Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Raisin' the Rent at Ira Aldridge Players

People used raise the rent parties to pay the rent. These began in Harlem in the 1920s. Entertainers performed for free. You paid at the door - often up to 25 cents - and the joint would jump.

Calvin Manson set his "rent party" in Chicago at the famous jazz club, Mr. Kelly's. If Papa Du can't pay by midnight, the owner will close the place down. So Papa Du invites Billie Holiday (Anasa Johnson), Nina Simone (Janice Edwards), and Ruthie Brown (Janet Polite) to work pro bono and raise the roof.

The trio pays a special tribute to Bessie Smith: "You know who she is. She sang about YOU."

Artistic Director of Ira Aldridge Players, Manson revised an earlier version. The newer one needs tightening (especially a pronounced sag in Act two). The lulls don't come from lesser efforts. They come after nearly impossible acts to follow: Manson's savvy, funny, "How to Write a Blues Poem"; the rafter-rocker "They Call It Stormy Monday"; Herb Sims' comic "I Was Cool" (and is anything but); and Carl Overstreet's "At Last."

The Lafayette Hotel, at 3222 El Cajon Boulevard, is a new venue for local theater. But its full-stage, seashell bandstand right in.

Backed by a versatile five-piece band, Janice Edwards sings knockout versions of "Gimme Me Some" and Nina Simone's anthem of assertion, "Mississippi God Damn."

When the show's good, it isn't just very very good, it's torrid, as when Johnson, Edwards, and Polite belt "Someone Else is Steppin' In," which includes the line, "Got a smile on my face you didn't put there."

The show offers a dinner/theater package and runs through June 5.

<

<

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

How Much Time Do I Get With My BetterHelp Therapist?

People used raise the rent parties to pay the rent. These began in Harlem in the 1920s. Entertainers performed for free. You paid at the door - often up to 25 cents - and the joint would jump.

Calvin Manson set his "rent party" in Chicago at the famous jazz club, Mr. Kelly's. If Papa Du can't pay by midnight, the owner will close the place down. So Papa Du invites Billie Holiday (Anasa Johnson), Nina Simone (Janice Edwards), and Ruthie Brown (Janet Polite) to work pro bono and raise the roof.

The trio pays a special tribute to Bessie Smith: "You know who she is. She sang about YOU."

Artistic Director of Ira Aldridge Players, Manson revised an earlier version. The newer one needs tightening (especially a pronounced sag in Act two). The lulls don't come from lesser efforts. They come after nearly impossible acts to follow: Manson's savvy, funny, "How to Write a Blues Poem"; the rafter-rocker "They Call It Stormy Monday"; Herb Sims' comic "I Was Cool" (and is anything but); and Carl Overstreet's "At Last."

The Lafayette Hotel, at 3222 El Cajon Boulevard, is a new venue for local theater. But its full-stage, seashell bandstand right in.

Backed by a versatile five-piece band, Janice Edwards sings knockout versions of "Gimme Me Some" and Nina Simone's anthem of assertion, "Mississippi God Damn."

When the show's good, it isn't just very very good, it's torrid, as when Johnson, Edwards, and Polite belt "Someone Else is Steppin' In," which includes the line, "Got a smile on my face you didn't put there."

The show offers a dinner/theater package and runs through June 5.

<

<

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Guys and Dolls at Lamb's Players

Next Article

Community

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader