Down by law

Rites & Reason's soulful history lesson

by Bill Rodriguez

OPHELIA'S COTILLION. Book and lyrics by Elmo Terry-Morgan, music and arrangements by Clarice LaVerne-Thompson. Directed by Count Stovall. At Rites & Reasons Theatre through May 31.

It was a pivotal point in American history, 1896, when the aspirations of blacks began to be clouded by a half-century of legalized bigotry and quasi-citizenship. Directed by Count Stovall, the original Rites & Reasons musical Ophelia's Cotillion freezes that moment in amber, showing a microcosm of African-American aristocracy caught up in history.

The view takes on convincing life at Brown University, as events animate an interesting collection of Philadelphia's black Talented Tenth, as they called themselves. Although the subtitle is "An Invitation to the Nightmare Years," the mood overall is hardly as gloomy as all that. The U.S. Supreme Court decided that year in Plessy v. Ferguson that Jim Crow laws were as American as cherry pie, but the people depicted here are too feisty to take that decision lying down.

The first reaction we see is that of the haughty Gertrude (Melissa Antoinette), with her companion Constance (Pamela Lambert). Their approach to improving acceptance of their race is to exemplify the cultivation and breeding of High Society everywhere. Trying to be white? No, "We're beige," they innocently point out. Bigoted? Of course not, Constance coolly responds to her dark-skinned husband: "I married you, didn't I?" To Gertrude and those of her social status, the annual Jewel Cotillion and Lilac Ball is the high point of pride and self-affirmation.

The background of Ophelia (Eunice G. Shaw) is a bit of a mystery, which supplies much of the plot. For five years a wealthy widow, she has become a successful businesswoman, using as a front her Jewish friend Edmonia (Lowry Marshall). She has had a longtime suitor, Livingston (Marcus Maurice), although there is little chemistry between them early on, so we don't learn till later that he has a real chance. Her main interest is in the teenage girl Jenny (H. Genette Williams), the orphaned daughter of a prostitute whose funeral Ophelia has just paid for.

With mischief, and a hidden agenda, Ophelia sets out to make a black Pygmalion out of this brothel chambermaid. The idea is to pass her off at the cotillion in six weeks as Genevieve de la Fontaine, of Quebec Creole aristocracy. (Whether her social chitchat could pass, not to mention her French, is a question best left unasked.)

The imminent consequence of Plessy v. Ferguson hangs in the air like a last-act axe. We get hints, such as the fancy white hotel delaying confirmation that the cotillion will be held there as usual. But the mordent commentary is saved for the black-on-black relationships. Marsha Z. West brings down the house as Miss Only, Ophelia's back-talking housekeeper, when she sings the scathing "Incognegro," about the light-skinned "café au lait" set.

There are some serious voices in charge here. Shaw in the title role can range with operatic control. And Williams's Jenny packs powerhouse pipes in a little package. John Spencer's voice is a full and beautiful baritone, although he delivered the angry "I Played by the Rules" with little emotion on the second night of performances.

Those are two strong songs, and the music and arrangements by Clarice LaVerne Thompson are full of variety and life. But too many of the 20 songs by Elmo Terry-Morgan, who also wrote the book, are plagued by clichés and belaboring the obvious. (As in "Most Unlikely Likeliest of Friends," about the Jewish/black Odd Couple, which adds nothing more to what the title states.)

Philadelphia, the bastion of Quaker ideals and abolitionist fervor, is the ideal setting for such a history lesson. We can see that if the consequences of the Supreme Court decision were bad here at the outset, they would have been awful elsewhere. First produced at Rites & Reasons in 1995, the musical received National Endowment for the Arts funding for development, which led to a production in New York last fall.

Although it's shaky storytelling, Ophelia's Cotillion is fascinating social history, with all-around enjoyable performances.