tough-guy Bill, the man upon whom she relies to take up her cause as the need presents itself. Santiago-Hudson's ability to present both characters simultaneously, as well as the poor souls being protected, is awe-inspiring as each person is brought-to-life physically as well as musically. Some of the most comical moments ensue when Santiago-Hudson shares Norm Crosby-like malaprops such as the "Entire State Building," describes the hard-drinking aliment as "roaches of the liver," and especially "beauty is in the behind of the holder" while describing the manner in which tight-skirt clothed African-American women danced to encourage the attention of men in need of some womanly comforts.

But it is Nanny's open hands and heart that will stay with you as you recall the memories shared in LACKAWANNA BLUES, especially the trials and tribulations she endured on trip back-and-forth to her native Virginia while transporting family and friends North, giving them food, shelter, and finding them jobs in local factories in order to support their families. Her thoughtful nature lives in Santiago-Hudson's heart and soul, giving his storytelling the necessary empathy that will draw you in and inspire comical as well as heartfelt emotional responses, proving that "love is a many blended thing."

The only improvement I can suggest could be made in Phillip G. Allen's sound design as it was often difficult to understand Santiago-Hudson's most soft-spoken comments and characterizations during his rapid-fire delivery. But trust me, you will never hear a better blending of the blues than in this production at the Mark Taper Forum.

LACKAWANNA BLUES tickets are available online at CenterTheatreGroup.org, by calling Audience Services at (213) 628-2772 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office (at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles). Tickets range from $30 - $109 for performances through April 21, 2019 at the Mark Taper Forum, located at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012.

Photos by Craig Schwartz

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