Theater Review: 'The Mountaintop' at MTC

Norwalk CT

10 February, 2022

2:25 PM

Description

NORWALK – Music Theatre of Connecticut MainStage, Fairfield County's professional, award-winning theater company is continuing its 35th Anniversary Season with the Olivier Award-winning play, "The Mountaintop," written by Katori Hall of Memphis, Tennessee. The play is a re-imagining of Martin Luther King Jr.'s last night on Earth set entirely in Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on the eve of his assassination in 1968. Chaz Rose portrays Dr. King in the MTC production. The playwright takes us on a journey through what she envisions as Martin Luther King Jr.'s missing minutes on April 3, 1968. After delivering one of his most memorable speeches, an exhausted Dr. King retires to his room at the now infamous Motel while a thunderstorm rages outside. There is electricity in the hotel room as the exhausted hero receives a reality check from a mysterious housekeeper. We hear conversations between the two about racism, justice, and even holey socks, but ultimately. Dr. King is forced to confront his destiny, the divergent paths of his legacy, and how sometimes a great man is also human. The script contains some comedy, as well as some prophetic lines for Pastor King, as Camae addresses him, at the beginning of the play. The playwright has explained that she created the image of Martin Luther King Jr. with "warts and all," in an effort to challenge readers to see him as more of an average human instead of placing him on a pedestal. Hall immediately received backlash from readers of the play and the black community, but she did not back down, believing that this portrayal as a man with flaws would inspire us to be Kings that can carry on the baton mentioned in the final scene can be passed down to us. This version of Dr. King is integral to what makes this play so memorable that I can't imagine it any other way. Hall named the maid with whom King discusses his life after her mother, Carrie Mae, who in her youth missed an opportunity to hear Pastor King make what turned out to be his final speech. Rose brings a full range of emotion to his portrayal of Dr. King in his MTC debut, and succeeds in showing us the human side of the civil rights leader. The Equity actor's off-Broadway credits include "Black Angels Over Tuskegee'' and "She Like Girls, a GLAAD Award winner. As Camae, that sassy and mysterious housekeeper, is the lovely Equity member Shavonna Banks, a New York-based actor. Banks attended Rutgers Mason Gross Conservatory as well as studying at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and Interlochen Arts Academy. She recently played Camae in a recent performance of "The Mountaintop at Arc Stages." "The Mountaintop'' is directed by Gayle Samuels (Broadway's "Children of a Lesser God," "Sunset Blvd"). The director is happy to return to the Music Theate of Connecticut as a director, after performing at the theater and receiving a Best Actress Nomination for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill." The work of the creative team includes the remarkably accurate scenic design by Lindsay Fuori, with lighting and sound design for the unrelenting storm by RJ Romeo. (I still jumped at just about every clap of thunder.) The piece predictably begins with a recording of Dr. King's famous "Mountaintop" speech . The costume design by Diane Vanderkroef is historically accurate and the wig design by Ian Joseph for Camae is a delight. The prop design by Sean Sanford brings the room back to the late sixties, with the requisite rotary dial phone for the phone calls to the Almighty. The script calls for frequent smoking and much cussing, as well as Dr. King's use of the "n word." Be forewarned that MTC has implemented strict health and safety protocols to assure the safety of the audience, staff, and actors. All guests will need to be fully vaccinated in order to enter MTC and must show proof of vaccination at their time of entry into the theater. Masks will also be required by all staff and audience members as well. The play is one hour and forty minutes without an intermission. It will run three weekends in-person at MTC through Feb. 20, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. Ticket prices range from $40-$65 plus fees and can be purchased online (www.musictheatreofct.com/the-mountaintop) or over the phone (203-454-3883). MTC MainStage is located at 509 Westport Ave. in Norwalk, CT. Next up at MTC will be "Buddy The Buddy Holly Story" by Alan James that is rescheduled for March 18 - Apr. 10. Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the NEW CCC Facebook page.