The enticing Bill Russell (book and lyrics)-Janet Hood (music) Unexpected Joy strains credulity. See if you don’t agree.
Singer Joy (Luba Mason), one year after the death of her longtime musical and conjugal partner Jump, is giving a concert in honor of his music. One guaranteed performer is Lou (Allyson Kaye Daniel), an African-American woman whom Joy expects to marry the day after the concert.
Another performer Joy hopes will join the roster is daughter Rachel, née Rainbow (Courtney Balan), who has traveled to see Mom from her home and stage life with bigoted evangelical minister David of the apparently popular “The Good News Hour.” Joy doesn’t know it but granddaughter Tamara (Celeste Rose), in rebellion stage against her mother and father, hopes to be a singer, too.
It so happens that, as you might have guessed, Joy has neglected to tell Rachel anything about Lou (whose surname is Newman. A lesbian called new man?). Joy has been mum (as swell as Mum) because she expects Rachel, the believing evangelical’s wife, won’t be congratulatory about the impending nuptials.
Nonetheless, she realizes that the happy news, which she does confides to the hip (incipient hippie) Tamara, has to emerge—in great part due to Lou’s maintaining it must or there’ll be no knot-tying ceremony. Eventually the truth does surface and threatens to wreak havoc.
Surely, you’ll agree it’s asking plenty of a plot in which a white woman who’s about to wed a black woman has a committed evangelical daughter in an emotional mother/adolescent daughter bind of her own.
Yet, audiences are going to accept it with bells on. Yes, it does give credulity quite a stretch, but it doesn’t test it to the absolute breaking point. Perhaps it’s just within the realm of possibility that such a tangle could occur. Not absolutely likely but just. And that includes an ending that also does some credulity stretching of its own.
Many Unexpected Joy audiences will forgive its unexpected story line because the Russell-Hood score, which has solos for all as well as duets and trios and quartets, are so pop-music-gospel-music strong. Patrons will relax in their seats and think about acquiring the Jay Records cast cd—I did—as soon as it’s available.
Audiences will also suspend their near-disbelief in response to Russell’s writing because in their interaction his characters are so believable. He’s weighted them equally, with perhaps a fast exception when Rachel complains that their evangelical music isn’t promoted by record execs, all of whom are “Jews.”
Still, not only does Russell stand on all their sides, but he often does it with genuine humor. They all get their gentle and not-so-gentle digs in, although it may be Lou who gets the slyest lines.
Under Amy Anders Corcoran’s direction, Daniels as Lou delivers those line with bite. She’s equaled in substantiating these women by Mason, Balan and Rose. Not one hits a false acting note. They hit no false signing notes, either. One of the unexpected joys of this production is the glorious singing on every song, though possibly most movingly when all four harmonize on “What a Woman Can Do” and the meaningful “Common Ground” finale. Beth Falcone, heading a four-piece band, is the praiseworthy music director.
As to the irresistible score, it may seem odd that a man came up with the book and lyrics when otherwise this is pretty much an all-women enterprise, but hooray for gender appreciation. All right, James Morgan designed the set, prominent on which features only a table and two upholstered club chairs, representing the chairs Jump always bought from home to the stage for coziness content.
Speaking of Jump, which was the deceased fellow’s nickname since childhood: That name linked with joy reminds me of a joke I’ve known since an early sophomoric, perhaps sexist childhood. Forgive me for repeating it: “It was a great party. We jumped for joy, and when she left, we made merry.” I only bring it up now to say that Unexpected Joy will make many audiences jump with unexpected joy.
A last word: At the York, Unexpected Joy—which had a Wellfleet, Massachusetts try-out in 2016 and is not to be confused with William Finn’s Infinite Joy—follows the successful Desperate Measures, now transferring to New World Stages. Looks as if the outfit is on a roll. Nice going.
Unexpected Joy opened May 3, 2018, at the York Theatre Company and runs through May 27. Tickets and information: yorktheatre.org
