New Play at American Players Theater Celebrates the Music, Life, and Times of Ma Rainey

by Elim Eyobed, age 13

On a warm, sunny Sunday morning, a group of SSFP reporters left the newsroom and made our way to American Players Theater in Spring Green, Wisconsin. This was our second trip to APT this summer, and we were ready to watch “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” by playwright August Wilson.

We arrived at APT just before noon, for a private Q&A session with director Gavin Dillon Lawrence. Students had the opportunity to ask Lawrence questions about the show and his experience directing. Lawrence told us that the most difficult part of directing and staging this production was that “the play by August Wilson was originally meant to be performed inside, and we are putting it on outside.” He said they worked a lot on how to transport the setting of an indoor recording studio to an outdoor stage.

When asked about what inspired him while directing this play, Lawrence answered that it was the resilience of his cast, specifically lead actress Greta Oglesby, who portrayed Ma Rainey. According to Lawrence, several members of the cast experienced personal hardships and family emergencies, and Oglesby even had to travel home at times between rehearsals. What inspired Lawrence was the cast's commitment to the production and that amidst personal difficulties, everyone showed up ready to put their all into the show.

This resilience the cast showed offstage shone through during their performance on stage and through their characters.

The play opened to Chicago during the 1920s in an empty recording studio, save for two white men, Ma’s manager Irvin, played by David Daniel, and producer Sturdyvant, played by Brian Mani, rushing to prepare for a recording session. The artist they awaited was “the Mother of the Blues,” Gertrude “Ma” Rainey.

First, her band showed up, who were the primary focus of the play. These fictional characters were created by August Wilson to explore larger issues at hand through their dialogue.

Toledo, the piano player played by Chiké Johnson, was an older Black man and the only band member who could read, and he often thought philosophically about the plight of Black Americans and about the importance of unity, shared heritage, and inevitable change.

Cutler, the band’s pious and dutiful guitarist and trombone player portrayed by Lester Purry, took the role of band leader and person of contact for Irvin and Sturdyvant. He focused on the collective success of Ma and her band rather than individualistic artistry.

Slow Drag, the bassist played by Bryant Louis Bentley, had a simple attitude to life. He wished to complete the recordings as soon as possible so the band could get paid and go home.

The final and youngest band member was Levee, played by Nathan Barlow. A determined young trumpet player, Levee was in search of making a name for himself in the music industry. He was convinced he knew what the public wanted to listen to, and claimed it wasn’t what Ma Rainey was singing.

Upon their arrival to the studio, the band was sent downstairs to the band room to rehearse while everyone waited for Ma Rainey. During this time, the actors brought to life the joking, bickering, and debating of topics like musical choice, personal success versus unified progress, submission, exploitation, faith, and the difficulties of navigating life in America as a Black man.

The band often found themselves in opposition with Levee, such as when he pressured the band to play his more up-beat arrangement of the song, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which ultimately caused a falling out between Levee and Ma Rainey. The band called Levee foolish, ignorant, and childish for wanting to stand out and gain personal fame with his music. While Cutler wanted Levee to understand his place in the band and that Ma Rainey was the one who called the shots. Meanwhile, Levee was leaning into the changes in music and society, and wanted to follow his artistic intuition.

Ma Rainey, who wasn’t seen on stage until much later in the play, arrived an hour late to her recording session with her nephew, an accompanying young woman, and a policeman. During the following exchange between Irvin, Ma, and the police officer, it turned out that Ma was unable to get a cab in Chicago, where she was not as recognized as she was in the South.

In Oglesby’s stunning depiction of Ma Rainey, Ma was appalled at the behavior of the cab driver and the policeman, and at the fact that they did not know who she was. This episode helped the audience recognize her challenges as a Black woman in Chicago, despite being the famous “Mother of the Blues.”

Once the officer was bribed by Irvin to drop his charges, Sturdyvant, Irvin, and the band were all ready to begin recording. However, before recording could commence, Ma had various requests that needed to be fulfilled, which painted her as difficult in the eyes of Irvin and Sturdyvant. After multiple takes and technical difficulties, the recordings were finally captured. However, despite a successful session, Ma reprimanded Levee for improvising too much on his trumpet and trying to outshine her on the recording.

Due to traumatic events in his childhood, which Barlow revealed in a tear-jerking monologue, Levee felt a strong resentment toward white people. He believed that by becoming famous through his music, he could gain power, respect, and in a sense, revenge. Toledo urged Levee to consider that the fame he might achieve in white society would be conditional – he claimed that white people would only give Black people fame as long as they made them money.

Ma Rainey recognized this dynamic in her own life and had a cautious and intentional way of navigating her environment as a Black woman. When entering the studio room, Ma Rainey commanded respect from all around. Although Irvin repeatedly assured Sturdyvant that he could “handle her,” Irvin gave in to Ma’s every demand, no matter how frustrated he and Sturdyvant became. And for good reason. Ma had what the studio needed – the songs which would make the studio money, if they were recorded successfully.

Understanding the leverage she had over her manager and producer, Ma Rainey confidently threatened to leave several times in order to maintain creative control over her music and maintain a dominant role in her relationship with the white studio executives. She explained to her entourage that “They don’t care nothing about me. All they want is my voice. Well, I done learned that, and they gonna treat me like I want to be treated no matter how much it hurt them.”

While Ma achieved this by intimidating her white producer and manager, Levee tried to do so by suppressing his genuine feelings and instead strategically “smiling in their faces.” Sturdyvant asked Levee to write new songs under the false pretense that he could play and record them once he formed a new band, and Levee saw this as his potential path to fame. He wanted to escape his tragic past and make a better life for himself, even if that meant acting “spooked” by white men, as the others called his overly respectful demeanor with the producer. His bandmates mocked him, and Toledo tried to convey that joining forces with other Black people and working together to forge a brighter future was the only way to make progress. Levee countered by saying that he was taking action, rather than “philosophizing.”

Toward the end, this individualistic way of thinking led Levee down a path of sorrow and disappointment, and he was left with even less than at the start of the play. The resilient band members each held a different perspective, and their discussions aimed to supplement Levee’s lacking worldview. Toledo’s belief in collaboration and collective progress, Cutler’s trust in his faith in God and doing the right thing, and Slow Drag’s agreeable and straightforward comportment contrasted Levee’s conviction that every man is for himself.

After waiving off his bandmates’ advice, Levee’s journey came full circle; he came from a past filled with pain and loneliness, and at the end of the play he was the one who isolated himself and not only experienced but caused despair.

Following the show, Simpson Street Free Press reporters discussed how these clashing perspectives of the band and Levee highlighted generational differences in attitude and behavior. This generational shift was also present in Levee’s modern and invigorated approach to art which contradicted Ma Rainey’s approach of sticking to old and familiar methods of creating music. The band’s thematic discussions and the play’s poignant ending evoked thoughtful reflection from our student reporters and the entire audience. Thank you to APT for inviting us to such a remarkable performance!