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A CurtainUp Review

Eyewitness Blues
By Jenny Sandman


O sing, heavenly muse, and tell me what the fuck is going on! --Junior, Eyewitness Blues

You don't choose the blues. The blues chooses you. --Muse, Eyewitness Blues
Steven Sapp
(Photo: Joan Marcus)
Eyewitness Blues, the story of a down-on-his luck horn player from the ghetto, is the stage equivalent of a jazz scat session: energetic but unfocused, and largely scattered. A Muse (Mildred Ruiz) guides Junior (Steven Sapp), a trumpet player, through snatches of memories and desires and songs. Augmented by poetry (Jim Morrison, Robert Frost) and an elaborate soundscape of jazz, blues, and flamenco, the play has no forward movement and no real story.

Junior is accompanied by two trumpet-playing musicians (Antoine Drye and Paul Jonathan Thompson) in the attempt to explore his life. Using his own music and rhythms, he interweaves bits of his past into a strange tapestry of songs, poetry, rap riffs, and memories. Meanwhile, the sassy Muse spins her own tapestry of song and dance (most memorably with a long flamenco number). She prods Junior to go deeper and farther into his psyche.

The two playwrights/actors, Ruiz and Sapp, are magnetic and charismatic. They're clearly passionate about their music and material. If only they'd been equally passionate about structuring their play which would have been well served it it mirrored the music which, seems imprompty but has a definite structure and rhythmr.

Junior's journey, while emotional, has no clear progression in time (or space). For all the lovely music, the play feels hollow at the core.

The production values are excellent, especially the soundscape. The music is heartfelt, the costumes are colorful and vibrant, and the set is richly, lushly red, with a dark wood thrust runway and tilted oversize mirrors. In a way, all this only serves to highlight the lack of story and dramatic tension. As Shakespeare would say, this play is sound and fury, signifying nothing. .

EYEWITNESS BLUES
Written and performed by Mildred Ruiz and Steven Sapp
Directed by Talvin Wilks
Also with Antoine Drye and Paul Jonathan Thompson
Music by Antoine Drye, Carlos Pimentel, and Paul Jonathan Thompson
Set Design by Narelle Sissons
Costume Design by Emilio Sosa
Lighting Design by Heather Carson
Sound Design by Darron L West and Bray Poor
Running time: One hour and twenty minutes with no intermission
New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street, 212-239-6200. Monday, Tuesday and Sunday at 7 pm, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 pm, Saturday and Sunday at 3 and 7 pm. All tickets $50.
03/01/05 through 04/10/05
Reviewed by Jenny Sandman based on March 20th performance
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