Tiffany Theatre The play "Joe Louis Blues," starring
Tonya Pinkins, Russell Hornsby
and Sterling Macer Jr., is now playing at the
Tiffany Theatre.
By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Still in shock from a devastating attack on Pearl Harbor a few
months previous, Americans in 1942 looked for a hero, and found it
in boxer Joe Louis.
“Joe Louis Blues” tells the story of the athlete and
the man, and the ups and downs he underwent in his personal and
professional lives.
The play, which opens tonight at the Tiffany Theater in West
Hollywood, was supposed to go into rehearsals on Sept. 11. Shocked
by the attacks that morning, the play’s creators found their
existing message of overcoming adversity now had a new meaning.
While the characters are still reeling from Pearl Harbor, the
members of the audience are feeling similarly about Sept. 11.
“We all came together to realize, this is our
answer,” said L. Kenneth Richardson, the play’s
director. “This is what we have to offer, and if I feel like
people come to see the play and realize that these characters are
doing whatever they can to reach out, then I feel like I
contributed, because I can’t ignore what happened. None of us
can.”
Given the similarity in situations between the setting of the
play and current events, those involved with “Joe Louis
Blues” see themselves as putting on a modern and relevant
production, rather than a work that deals only with the 1940s.
“It’s not going to be something that (young people)
look at as, “˜Oh, that’s World War II, that’s my
grandparents’ generation.’ No. I think they’re
really going to feel very present,” Richardson said.
Of course, at the heart of the play is the famed boxer and title
character. As an African American in a time when segregation was
institutionalized at many levels, Louis was an unlikely candidate
for becoming a hero.
“Louis got there first. He was the first and the greatest,
not just for black Americans but for Americans,” Mayer
said.
Much of the plot deals with the fact that although many
Americans revered Louis, he was all too human. He grew up in a poor
family, and when his success in the ring turned into financial
prosperity, Louis spent more than he had.
“He was a real man … a man with an insatiable appetite
for women, and an appetite for fun. He’s no different from
anyone else,” said Russell Hornsby, who plays Louis.
Richardson said he sees these successes and failures as
representative of the American people, trying to get back on their
feet after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“You have characters that are very ambitious and have
these goals, and want to be things and want to achieve things, and
want to do better than they are, and that’s always a trial,
and that’s always ups and downs and knockout punches,”
Richardson said. “The interesting thing is always, even when
the fighter gets knocked out, are you going to be able to get up,
dust yourself off, and go into the next match?
“Certainly the country is in that quandary,”
Richardson continued. “Can we come back from the first major
attack on this country? And I think that’s the reason people
are waving flags and driving around with flags flying in the wind.
We really do want to, as a country, not pretend that we are that
cowboy on a white horse riding into the sunset, but we want to say,
“˜You know what? We can pull this all together ““ all of
us, from one end of the country to the other ““ can pull this
together and make this work as a united effort.'”
Along with the larger metaphor of the state of the nation,
Louis’ struggles are similar to those of all people who
encounter failure of any kind.
“You have to get up. Everybody, even Joe Louis, gets
knocked down,” Mayer said.
Surrounding this story of rising and falling is music. An almost
constant background to the dialogue is jazz from the period. Since
the play takes place in a club, Richardson added dancing as
well.
“The music is part of the tapestry. There’s so much
in the play that music helps to just extend the complexity of all
that he’s writing. I don’t look on it as a traditional
play. It is kind of like jazz where it’s impact is far
reaching,” Richardson said.
The music and the story combine to set a scene that, while it
takes place almost 60 years ago, will still be relevant to
today’s audiences.
“I think the message will be, “˜Follow your dreams
and don’t settle. Don’t settle for what life has given
you. Go after what you want,'” Hornsby said.
Through the characters’ ordeals, the audience will see
that even when following dreams results in a few bad patches, even
these can be helpful.
“The play is, ultimately, you are going to get knocked
down in life. Sorry, but that’s the reality,”
Richardson said. “You need to get knocked down because you
need to know what it is to win after losing, but you’ve got
to lose first.”