It’s often said the simplest ideas are the best and that’s certainly the case with After Midnight, a musical and dance revue that was conceived more than a decade ago by Jack Viertel celebrating the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s and 30’s. It was an inspired work on Broadway back then and remains so now at the Paper Mill Playhouse, albeit somewhat trimmed down.
The original production in 2013 showcased a 17 piece band assembled by the jazz great Wynton Marsalis. The Paper Mill production features 7 equally virtuosic musicians led by the dynamic music director Sean Mayes who turns out to be a gifted showman himself. And kudos to Tara Rubin Casting for coming up with a company of dynamite triple threats. Every one of the ten performers is outstanding. Just when you think you’ve seen the extent of their talents, they end up doing something that just blows you away.
Take for example Destinee Rea. For most of the show, we see her singing and dancing divinely, but then near the end, she shows up in a drop dead gown atop a pedestal, opens her mouth and the most crystalline operatic tones come out of it as she sultrily vocalizes Duke Ellington’s “Creole Love Call.”
The show begins with James T. Lane harkening back to Langston Hughes – the poet laureate of the era – reciting the words: “Harlem’s heartbeat was a drumbeat after midnight.” And then, to the tune of “Daybreak Express,” a street scene opens up with vibrantly choreographed vignettes depicting Harlem society outside the Cotton Club circa 1932.
It continues with a bevy of classics from songwriting greats like Dorothy Fields and Harold Arlen. Among them: “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” and “Stormy Weather,” sung beautifully by Angela Birchett. She’s later joined by three others, infectiously scatting Cab Calloway’s famed “Zaz Zuh Zaz.”
With a whole lot of sass and spice, another highlight of the night is Awa Sal Secka crooning comic renditions of Ethel Waters’ “Go Back to Where You Stayed Last Night” and the cautionary blues tune by Sippie Wallace, “Women Be Wise.”
A huge tip of the hat to co-directors Dominique Kelley and Jen Bender for infusing the production with a fluid authenticity. Between the period orchestrations and the adherence to 30’s stylizing, the audience experiences an exhilarating you-are-there sensation. And that’s especially true of the choreography helmed by Kelley, who seems to pluck his dancers from a time machine as we see them move in that distinctive fusing of European and African body movements.
We’re first introduced to Stanley Martin and Harris Matthew, tapping exuberantly to “Happy As the Day is Long.” The two are masterful throughout the show exhibiting their versatility as first rate dancers, singers and comedians.
Special mention to dance captain Sasha Hutchings who exhibits loads of personality as she too performs with a disciplined abandon, effortlessly seeming to own the stage as she literally sweeps the blues away. Together with Stanley, Harris and two other terrific dancers – Aramie Payton and Anthony Wayne – they form a fine quintet singing and dancing to “Diga Diga Doo.”
The band members are stars in their own right. Trumpet player Jackie Coleman opens the show with a plaintive solo, and later she dazzles again, accompanying Birchett in “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.”
The orchestra performs two instrumentals with tremendous flair. Especially thrilling is their rendition of that irresistible Duke Ellington standard “East St. Louis Toodle-oo”.
Special mention to costume designer Azalea Fairley who impressively understands the art of form and function. She dresses the company in styles that flatter and move freely, even the slinkiest of them.
The 90 minute show closes with a grand finale. Everyone in formal whites join in a trio of Duke Ellington gems: “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “Cotton Club Stomp,” and “Rockin’ in Rhythm.” And even before the curtain call, each of the performers is generously given a solo salute. It all comes to an end with the band ushering us out with Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the A Train,” leaving the audience cheering and wanting more.
I applaud the Paper Mill producers who chose this show to open Black History Month because it’s a sensational tribute to the great artists of the era but it’s also a unifying crowd pleaser, something that we all need, especially now, a whole century later, as racism in this country continues to pull us apart.
After Midnight opened on February 4, 2024, at the Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, NJ) and runs through February 25. Ticket and information: papermill.org
