Pullman Porter Blues at Arena Stage

Pullman Porter Blues
A world-premiere co-production with Seattle Repertory Theatre
By Cheryl L. West
Directed by Lisa Peterson
In the Kreeger Theater
November 23, 2012 – January 6, 2013

Jam-packed with 14 original and classic blues songs, including “Sweet Home Chicago,” Pullman Porter Blues is the world-premiere production that reveals the true hero hidden within every man. It’s June 1937 and the Panama Limited, bound from Chicago to New Orleans, is bouncing to the beat of the rollicking Midwest blues. Most folks are tuned in to the Joe Louis/James Braddock championship bout, but the men of the Sykes family—three generations of porters—know there’s more at stake than just a boxing title, as they battle each other, racial tensions and an uncertain future. Will the hope they get from the Brown Bomber be the fuel this family needs to make a better life, or will progress tear them apart?