Praise the Lord, pass the millinery

The gospel musical is an exuberant celebration of black church services, African traditions, and hats, glorious hats.

The Regina Taylor play is adapted from the Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry book of the same name. The book features portraits of black women in their hats, along with their stories about their choice chapeaus. It has no plot.

Taylor tried to remedy that with the introduction of a young street-smart Brooklyn girl, Yolanda, whose brother has been killed. Her mother has sent her south to live with her grandmother and aunts so that she can heal and connect with her roots. That's done through the stories. And hats.

Yolanda presents the biggest problem with the play: She may as well be wearing a neon sign that flashes "device," "device." The character is not well-developed and is a contrivance that gets in the way. Taylor should have trusted the stories, which stand on their own.

They are stories of the women and the high, low and holy moments of their lives, marked by their all-important hats, usually worn with pride and style at Sunday services. "When you go to church you are in the presence of the King," explains one character. "When you are in the presence of the King, you want to look your best."

Interspersed with the tales is some sublime music, including such traditionals as "Ain't That Good News," "When the Saints Go Marching In," "Marching to Zion," "Oh Mary, Don't You Weep." The styles range from field holler to rap and are sung with the simple accompaniment of keyboards and percussion. We dare you not to be moved by the music.

Or by the hats, for that matter. Costume designer Reggie Ray could easily launch a hat renaissance among all women. He used feathers, flowers, frills and attitude to create millinery that spoke to the stories, inspired gasps, sometimes laughs, and looked good, really good.

They were in danger of stealing the thunder of this talented cast. But these women were not about to let a hat define them; oh no, they defined the hats. The result is a perfect ying-yang between character and crown.

This cast, directed with panache by Andrea Frye, swells with sass and song. They sang with veneration and beauty, and embraced the stories with a knowing passion.

Each had her turn to woo the audience, and each did that successfully, with both song and story. Pat Bowie led the group in the role of the wise Mother Shaw. Angela Karol Grovey, Erika LaVonn, Julia Lema and April Nixon played the "hattitude"-heavy aunts. Crystal Fox had the more difficult role of Yolanda, a character who is never well-defined and is out of sync with the story. She worked with what she had, and while she seemed to swallow her words when she spoke, she was crystal clear and powerful when she sang.

Thomas Jefferson Byrd, who played Man, a character that morphed from father to husband to field hand to preacher, handled his multiple roles well. Man, too, was a departure from the book, but his character was more smoothly integrated into the piece, and the male voice added a richness to the music.

At Friday's opening night, hats were perched on the heads of some audience members; others shouted in response to the gospel music. The Temple of Music and Art swayed with soul and reverence. Hallelujah, indeed.

Review

● Arizona Theatre Company's production of "Crowns" is 2 and 7 p.m. today, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. next Sunday at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Tickets are $26-$44. Performances continue through Feb. 4.