Paper Mill’s ‘Gun & Powder’ will likely make it to Broadway

“Gun & Powder” at the Paper Mill Playhouse, directed by Stevie Walker-Webb with music and arrangements by Ross Baum, is a rollicking, fun, funny, tragic, thought-provoking, romantic and incredibly entertaining original musical brimming over with more talent than I have seen all together in one show in a long time.

I bet you think the “Powder” of “Gun and Powder” has to do with gunpowder. But it does not. Although there is a gun in this show, the “Powder” refers to the light-colored powder that two women, Mary and Martha Clarke use to make their faces look white.

Now that I have your attention, this show, with original book and lyrics by Angelica Cheri, takes place in Texas in 1893. Slavery was technically abolished but true freedom was a long time coming – especially in places like Texas. Cheri takes us on an amazing journey, partially based on truth about her two great-great aunts, Mary and Martha Clarke, who are sharecroppers in a small town in Texas, looking for a way to change their lives and pay off their mother Tallulah Clarke’s debt.

Mary played by Ciara Renee, Martha played by Liisi LaFontaine and Tallulah played by Jeannette Bayardelle are brilliant actors and singers. The expressions on their faces and the pathos in their voices go straight to your heart and you feel their pain and longing.

In order to help their mother pay her debt so she can keep her home, the sisters concoct a plan to travel to another town where they are not known, and try to pass as white women to earn money. Since their father had been white, they are already light skinned – so all it takes is a little powder for them to pass as white. Upon leaving, their mother gives them a gun to protect themselves.

During their travels, they encounter a man so lecherous that Martha pulls out the gun to scare him off. Shocked and terrified, the man runs away, and in his haste, his money falls onto the floor. Of course, the sisters pick up the money and that is a turning point for them – when they realize how easy it is to be a robber.

They continue this way for a while, and their reputation as outlaws grows. At one point they stop at a saloon/hotel, the Boneyard, to rob the owner, Jesse Whitewater played by Hunter Parrish. Unbeknownst to the sisters, there is a “wanted” poster circulating for them which offers a $50,000 reward for their capture.

Whitewater shows them the poster but says if they stay for one night he won’t turn them in. They continue to stay there for a week, during which Whitewater and Mary fall in love. He asks her to marry him and she says yes but Martha is delirious with rage. She tries to talk Mary out of it but Mary won’t budge – even though Whitewater does not know that Mary is Black.

When Mary and Whitewater are about to get married, we see Martha outside the church with her gun. It is an incredible moment. The audience is thinking, can she do it? Will she shoot her own sister? Will she shoot him? Then suddenly she shoots and the curtain closes because it is time for intermission. Of course. It is a true cliffhanger.

And I will not ruin it for you here.

Instead, I will tell you about standout actresses Aurelia Williams and Zonya Love who play the parts of Sissy and Flo, the hotel maids. Love also plays one of the kinfolk.

Wow! These actresses are unbelievable. Their comedic timing is perfect. They are hilarious. They had the audience laughing so hard, it became difficult at times to hear all of their wise-cracking gossiping remarks – and we all tried so hard not to miss even a syllable. They were that good.

I will also tell you about the sets by Beowulf Boritt. They are stunning. From the cotton fields to the sexy, red-velveted Boneyard, these sets are sumptuous. And the ease with which the multi-leveled sets change by rotation is clever. The backdrops vary from a lovely starry night with the oversize beautiful full moon to the intense fiery red behind a blackened silhouette of the church. Amazing.

The choreography by Tiffany Rea-Fisher and costumes by Emilio Sosa are fabulous – from the seductive costumes of the Boneyard dancers and their sexual dancing to the unbelievable nightmare scene – with its scary, herky-jerky movements. The intense lighting by Adam Honore compliments the dramatic effects of the scenes.

Aaron James McKenzie who plays Elijah, Martha’s love interest and Katie Thompson who plays Fannie Porter and a townsperson are both wonderful singers and actors as is Parrish.

The more than 25 outstanding musical numbers in this show are an incredible collaboration between Cheri who wrote all the lyrics and Baum who wrote the music and arrangements. The music shines.

Rounding out the cast are Carrie Compere, Aaron Arnell Harrington, Malik Shabazz Kitchen, Rayshun Lamarr, Tiffany Mann, Tony Perry, Christine Shepard and Aurelia Williams who play the kinfolk and Reed Campbell, Francesca Grannell, Mary Claire King, Adam Roberts, Katie Thompson and Jason Sweetooth Williams who play the townspeople. Many of these actors also play other parts in the show and all of them add to the incredible talent that makes this show the success that it is.

This show is a must see. I would be surprised if it does not go to Broadway. It is fantastic. “Gun & Powder” will be playing through May 5.

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Debbie L. Hochberg

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