YAA is excited to bring you a new blog column called Leayne’s POV. Our wonderful Dramaturg for our fall production of Sophisticated Ladies, will be writing regularly to give you a bit more background on the production we are currently working on. Check back often to get your fill of Leayne’s POV!
An entirely remote revue of music by iconic jazz composer Duke Ellington
It is my honor to welcome you to the wonderful world that is Sophisticated Ladies. My name is Leayne Dempsey, and I am the dramaturg for this fall’s digital music revue of Sophisticated Ladies. What is a dramaturg, you ask? Put simply, I’m the “history nerd” of the show. My research helps our young performers grasp the music and language of the 1920s and 1930’s and, maybe more importantly, understand how the events of that time influenced the work of one of the most important jazz composers of all-time.
Sophisticated Ladies explores, celebrates, and investigates the musical legacy of DC-native Edward Kennedy, also known as Duke “The Duke” Ellington. Did you Ellington received the nickname “Duke” from his friends because of his classy mannerisms (he was also a great dresser!)?
There is no better time to celebrate Duke Ellington on the Young Artists of America stage. Frankly, the world needs a little jazz these days. Sophisticated Ladies’ music score and book reminds our nation of the resilience of the African-American community, which has always found a way in the midst of oppression to see, “Gray skies as just clouds passing over.” And perhaps, it reminds us all of the same in this unprecedented year.
The setting of Sophisticated Ladies is nestled within the Harlem Renaissance and the early days of Harlem, New York’s renowned and White-patron only Cotton Club. It was a time of jazz and a moment when the African-American community migrated to Harlem in search of new opportunities.
Some of the greatest African-American minds of the 1920’s came from Harlem during this time. The country was treated to W.E.B. DuBois’s ideas about the The Talented Tenth; Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God; Billie Holiday’s renowned song Strange Fruit; Jelly Roll Morton’s The Red Hot Peppers; and, of course, Duke Ellington’s beloved and groundbreaking music: It Don’t Mean A Thing (If it Ain’t Got that Swing), Take the ‘A’ Train, and Mood Indigo.
The Harlem Renaissance was more than just a moment in our nation’s history, it was an imprint pressed into the very DNA of American history and culture.
As a virtual production, we’ve been working hard to provide the most innovative instruction we can for our YAACompany students. Many members of our YAACompany are in virtual classrooms all day, and the last thing I wanted to do was present more electronic folders and files for them to excavate.
In addition to the dramaturgical presentation the students have received during rehearsal, I’ve created interactive Bitmoji classrooms for the students to explore and to engage with historical videos and artifacts of the time. The Bitmoji classroom provides a multidisciplinary learning experience to bring our company members closer to the world of Sophisticated Ladies and the Harlem Renaissance and beyond.
Interact with the presentation below by clicking on the various images to view the YAA Sophisticated Ladies dramaturgical rooms.
So far in our process, the students have explored four “rooms”:
Room one: An introduction to “The Duke”, the Harlem Renaissance, and the history of “Black Broadway” which was located on U Street in Washington, D.C.
Room two: A history of tap and its origins in style and technique by famous African-American tappers: Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, Howard “Sandman” Sims, Buster Brown, Jimmy Slyde, Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, and the director YAA’s production, our very own Baakari Wilder.
Room three: Etiquette and social graces. Here, we explore the fashion and gender roles and norms of the time, and it even includes an original etiquette book written in the 1920s.
Room four: The history of the Cotton Club and its origins, examining everything from being owned by a mobster, to its White-only patron and all Black entertainer rules, to its role in the Harlem club and speakeasy ecosystem of the 1920s.
The entire creative team has been working hard to bring this production to life, and it is truly going to be a celebration of “The Duke”. The once closed doors of the Cotton Club are now virtually opened for all to enjoy the work of an American legend, Duke Ellington. And perhaps more importantly, it will be a celebration of the YAACompany’s journey through jazz: they’ve learned, they’ve listened, and they have found their voices, and I cannot wait for you to hear them.
Sincerely,
Leayne C. Dempsey
Dramaturg, YAA production of Sophisticated Ladies
