Tweet this article !

Every American school child from the age of 6 up needs to see Fly Girl, Mary McCallum's supberbly crafted play about the life of Bessie Coleman, the first African-American, male or female, to hold an international pilot's license. The play needs to be seen not only because it shares the story of Coleman and her accomplishments, but also because of what it says about a critical moment in American history, a moment at which the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863, began to manifest as a social and psychological force seen especially in the lives and careers of such amazing American women as Coleman, Ida B. Wells and Madam C. J. Walker.

Fly Girl is part of a great healing of the wound in our understanding of our own history, which even today still festers as a division between American history and African-American history.

Not exactly a "new" play, having had previous productions here in Nashville and in this past summer's first annual D. C. Black Theatre Festival in Washington, Fly Girlhas nonetheless embarked on a new leg of it's journey, premiering tonight, Dec. 2, on its open ended run at The Next Level, 1008 Charlotte Pike in Nashville.

Fly Girl  will occupy the Thursday slot of an evolving repertoire of shows which will include The Dance on Wisow's Row, Miracle in Rwanda, 2 Black TV and American Menu, each occupying a different day of the week. This is the vision of producer Barry Scott and the outstanding ensemble of actors and actresses who are converging on the Next Level stage to bring a new chapter in the history of the American theatre to life.

McCallum's emotionally charged script is infused with the talent of some of Nashville's finest actors, whose history of working together over the years hits the next level in this story of a family which must adjust to the impact of a rebellious daughter and sister who is determined to realize the promise of  being an American. McCallum is vibrant and spirited as Bessie; her sense of her own destiny is palpable. Jordan Tucker opens the show as 10 year-old Bessie with a strong and steady speech in which she asserts her determination not to live life as a "cotton mule." As Bessie's mother, Jenee India conveys the conflicting emotions of wonder and concern that disrupt her understanding of her family's place in the world.

Rodrikus Springfield is sturdy and rooted as Bessie's stable brother, Walter, to whose Chicago home Bessie flees to escape the cotton fields of Texas. Tamiko Robinson really sinks her teeth into the role of Walter's wife Willie, Bessie's imperious sister-in-law who is not happy to have this self-assured and ambitious young woman in her home. And Shawn Whitsell plays the alcoholic and criminally inclined brother John, with a dangerous bi-polar snap.

Through the course of the play, Bessie is romantically pursued by John's cohort Jesse (Darius Willis), a "player" with an emotionally disturbed wife. Jesse's obsession with Bessie has ugly consequences, but ultimately results in the plays strongest moments of revelation. Willis' would-be Romeo squirms uncomfortably inside his alpha male ego; he can't accept his inability to rise to conquest in his libidinous pursuit, but eventually comes to a graceful reconciliation of the forces of lust, love and admiration. As his wife, Brandy Rogers is a seriously sad case of the tragedy of a bad marriage. Her one onstage moment of self-destruction is blood-chilling.

The wonderful Molly Breen is delicious as the Russian pilot Catherine, Bessie's crony in the skies and the mephistophelian voice which provokes Bessie to keep pursuing her highest ambition.

Thanks to Barry Scott's skilled direction, the production is taut and efficient, with a first act that comes in right at 45 minutes, and a second act which is not much longer, all woven together by some fine musical choices.

So gather your kids and grand kids and the kids next door and give them the gift of history and the promise of who and what we as a nation can be, if we so choose.

< Prev