Soulpepper’s Billie, Sarah, and Ella: Revolutionary Women in Jazz, conceived by Divine Brown and starring Brown as Billie Holiday alongside Shakura Dickson (“Ella Fitzgerald”), Renee Rowe (“Sarah Vaughan”), and Akosua Amo-Adem (“Narrator”), is a brilliant musical journey through jazz history. Telling the stories of three central figures – two household names, one (undeservedly) half-forgotten – it’s a swift eighty-minute production featuring all your favourite songs, and even a dose of edutainment.
Divine Brown, perhaps best known for Cancon radio hit (and MuchMusic mainstay) “Old Skool Love“, has given a gift to Toronto music fans with her brand-new tribute show, focussed on three of the greatest singers of all time. As much a tribute to the era in which they lived – and the challenges they faced as trailblazing Black female artists – as it is a celebration of the music itself, Revolutionary Women contains nary a false note.
Creator Brown makes a lot of wise choices here, beginning with the decision to equally feature all three singers, ensuring even the lesser-known Vaughan gets an equal amount of time in the spotlight. Brown’s Holiday, Rowe’s Vaughan, and Dickson’s Fitzgerald may not be precise soundalikes for the singers they’re portraying, but they have the vocal chops – and undeniable charisma – to sell their parts.
As Fitzgerald, Dickson shines with Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” and in her recreation of the charming live recording of “Mack the Knife” in which the real Fitzgerald forgot the lyrics and improvised. Rowe’s show-stoppers as Vaughan include “Whatever Lola Wants” (probably Vaughan’s most famous song) and the mournful “Black Coffee“. Divine Brown, doing her best not to steal the show, is at her best with the Holiday version of “God Bless The Child” and certain other (very famous) numbers which we won’t spoil here. The show makes a point of highlighting Vaughan’s four-octave vocal range, though it’s worth noting that it’s Divine Brown who’s known for her five-octave range, which she gets to show off here.
If there’s a weak spot, it’s in the over scripted narration, which forces Amo-Adem – otherwise very funny when she’s allowed to just riff on what’s happening on stage or in the audience – to deliver some fairly laboured banter that misses as often as it lands. Amo-Adem – who will be appearing at Soulpepper in February 2025 with her one-woman comedy show about the Toronto dating scene – does her best to rise above the material, but she’s still saddled with some clunkers. That said, the historical anecdotes that she shares as “Narrator” are quite interesting, filling in details and backstories that audiences may be less familiar with.
The band is excellent, with Alexis Baro (Trumpet), Shelkah Francis-Williams (Tenor Sax), Joel Joseph (Piano), Etric Lyons (Upright Bass), and Worrell McFarlane (Drums) playing as a wonderful unit and each getting their moments to shine. The rapport between singers and band, and between singers and Narrator, and between Narrator and everyone on stage plus everyone in the audience, is wonderful.
With the Art of Time Ensemble sadly on its way out, it’s nice to see that Soulpepper – which shares more than a few performers with Burashko’s soon-to-be-disbanded ensemble – has space for a similar brand of musical theatre.
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Click here for tickets to Billie, Sarah, and Ella. On now through November 3, 2024.
