If you love music, from blues to ragtime to jazz to classical, you will absolutely adore American Rhapsody.

The Music of Gershwin

If you love music, from blues to ragtime to jazz to classical, you will absolutely adore American Rhapsody. If you would like to learn something about the history of American music from the 19^th to the early 20^th Century, and the cultural and musical influences that informed George Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue, this brilliant 70 minutes of uninterrupted musical theater is just the ticket.

Originally produced in 2009, the concept and book are by Artistic/Executive Director Randall Kramer, who also plays Raymond, a classical pianist who has hired Christopher (an intense and bemused Richard Satterwhite), a black man who plays in a club that Raymond frequents, to help him learn how to play Rhapsody in Blue, in a genre with which he is unfamiliar. Being a rather clueless white man, he convinces himself he and Christopher are going to have a musical “conversation” in his elegant piano room with panoramic windows overlooking the city. However, Christopher is on to him from the start, and gives him a lesson in musical history, race relations and cultural appropriation that is both informative and extremely entertaining, beginning with the spiritual, Wade In De Water, created by enslaved people in the South.

Ragtime Rhythms

As he sings that song, the upstage platform behind the windows becomes the stage for a blind man with a cane singing the spiritual as he walks along the street. He is the first of four singers and dancers who perform the songs that Christopher discusses. Each one highlights some aspect of American music, from Stephen Foster to Scott Joplin to Irving Berlin to W. C. Handy, and others in between, while Christopher explains their origins.

Stevie Jackson, Dwayne Stephenson, Davida Evette Tolbert and Josh Wilde expertly perform the songs in period costumes and in the musical styles of the times. In Mr. Wilde’s rendition of Swanee, he sounds and moves like he could be Al Jolson, but thankfully without the blackface. Ms. Tolbert’s St. Louis Blues is a standout, sultry and sexy as can be. Mr. Stephenson is a hoot as an audience member listening to her, and he excels in his number, Beale Street Blues. Ms. Jackson shines in her numbers, as do they all. They are all superb as they sing and dance their way through the decades, expressing the norms of the times in music.

Pitch Perfect

Everything about this production is pitch perfect. Seamlessly Directed by Carlos R. A. Jones, with Choreography by John Fredo, there is not a minute that is superfluous. Set, Lighting, and Sound Design is by Chris Cavanagh, who matches the periods of the songs with lighting and video projections, i.e., an art deco backdrop, Broadway footlights, or the excitement of The Cotton Club in Harlem. Kari Drozd’s costumes and Susan Drozd’s hair, wig, and makeup designs are stellar, with Ms. Tolbert’s St. Louis Blues gown and hair being knockouts. Music Director Theresa Quinn, along with additional musicians Jim Runfola and Ron Paladino provide offstage music in addition to the two pianos.

And as if that were not enough, Randall Kramer’s performance of Rhapsody in Blue will leave you breathless.

This is wonderful musical theater and a must see for music aficionados, and anyone who loves to be entertained by talented people who are at their best. Kudos to all.