Dessa Rose. Dessa Rose. Dessa Rose. What an incredible piece of work. At the last minute I scored a cheap ticket to the newest musical by the creator’s of Ragtime. It was absolutely breathtaking. I am in awe of such work. Witnessing this production I was reminded again and again of the kind of work I desire to do.
LaChanze plays “Dessa Rose” and she is truly magical. Every note and movement is pure and nothing short of brilliant. I was first introduced to her last Fall when I saw the new musical The Color Purple during it’s pre-Broadway run in Atlanta. She played the role of “Celie” in the adaptation to stage and I was speechless watching her perform. She truly captured the role and embodied the spirit of Celie from ages 16 to 60.
Visit: www.LaChanze.com and www.colorpurple.com
In Dessa Rose she plays a runaway slave who leads an uprising to seek revenge for the murder of her child’s father. The show is told through her flashbacks. Again, LaChanze moves between being a teenager and an old woman looking back on her life. Her story is also interwoven with the life of Ruth, a white woman of Charleston society who marries only to be abandoned for months at a time on her husband’s plantation. Ruth turns a semi-blind eye to dozens of runaway slaves who use her home as a stop on the underground railroad. She also tells her story through flashbacks and when her story intersects with Dessa Rose’s and a tense and unlikely friendship is formed, they each become each other’s memory.
The musical is based on a novella of the same name. I’m going to try and find it.
The show ends in a couple of weeks but I’ve got to see it again.
Visit: http://www.lct.org/calendar/event_detail.cfm?ID_event=80076230
