The six women and one man of “Crowns” hold their heads high. They sing of faith, of freedom, of overcoming strife and uncertainty. The energetic gospel musical is at the Long Wharf Theatre through May 13.
Lately this theater season has been so full of murder mysteries and costume dramas that it’s nice to see a show that’s about life and survival and spirituality in the present day.
There is a death in “Crowns,” but it’s an offstage one that’s announced in the first few minutes. It sets the scene for the 110 intermission-less minutes of community bonding that follow.
A troubled Chicago teen named Yolanda (Gabrielle Beckford, suitably surly), whose brother was killed on the streets, has been sent to live with her grandmother, Mother Shaw (Shari Addison, telegraphing tough kindness), in South Carolina. The culture clash is both generational and fashion-based. Mother Shaw and her friends — the young mortician Velma (a striking, flapper-styled Latice Crawford), the bright smiley Jeanette (Rebecca Covington), the teacherly Wanda (Stephanie Pope) and the preacher’s wife Mabel (Danielle K. Thomas) — are all “hat queens,” meaning that they own over a hundred hats that they love to show off when they go to church. They serve as a sort of church-choir Greek chorus that helps Yolanda come to terms with her feelings.
The imposing Lawrence Clayton gets to play a father figure, a fiery preacher and at one point a boy in the ‘hood. He also gets to utter the key uncomprehending-husband line “Too many hats, and you only got one head!”
There’s some cattiness, anger and hurt in its confessional and confrontational tales of human existence, but “Crowns” isn’t snarky or cynical. It finds paths to salvation. Using gospel standards, original songs, and (as when they sing “All God’s children got crowns”) a combination of both, the hat queens pour their hearts out about everyday fears and uncertainties. They sing of love and understanding.
Regina Taylor created “Crowns” for the McCarter Theatre Center in New Jersey 15 years ago. For this revival, which played the McCarter last month before coming to the Long Wharf, Taylor makes sure the show seems current yet also has a timeless quality. There are hip-hop moments that could be from now or from the 1980s. There are hymns that date back a century or more, sung with immediacy and urgency.
“Crowns” is presented on a basically bare stage, scuffed with circular patterns from the circle-of-friends blocking and choreography. There’s a grand stairway (to heaven?) in the background, plus a shiny curtain and projections. But your eyes are mainly on the actors, who change their clothes numerous times, sing as often as they speak, dance as often as they sing, and — most importantly — seldom are without hats.
An avid hat-wearer myself, I can appreciate the extent to which attractive headgear can grab and hold one’s attention. But “Crowns” may make too much of its human resources and could use a little more environmental flash.
The show is economical to a fault, resembling one of the low-budget tours that Long Wharf tends to book in the summertime. (“Menopause — The Musical” is returning in June, by the way.) The onstage “Crowns” band consists of a mere two musicians — a smaller combo than you would find in most Baptist churches. Jaret Landon shifts from an upright piano to an electric keyboard or guitar, while David Pleasant (credited as Drumfolk Riddim Specialist) handles an assortment of drums, shakers and other percussive instruments as well as a banjo, acoustic guitar and harmonica. It’s fun to watch this two-man-band make a righteous sound, but a bass guitar and horns are sorely missed.
The show opens with a ritualistic full-cast song and dance, and the best numbers are the ones where everyone is gyrating at once, uttering simple chants of “Church!” or “That’s all right!” Each of the hat queens get a chance to strut her stuff independently, with the purple-clad Latice Crawford a particular showstopper in a rousing full-throated throw-down where she evokes Tina Turner and James Brown at the same time.
“Crowns” makes a joyous noise, but it can also get shouty and repetitive. It lasts longer than a church service, with less structure and variety. It struggles at times to maintain the intense pace it has set for itself. The show is much less elaborately staged or plot-driven than the star-studded R&B/soul/gospel musical tours that regularly visit The Bushnell or Shubert.
Yet as a theatrical exercise in how high you can raise the roof of a theater using just vocal energy, community spirit and church hats, “Crowns” can be fascinating and exhilarating, even exhausting. Hats off to it, then.
CROWNS runs through May 13 at the Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Dr., New Haven. Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 p.m.; with added performances April 29 at 7 p.m.; April 28, May 5 and 12 at 3 p.m.; and May 2 and 9 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $35.50 to $91.50. 203-787-4282 andlongwharf.org.
