Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Ma Rainey is late. While waiting for this blues diva to appear in a seedy Chicago recording studio, the ensemble of musicians who make up her band take advantage of the time to bicker, debate, play games of verbal one-upmanship, and even tune up. When Ma finally arrives, matters of repertory and Ma’s insistence on allowing her stuttering nephew to introduce the double-entendre title song disrupt and delay the recording, setting in motion a destructive turn of events. The New York Times noted Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom hit Broadway “like a thunderclap” when it first opened in 1985, and the Rep is proud to offer our production of this theatrical stunner as we continue a tradition of presenting Seattle playwright August Wilson’s landmark century cycle, one of the finest achievements in American theatre.