CHOIR BOYS TO MEN
Shotgun Players in Berkeley is presenting the Bay Area premiere of the Tony-nominated play, Choir Boy. It’s a fine fit.
This one-year chronicle of a distinguished African-American institution — the imaginary Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys — is written by gay playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney (Head of Passes, Brother/Sister trilogy), whose screenplay with Barry Jenkins won a 2016 Academy Award for Moonlight. Likewise an earnest take on a young gay man in full flux, this 2012 one-act treats its complex title character with unsparing scrutiny and hard-earned compassion. It’s also an action meditation on music — how the joy of singing, a force to cherish more than judge, can succumb to analysis and agendas.
William Schmidt as Pharus with Choir Boy Ensemble
The coming-of-age story concerns a young African-American gay man, depicting the struggle of finding identity and honor under the guise of “being a man” in an all-male prep school. When you throw in lifelong teachings of Black Baptist worship into the mix of this very structured and supervised environment, the adolescent code of not ratting out other classmates’ conduct can lead to moral conundrums for any young man.
Chachi Delgado as Junior and Miles Meckling as Bobby
About to celebrate the 5oth-anniversary of its founding, the prestigious (and strategically unlocated) school is celebrated for its honor code and for its “a cappella” boys choir, symbols of its excellence at promoting the nurturing of strong, ethical black men since 1967. As choir leader, sexually ambiguous Pharus Jonathan Young (William Schmidt), who belts out the gospel classic “Trust and Obey,” is convinced he’s “the best” and his future is golden. But a gay slur from behind the podium hints not all will go well for this brashly confident, infuriatingly clever, and omni-talented “choir boy.”
Omar Stuart and Choir Boy Ensemble
Effeminate and overweight, Pharus overcompensates with his intellect and his super power: he’s a gifted singer who loves to sing and lead. His fellow choirmates include his roommate and best friend AJ James (Wesley Barker), who helps to keep him grounded when his ego about his talent goes off the rails. David (Omar Stewart), another senior, has his sights set on the priesthood, but he carries around his own demons. Brandon DiPaola and Chachi Delgado are other boys in the choir.
Wesley Barker as AJ
Pharus’s rival is Bobby Marrow (Miles Meckling), attending the school on a scholarship because his uncle is Drew’s fair-minded, tough-loving headmaster (Fred Pitts). Homophobically hostile to popular Pharus’s ingratiating charms, Bobby, resenting his own second-class status, is also opposed to Pharus’s pure delight in the stuff they sing. Characteristically, Bobby holds that the only enduring merit of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” lies in the “coded directions” it gave its creators on how to avoid slave-catchers along the Underground Railway. Celebrating its power in the present, Pharus finds it a constant source of splendor.
Malcolm Rodgers as Mr. P and Omar Stewart as David
The headmaster brings back a distinguished white teacher (Malcom B. Rodgers), a respected veteran of the civil rights movement, to teach a course in thinking and eventually the choir as well. Mr. Pendleton’s efforts to prop up the teenagers with their better selves leads him to the play’s most wrenching revelation: When the headmaster confesses that he always feared that someday a gay student at Drew would be hurt, Mr. P. asks him if he ever thought the boy would also be loved.
William Schmidt as Pharus with Choir Boy Ensemble
Still, even in this single-sex high school setting where adolescent hormones are flowing, coming out is not at the fore. Instead “Codes of Honor” and “Holding Things In” is the message drilled into the boys from their teacher “Mr. P” and the headmaster in particular. When tensions and conflicts build with unexpected consequences and outcomes for the boys, Pharus is the most conflicted and the one with the most to lose. William Schmidt’s palpably powerful performance is conveyed not just in his thoughts and actions but also through his gifted singing voice. Indeed, all of the boys have powerful voices in their own right and angelically harmonize the a cappella inspirational gospel tunes, which are beautifully shaped by Daniel Alley’s musical direction, gloriously arranged by Jason Michael Webb (who won a special Tony for his work), and accompanied by AeJay Antonis Marquis’s sweet choreography.
Choir Boy Ensemble
Deanna Zibello’s brick and mortar set creates the perfect backdrop. Thanks to Darryl V. Jones’s painstaking staging, these 85 minutes feel like actual turning points, choices that will resonate across the decades for these choir boys. Grounded in their all-too-human contradictions, the seven characters — all of whom have inner conflicts of moral ambiguity — carry familiarity into intimacy without a stumble. McCraney’s play packs a big emotional punch, as the songs convey the processed energy of apprentice dreamers on the exciting cusp of so much future. That euphoric affirmation ultimately overcomes the play’s darker developments. Singing keeps us human.
Miles Meckling as Bobby
photos by Ben Krantz
Omar Stewart and William Schmidt
Choir Boy
Shotgun Players
Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. in Berkeley
ends on October 20, 2024 EXTENDED to October 26, 2024
for tickets ($10-$40), call 510.841.6500 ext 303 or visit Shotgun Players
Fred Pitts as Headmaster
