By now, we all know the drill when it comes to most Black Ensemble Theater (BET) shows: there will be a storyline (often in the form of a reunion) that gives an excuse for various artists to come together. They’ll reminisce, provide some outlines of their lives in and out of the music industry—and then they’ll knock you on your ass with some tremendous vocal style.
That’s What Friends Are For: Gladys, Dionne and Patti
Through 7/27: Fri 8 PM; Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 3 PM; Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark, 773-769-4451, blackensemble.org, $57.50-$67.50
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and writer-director Daryl D. Brooks knows exactly what levers to pull in That’s What Friends Are For: Gladys, Dionne and Patti. (Last names, as if we need them: Knight, Warwick, LaBelle.) Way back in 1986, the three divas were featured in an HBO special, Sisters in the Name of Love, and though Brooks’s show is set in contemporary times, sisterhood and love are definitely in the air.
At the start, the three women (Rose Marie Simmons as Gladys, Sybyl Walker as Dionne, and Tamara Batiest as Patti) gather in the green room of the Vegas hotel where they’re about to perform (fussed over by Dennis Dent’s starstruck guest services manager). The camaraderie is clear, and though the stories they tell each other are probably ones they’ve already heard many times, that’s how reminiscing goes. It’s worth noting that all three women have been celebrated individually in past BET shows: Knight in The Making of an Empress; Warwick in Don’t Make Me Over; and LaBelle in A New Attitude. But who could argue that talent this huge doesn’t deserve multiple viewings?
As the memories (and champagne) pour, we see the younger incarnations of the women —Michaela Dukes as young Gladys, Bri Buckley as young Dionne, and Courtney “CO.” Driver as young Patti. Their travails in business (including Dionne suing longtime collaborator Burt Bacharach for breach of contract, and Gladys facing anger from the Pips when she decided to strike out on her own) and in romance (all three women had matrimonial ups and downs) get the highlights-reel treatment. But it’s the music that matters.
With the Black Ensemble band under musical director Robert Reddrick providing blistering support, all six women shine in numbers like “Then Came You,” “You Are My Friend,” and “Midnight Train to Georgia.” Interspersed with their own hits are tributes to Aretha Franklin and Luther Vandross. And what comes through is that each of them made a mark in soul and pop music by staying true to themselves. Batiest gets the showiest turn as LaBelle (complete with the singer’s trademark move of kicking her shoes off onstage at particularly impassioned points in the song), but Brooks’s story treats all of them with R-E-S-P-E-C-T. And god knows they’ve earned it. You may not learn the entire gospel truth about all of them, but if you’re not having a good time at That’s What Friends Are For, you may want to check your pulse.
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