Moan Them Blues

Texas native and rising playwright Robert King Jr. brings audiences a new original musical work “Moan Them Blues.” King, whose works include “For the Love of Mahalia” and “The Voices of Donny Hathaway,” transports you to one of the country dive bars that were the focal point of Bessie’s career in her final few years, when bookings were scarce and the sound of music was rapidly changing. Experience an up-close encounter with the Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith, as she wails through an intimate evening of her greatest hits in “Moan Them Blues.”

With the show taking place near the end of Bessie’s career in the early 1930s, the rise of “talkies” and the Great Depression devastated both performers and the music industry. Erika Kellom delivers a gutsy performance as Bessie Smith accompanied by her trusted musician Jawbone (Cameron White). Spanning a musical delivery of Smith’s most memorable songs, recalling the “good ol’ days” of rising fame, men, and the love of gin. The writing of Robert King Jr. reveals more and more about her turbulent life, which has led her to the dim stage in what some may call “A Hole In The Wall.”

“Highlighting the old-time blues and soul style of Bessie Smith AKA The Empress of The Blues, MOAN THEM BLUES provides a different style of theatrical entertainment…The reminiscent blues of Bessie Smith is performed, while revealing deeper emotional connections to the material presented for the eager audience.” -Broadway World