For the Last Time
Opening Night: May 19, 2015
Closing: June 20, 2015
Theater: Clurman Theatre
Four young artists become friends and lovers in 1950’s New Orleans, building an Eden of music and art. But the past forces its way into their lives, leading to an act of passion that changes everything. Backed by an 8-piece jazz ensemble, featuring an African-American cast of talented rising stars, and with a rich score by jazz artist Nancy Harrow, “For the Last Time” promises to be an off B’way music theatre event.
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May 29, 2015
There must be less likely sources for a jazz musical, but Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Marble Faun,” from 1860, seems pretty improbable. Steeped in Puritan piety, it’s a misty melodrama set in Rome among four artist friends, one of whom is hiding a sinister secret. In “For the Last Time,” the jazz composer Nancy Harrow and the director Will Pomerantz have transferred the action to 1950 New Orleans, another history-haunted city with a carnival tradition and a religious culture. The friends are all here: the beautiful, vivacious Miriam (Brittany Campbell); the prim, white-gloved Hilda (Anita Welch); the smooth-talking Kenyon (Carl Clemons-Hopkins); and the sweet Donatello (Britton Smith), fresh from bayou country. The trouble with the show is not Ms. Harrow’s catchy music or the terrific eight-piece band (led by Cody Owen Stine). Directed by Mr. Pomerantz at the Clurman Theater at Theater Row, the Clement Arts production looks good, too, unfolding on a two-tiered set (by John McDermott) that makes impressive use of a shallow space. The cast is strong, including two standout vocalists, Ms. Welch and the all-around excellent Mr. Clemons-Hopkins. As the script specifies, all of the actors here are African-American.
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