Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Director: Laurisa LeSure

The third installment of August Wilson’s Century Cycle. “Ambition and art collide with the business of the blues in this red-hot play filled with music that made the ’20s roar. An American masterpiece, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is set in 1927 Chicago during a recording session at a white-owned studio with the legendary singer—inspired by real-life Mother of the Blues Gertrude “Ma” Rainey.” – LA Times

Synopsis:

Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey   Late to the session, the fearless, fiery Ma engages in a battle of wills with her white manager and producer over control of her music. As the band waits in the studio’s claustrophobic rehearsal room, ambitious trumpeter Levee, who has an eye for Ma’s girlfriend and is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry – spurs his fellow musicians into an eruption of stories revealing truths that will forever change the course of their lives. MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM celebrates the transformative power of the blues and the artists who refuse to let society’s prejudices dictate their worth.