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Feb. 23--Like a Broadway pitchman from a bygone era, the redoubtable Sherman Yellen has been fighting for years to get his new musical treatment of the life of Josephine Baker, which he has dubbed "Josephine Tonight," up a on a stage. Some stage, somewhere, some darn time.
Yellen has credentials. In the 1970s, he wrote the Broadway musicals "Rex" and "The Rothschilds." And his persistence is fueled by emotion. His composing partner, Wally Harper, passed away in 2004. Back in 2003, Yellen could be found at the Chicago Humanities Festival, trotting out a reading (and a singing) of his beloved show and muttering darkly about all of the major Chicago theaters who hadn't shown up to hear it.
This week, Yellen finally got his wish. Theatre Building Chicago -- which develops new musicals -- has produced the world premiere of "Josephine Tonight" in what it calls a full production.
This is stretching a point. Steve Scott's earnest-but-tatty production doesn't exactly drip opulence. The set is a few bits of artfully draped fabric and some platforms. The score -- here performed on piano and drums -- has yet to be fully orchestrated. And the non-Equity cast -- of widely varying quality -- numbers all of eight. Given the titanic amounts of doubling going on, I suspect Yellen originally conceived this thing for about 20 performers.
But given all those givens, this show isn't bad at all.
Baker has a compelling life story that took her from abject poverty in St. Louis to Parisian fame and glory. And Yellen is a smart enough writer to find the contradictions and nuances in the biography. The show makes the point that an African-American could be treated like a human being in Europe in the early 1920s (hardly the case at home), but that such freedom came at the price of providing objectified exotica for the locals.
His Baker is sympathetic but hardly idealized -- the point is made that her lousy treatment of her fellow black performers (and her husband) flowed from her own wounds. There are some mother-daughter moments when things get uncomfortably close to "Gypsy," but it's all penned with complexity.
More important, Harper's score is one of those melodic, old-fashioned Broadway song suites, varied in style (blues, jazz, traditional Broadway) and possessing great richness. Few people can write a good old novelty number anymore, but Harper could, heard here in a thing called "The Slap Happy Joneses." The ballads feel fresh and true, and the title number has great oomph. The lyrics have been augmented, capably, by music director Jon Steinhagen.
The big weakness in the piece is that shifts in fortune occur too fast -- people tend to show up and announce the world is changing. But the early scenes, especially, are powerful and moving. And the show is witty. "Je t'adore," says one of Baker's French suitors. "Yeah, shut the door," she replies.
One hopes someone picks this thing up -- maybe in St. Louis, maybe a regional musical house.
There's an honorable performance from Monique Whittington, who has the impossible task of playing both Baker's mother and a blues singer. Melanie McCullough isn't fully equipped for the title role, but she gives her all, as do the supporting players.
As Yellen well knows, times are hard for straight up, old-fashioned Broadway yarns. But this is a good story and a stirring score. It deserves a full life.
cjones5@tribune.com
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"Josephine Tonight"
When: Through March 26
Where: Theater Building, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.
Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Tickets: $25-$30 at 773-327-5252
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