ONCE ON THIS PRAIRIE
Developed at Signature Theatre in Virginia, the new musical Gun & Powder has stormed into Paper Mill Playhouse with enough energy to light the Manhattan skyline. The book and lyrics by Angelica Chéri are based upon truth and legend that have been passed down like the telephone game since 1893: Mary (Ciara Renée) and Martha Clarke (Liisa LaFontaine), African American twins who can pass as White, leave their poor sharecropping mother Tallulah (Jeanette Bayardelle) in Marlin, Texas, as they head out to somehow make enough money to send back home. Armed with nothing but pretty dresses, powder to lighten skin for one, and a revolver named “Ole Betsy” for the other, the audacious siblings soon become outlaws, empowered by taking money back from White folks — who, by definition, have profited from the slave trade. Talk about emancipation!
Liisi LaFontaine, Ciara Renée and Malik Shabazz Kitchen (Evan Zimmerman)
The inventive Wild West storyline has the sisters end up in Sweet Christine, Texas, where they plan to make one big grab before heading home. But the sisters fall for two men, which will challenge their loyalties to each other. It’s a wholly original musical which centers around the complexities of racial identity and the horrifically long-lasting legacy of slavery.
Hunter Parrish and the Ensemble (Jeremy Daniel)
With a score by Ross Baum that sounds like the love child of the musicals Color Purple and a little bit Dreamgirls, almost 30 numbers use the sounds and rhythms of pop, R&B, show tunes and gospel — and all the modulations and belting that implies. Orchestrations by John Clancy and Scott Wasserman cleverly add a gallimaufry of instrumentation, from harpsichord to 1970s guitar licks. From the ensemble’s awesome a capella Act II opener “The Shot That Shook the World” to the soul-searing ballad “Invisible” sung by Aaron James McKenzie, Baum’s score –led by music director Austin Cook — never loses steam, chugging along like the Transcontinental Railroad. With vocal lines that are sometimes more recitative then melodic, a pile-driving cast — 26 in all — slam these rousing but unforgiving tunes home with all the subtlety of a blacksmith’s hammer. If you are into riffs, runs, yodels and embellishments, these impressive singers show off their vocal abilities with aplomb.
Aaron James McKenzie (Jeremy Daniel)
Jeannette Bayardelle (Evan Zimmerman)
With near-constant movement by director Stevie Walker-Webb and choreographer Tiffany Rea-Fisher, the style is presentational — sometimes like Story Theater. Beowulf Boritt‘s set becomes more detailed as deception becomes dangerous.
Zonya Love and Aurelia Williams (Jeremy Daniel)
The comedy comes with a pair of Black maids at The Boneyard saloon. The chattering, gossipy Sissy (Aurelia Williams) and Flo (Zonya Love) know full-well that the bandit sisters, who now have a hefty price on their heads, are only fooling Whites (“Dangerous”). Saloon singer Fannie (Katie Thompson) welcomes us to The Boneyard with “Frenchman Father”, an allusion to the sisters’ father, who was White and abandoned Tallulah.
Katie Thompson and the Ensemble (Jeremy Daniel)
One might question whether the sisters’ behavior should be condoned or not (no spoilers here), and I’m rather certain the story would be more emotionally effective if the score was toned down, but that’s not what the creators are going for. This is a 150-minute in-your-face reclamation of power that could very well end up on Broadway soon.
Ciara Renée, Jeannette Bayardelle, Liisi LaFontaine, and the Ensemble (Jeremy Daniel)
photos by Jeremy Daniel & Evan Zimmerman
Gun & Powder
Paper Mill Playhouse, 22 Brookside Dr. in Millburn, NJ
ends on May 5, 2024
for tickets, visit Paper Mill
for more info, visit Gun & Powder
