Dinah: A Musical Revue - Now We Know What We’ve Been Missing

 

Delana Flowers as Dinah Washington Credit: Mark Clayton Southers

    Born Ruth Lee Jones, Dinah Washington (August 29, 1924 - December 14, 1963) has been gone now for some 60 years, but the legacy of one of the most popular female Black recording artists of the 1950s lingers on.

    Self-proclaimed the “Queen of the Blues” she, nevertheless, ventured into other genres besides the Blues, making her mark in the world of jazz, R&B, pop, and even a country tune or two.

    Those with a yearning to stir memories of the troubled, though talented diva or those wanting to learn more about her life and career and explore some of her recorded hits along the way need venture no further than the Carter Woodson Redwood Theater at the Madison Arts Center in Schenley Heights.

    Now getting a revival after a nine-year hiatus from the Pittsburgh Playwrights stage, “Dinah, The Musical Revue” includes a whopping 27 tunes director Mark Clayton Southers said she once recorded. Challenged to portray the singer known for her penchant for perfection is the unstoppable, unflappable Delana Flowers, who graced the PPT stage in the title role nearly a decade ago.

    In the show, Flowers gets to don an array of ensembles that would be the envy of any committed wearer of haute couture, starting with an all-white outfit, complete with feathery boa she wears while seated on a huge equally white throne wheeled out on stage. It makes for an unforgettably dramatic entrance.

    Things warm up immediately with “My Name is Dinah.” one of several songs I was unfamiliar with. As the diva sang with unbridled bravado, the collection of her seven husbands circled around her like planets orbiting the sun, each one wearing a number of his back to indicate his place in the nuptial chronology.

    In her lifetime, we learn that Washington tied the knot to seven husbands, depending on who’s counting, the same number as Zsa Zsa Gabor and Liz Taylor.

    “I’m going to keep getting married until I get it right,” she says snappily early in the musical revue.

    Many of the songs in her repertoire deal with man troubles, bluesy lamentations that underpin the amorous shortcomings of her choice of partners.

    Playwright Ernest McCarty sketches wisps of narrative that touch on her love life, her early discovery that she could sing and sing well, her wavering trials with pills to keep her weight down and her no nonsense approach to the members of her band.

    The bulk of the show, however, is a retrospective of Washington tunes, some famous, some more obscure (to me at least). Flowers renders each with loving care and the steadfastness of a marathon runner. Hers is a Herculean task bringing alive the music of a star of yesteryear, although, in her favor, she is accompanied but some of the area’s most heralded musicians.

    They include music director, Dwayne Fulton on keys, Roger Humphries on drums, Dwayne Dolphin on bass and Tony Campbell on sax.

    Although Flowers slim physique and voice tones are different from Washington’s, she manages to capture to personality of the singer. It helps that the audience is seated cabaret style around tables dimly and atmospherically lit by small lamps. This is especially apt in Act Two, when the scene is set as though Washington was performing an intimate show in front of an audience of night clubbers.

Delana Flowers as Dinah and Kati Cotten as Mama Credit Mark Clayton Southers

    In a flashback scene, Washington is seen as a young vocal student (Adjoa Opoku-Dakwa), singing “Yes, Jesus Loves Me” to the accompaniment of her teacher, Mama (Willa “Katy” Cotten). The scene soon segues into a gorgeous Gospel tune, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” sung in unison with heavenly harmony by Cotton and Flowers.

    More relief from her solo duties comes with the addition of two back up singers (Cotton and Cheryl El-Walker), reminiscent of mid 20th century pop songs that add visual interest, spirited accompaniment and tidbits of humor as well.

Les Howard as Brook Benton and Delana Flowers as Dinah Credit: Mark Clayton Southers

    I got a big jolt when I first heard the debonair Les Howard add his Brook Benton shtick to a couple of duets with Flowers, then fill the theater with mesmerizing melody when he crooned a solo, ‘You‘ve Changed.’

    Director Southers adds considerable interest to the show when he has Flowers enter from the back of the audience at to start off Act Two. He also seems to chose his cast with care, i.e., Chris Olshefski as an Alan Freed sort of radio announcer and Royce Jones as reporter Bob Hunter, the journalist assigned to write an expose on Washington.

Royce Jones as Bob Hunter Credit: Mark Clayton Southers

    On the evening of my visit, Richard Dickson tackled the role of Dick “Night Train” Lane, the NFL football player, who became Washington’s last husband. With the build of a linebacker and the good looks needed to win over the choosy singer, Dickson displays the soft touch and romantic skills needed to woo and win the much-married Washington.

    One of the revue’s last gestures has him down on one knee proposing. After an emphatic yes from Washington, the revue closes happily with one of Washington’s most endearing bestselling singles, “What a Difference a Day Makes.”

    Go and see what a difference an evening makes to your spirit by catching this retrospective look at some of the songs made popular by one of the biggest stars of the 1950s.

    Dinah: A Musical Revue is at the Madison Arts Center’s Carter Woodson Redwood Theater, 3401 Milwaukee Street in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Heights neighborhood. Thru April 28. For tickets, go to www.pghplaywrights.org.