Review: NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN at Milwaukee Rep

"Nina Simone: Four Women" is not a musical, but it pulses with music.  Based on Simone's song “Four Women,” the play, like the song, is told from the perspective of four very different women, each representing a stereotype of Black womanhood.

Directed by Malkia Stampley, "Four Women" is as powerful as the women it represents. The play takes place on the day of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing  in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four Black little girls—Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Carol Denise McNair.

Simone fury at the murder of these children spurs her to write a civil rights anthem of protst and rage.

Alexis J. Roston as Simone is the center of "Four Women" is strong and vulnerable, with a voice that vibrates the rafters of the theater. The other three women, Aunt Sarah (Gabrielle Lott-Rogers), Sephronia (Toni Martin), and Sweet Thing (Brittney Mack) emerge  more slowly, but eentually with equal power born of hardship.

Writer Christina Ham gives each woman familiar stories - but the familiarity does not lessen their impact.

Four Women portrays the birth of Simone’s place in history. When the four women on stage sing Simone’s songs together, it is revelatory of the power of the place. Each of the actors more than holds their own alongside Roston. Matthew Harris portrays Simone’s brother Sam, offering wordless support at the piano.

Pictured: Alexis J Roston, Gabrielle Lott-Rogers and Toni Martin.  Photo by Michael Brosilow.

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