3 MO' DIVAS STORM EVERY GENRE

By Liz Nicholls

Created and directed by: Marion J. Caffey
Starring: Gretha Boston, DeVonna Lawrence, Jamet Pittman, alternating with Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Laurice Lanier

EDMONTON - It takes a diva to actually "sweep" onto the stage -- with everything that implies about posture, forward momentum, smiling, footwear, gracious nods to the band, latherings of charm to the audience. When there are three divas, the permutations are literally endless.

3 Mo' Divas starts with a playful upstaging scene (flinging of sleeves, competitive blocking, etc.). There's a natural affiliation here with the operatic. And sopranos, like tenors, tend to get the upper hand. The sole contralto of the trio glowers in (relative) silence while the sopranos trill away.

The most startling feature of Marion J. Caffey's new show, a sequel to his popular 3 Mo' Tenors which gets its first Canadian dates in the Citadel season, is not that Gretha Boston, DeVonna Lawrence and Jamet Pittman can sing opera (and of the splashiest virtuosity). They are, after all, classically trained. Which is something they share with their equally stellar counterparts (Laurice Lanier, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer) in the cast that alternates for four shows a week (with different solos tailored to their specific voices).

No, what's amazing is that classically trained opera singers can deliver killer blues, Broadway tunes, soul, jazz, R&B, gospel, eight genres in all, and with enormous and equal facility. If you are the owner of any number of preposterous discs on which opera singers flaunt their populism by slumming with show tunes (Kiri Te Kanewa's South Pacific, e.g.), you know exactly what I mean by startling. These singers are genuine multi-threats.

Upstaging jokes, Maclab stage, Citadel season, flashy lighting (Richard Winkler), elegant deco set a la Radio City Music Hall (Dale F. Jordan) notwithstanding, 3 Mo' Divas is not a play. It's not even a musical revue. It's certainly not like Caffey's Cookin' At The Cookery of last season, a sort of concert hobbled by a sort of play about the late-great blues diva Alberta Hunter. 3 Mo' Divas is a concert.

Dialogue runs to "Edmonton, are ya' ready for some Aretha?" The only connections between the Broadway and movie segment of the show and the "jazz/blues" segment are the premier performers doing the performing. And, on that basis, what's not to enjoy about a concert with a wildly surprising array of material, lustrous singers who evidently love communicating to an audience and an exceptional band (led by Victor Simonson from the keyboard)?
With certain notable exceptions, white culture is perceived to have a virtual stranglehold on opera worldwide. Caffey has said that his entertainments are designed to break that monopoly by introducing extraordinary African-American singers who can do everything.

He has succeeded. Edmonton audiences know the Tony-winning Boston from her knockout work as Alberta Hunter. Here, dressed to the nines in a galaxy of twinkly frocks and pointy shoes, she brings her powerhouse pipes to bear on material as various as the Habanera from Carmen and Mean To Me from Ain't Misbehavin'.

Pittman has a lovely, supple, expressive voice, too. Billie Holiday's dark morbid Strange Fruit, fashioned as a duet for Boston and Pittman, is a highlight. DeVonna, a playful presence, brings operatic embellishments to bear on the jazz classic My Funny Valentine.

The so-called "soul medley" includes, oddly, girl group classics like It's in His Kiss. I wonder if fluff like My Boyfriend's Back has ever been sung by bigger, richer voices?  As a writer on the theatre beat, I can tell you that this is the first time I've ever heard It's Raining Men sung by women, and not by men in skirts.

As for the Broadway stuff, you can't hear Pittman sing Your Daddy's Son from Ragtime, for example,or the trio do Seasons Of Love from Rent, without longing to cast each of them in a full-fledged musical, now.

This rocks. That would be even better. 

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