Center Stage’s newest production has actually been six years in the making. When artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah first came to the Mt. Vernon theater company, the script for Jazz—an iteration of Toni Morrison’s novel of the same name—wasn’t ready yet.
“Then the Morrison estate went to another writer and when I heard, I was like, ‘I want to do it,’” he says. “Part of it is set in Baltimore, so it feels like something naturally meant for us.”
Following productions of White Snake, Twisted Melodies and That Place, Jazz debuts in the newly renovated Center Stage on May 19.
Playwright Nambi E. Kelley was tasked with transforming the vivid imagery of Morrison’s tale of love, violence, and music in turn-of-the-century Harlem into a stage play. The style of Morrison’s novel is similar to jazz with its unpredictable rhythm and variety of voices.
“I think she writes with an ancestral melody that haunts and enchants,” Kwei-Armah explains. “It is the empathy that she shares and shows and explores and articulates that I find intoxicating. I really loved the book and I wanted to dance with Toni.”
He worked with Kelley to decide which parts of the story are relevant and still provide the audience with a clear understanding of what Morrison was originally trying to portray. Miraculously, Kelley finished the script in just a year.
“It’s hard doing an adaptation. You know, it’s really stressful,” Kwei-Armah says. “A book has three days worth of reading; you’ve got two hours to tell the same story.”
The actors and crew are currently in their third week of rehearsals preparing to bring Morrison’s rich imagery to life. Fittingly, Jazz will feature the American-made genre throughout the production—including an on-stage trombonist and other musicians playing the sultry sounds of 1920s Harlem.
“That’s the beauty of theatre,” he says. “It’s an open art form and that’s really been our guiding principle.”
Previews for this highly anticipated show begin on May 19 with the official opening night on May 26 running until June 25.
The way Kwei-Armah waxes poetic about Morrison, it is clear he has a bit of an intellectual crush on the writer and is anxious to bring her words to his stage.
“Toni has created something that says, ‘Come to me,’” he says. “And you are required to use a lot of your imagination to make it come to life. We will be giving it our all to explore the complexities and the beauty of her words.”