Over the years, Amun Ra Theatre has tended to stage its productions on a somewhat irregular schedule. One recent constant, though, has been the presentation of a big-time holiday show. After mounting Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity in 2004-5, Amun Ra artistic director jeff obafemi carr and associates are at it again, but this time they’ve exercised a ton of creativity. And what they’ve done is transform Hughes’ collection of biblical passages and poetry into something worthy of their own original imprint. The reworked Black Nativity, now called Sho’ ’Nuff Nativity, opens Nov. 30 for five performances through Dec. 3.
“The original Black Nativity was Hughes’ attempt to offer a different cultural perspective on the Nativity story,” says carr, who is also a busy stage and film actor in his own right. (The director also prefers a lowercase spelling of his name.) “We’ve been adding new material to our version in the past two years, and we figured we’d already created a new play anyway. So now we’ve basically thrown all that we’ve done out the window, gone back to various biblical accounts and written a similar piece but with a new vision in mind.”
The original Hughes work, which was considered a “gospel song play,” focused mostly on sections from the Gospel of St. Luke. Hughes enhanced the traditional text with his own narrative and verse, and he also made suggestions for the musical accompaniment. Carr, who has done most of the writing for this adaptation (including contributing several original songs), adhered to Hughes’ basic structural form but broke up the narration and assigned it to new characters.
“Act 1 encompasses the creation of mankind, then takes the biblical story up to the time of Jesus, with focus on the Immaculate Conception and birth,” says carr. “The Act 2 themes concern the rebirth of all of us spiritually. On the last night of the year, the cast relates their personal testimonies, and we come to understand that it’s all about sharing, with Christ as an example.”
Carr’s script is in the style of his other original and eclectic works, which include elements of spoken recitation, verse with a blues-jazz meter, modern-day vernacular (in one scene St. Joseph touches down with friends in a barbershop) and even sonnet form.
A big part of the spectacle of Sho’ ’Nuff Nativity is the musical score, which carr typifies as “an honest, focused and purposeful visitation of the history of African and popular music, going from tribal drumbeats through spirituals, blues, gospel, R&B, funk, a little rock ’n’ roll, jazz and inspirational.” Composer Melvin Lightford Jr. has also written an opening piece that has classical elements.
“We cover all genres,” adds carr. “Every song here is either original or is traditional with an updated arrangement, such as ‘Away in the Manger’ or ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain.’ Audiences will hear the tunes that they like, but they’re going to hear them with a lot of new flavor.”
The Sho’ ’Nuff Nativity cast exceeds 40, including 14 principals, 12 chorus members, 10 students from Amun Ra’s Youth Performing Arts Academy, plus a dance ensemble choreographed by Peter A. Fields, chair of the Department of Dramatics and Speech at Fisk University. Alex Stadaker arranged the music; Riley Baxter III will conduct the six-piece pit band.
The play’s strong cast will include the soulful vocalist Shonka Dukureh, baritone Todd Suttles, veteran actor Bobby Daniels, R&B singer Bill Lee, spoken-word artist Diallo and Princess Ivori, a hip-hop neo-soul artist in Europe who’s also a local radio personality on 92Q. Carr himself makes a cameo as the Angel Gabriel, singing his own pop-tinged ballad “Nothing Is Impossible” in a duet with Kenetha Rogers as the Virgin Mary.
The show’s visual design elements will include original costumes by Jenise Smith and scene-specific artifacts created by artist Charlie Ptah Huddleston. With its strong, biblically rooted seasonal message, cross-generational and cross-cultural music and large, local cast, Sho’ ’Nuff Nativity should appeal to just about everybody, says carr.
“We like to think that even those who might not consider themselves Christian will still have some powerful spiritual things revealed to them,” he says.
Tickets for Sho’ ’Nuff Nativity are available by visiting www.shonuffnativity.com or by calling 506-5988.
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