Michael Pottson and LaChanze                  photos by Joan Marcus

 

 

 

 

                                          By Julia Polinsky

 

The treatment of African Americans in popular culture has come a long way since 1940, when Cabin in the Sky premiered on Broadway. The show has way too many of the hallmarks of good ol’ mid-20^th-century American racism; basically, this “fable” of good vs. evil working itself out among the happy darkies is about as cliché as it gets. Makes you want to squirm.

 

I know, I know: it’s not valid to judge a historical artifact by modern standards. And so, I’m happy to report that the Encores! reconstruction of Cabin in the Sky has wisely been scrubbed of the kind of language that we just can’t stomach nowadays. Can’t do much about the story, though. It is what it is.

 

Little Joe (Michael Pottson) lies dying. As the church choir sings him on his way to the afterlife, his loving wife, Petunia (LaChanze, in a standout performance) prays to The Lord to save him – Satan’s pretty sure he has a lock on the soul of the gambling, womanizing, wastrel, no-good Little Joe.

 

Norm Lewis

 

From a throne stage left, The Lord’s General (Norm Lewis, having great fun, and singing like a boss), admires Petunia’s piety and dedication. He chooses to give Little Joe a reprieve of six months, to reform his ways – or else.

 

Chuck Cooper and his Henchmen

 

The Head Man, enthroned stage right (a wonderfully hammy Chuck Cooper), expects Little Joe to screw up. Plots and schemes ooze across the stage, from the Red/Gold/Black side (Satanic), to the Blue and White side (Angelic).

 

The saintly Petunia, having saved her man’s life, reforms him into a churchgoing, upright husband. Predictably, just short of the six months of his trial by goodness, Little Joe is tempted by gambling, drinking, and a woman (Marva Hicks), and gives in to temptation. Equally predictably, good triumphs, and evil is vanquished, and all is well.

 

Marya Hicks

 

Throughout Cabin in the Sky, song and dance pave this cliché-ridden, fundamentally patronizing story with gold. Vernon Duke and John Latouche wrote not only the title song, but also the terrific “Taking a Chance on Love,” “Honey in the Honeycomb,” and “It’s Not So Bad to be Good,” any of which, as performed by this company, makes one happy. One song from the film version has wisely been included, the transcendent “Happiness is a Thing Called Joe,” by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. So wonderful to hear this great music, given performances with heart and soul.

 

 

Consider that the original creative team was largely immigrant Russians – George Balanchine choreographed and directed, Vernon Duke wrote the music, Boris Aronson designed the set – who had no knowledge of what it was like to be Black in America. At least the composer, lyricist, and set designer had the smarts to know that they knew nothing, and actually went to Virginia to soak up Black atmosphere. Wrongheaded as that may seem to us now, it was in its day a good faith attempt to cross a cultural chasm.

 

The Cabin in the Sky they created, we will never know. This Encores! production has rebuilt the show from what remained of the original; a script, and a copy of the piano score. Considerable time, care, imagination, and work has gone into that reconstruction, and it shows, in spades.

 

Bahiyah Hibah and cast

 

Balanchine’s choreography may be gone, but Camille A. Brown has created such kickass dancing, who cares? Balanchine, Shmalanchine. These dances, and these dancers, rock the house.

 

Scenic designer Anna Louizos has managed to cram an enormous cast and the orchestra on to the City Center stage, yet it doesn’t feel overcrowded, and she’s made an evocative place for everything, even the titular cabin in the sky.

 

Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations work so well, I can’t imagine that the original ones could possibly have been as good, and Rob Berman, music director, conducts the Encores! orchestra beautifully con brio.

 

The singers are outstanding; one after another, better and better. A sing-off at the beginning of Act II, between the Henchmen and Angels (yes, you read that right) showcases great voices, and the gospel choir’s two traditional spirituals (arranged by Linda Twine) are enough to make a nice secular audience hear the word of the Lord – particularly the smashing performance of “Dem Bones.” Amen.

 

 

Au fin, it doesn’t matter that the story is more like a dated, Sunday school comic book than a fable. Done with love and care and treated like art, this old-school Cabin in the Sky warms the heart.

 

 

Cabin in the Sky at City Center Encores!

February 10-14, 2016

130 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019

(212) 581-1212

 

Coming up:

 

1776 Mar 30 — Apr 3, 2016

Do I Hear a Waltz? May 11 — 15 , 2016

Performance Schedule: Wed - Thu 7:30pm, Fri 8, Sat 2 & 8, Sun 2 & 7