STEPPER’S BALL
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Stepper’s Ball opens with a memory, as old Sammy, the proprietor of the Castle Dance Club, puts down his broom to play a mellow tune on the jukebox and dream-dance with his young bride of long ago. In this moment the universe of Phyllis Curtwright’s play is established, so that when Sammy’s reverie is broken by the arrival of the club’s habitues it comes as no surprise that the chief topic of conversation is the upcoming Fourth Annual Stepper’s Ball. The champions, the west-side Chi-Town Girls, will be challenged by a south-side sorority so new it hasn’t even got a name–but Francine, its self-proclaimed leader, has big plans that require bossing the other two members mercilessly. These consist of her pretty but socially inept sister Shenisa and her longtime chum Lindy, who has in Francine’s opinion been paying far too much attention of late to her fiance Lamar, recently returned from the war in Vietnam. When Shenisa begins to get romantic with DJ-wannabe Maceo, and Lamar is hired for a corporate-drone job under the new equal-opportunity program, leaving the neglected Lindy vulnerable to the predations of the suave Two-Tone, complications ensue. Finally, on the night of the ball, everyone must decide what is most important to him or her.
Director Kemati Janice Porter and choreographer Julian Swain have assembled a talented and exuberant cast who keep the action going and the interactions seamless: everyone stays in character even when another actor has focus. The lissome Anita M. Davis and the violin-voiced Kenny Davis are nicely matched as the troubled Lindy and Lamar (though the latter tends to swallow the lyrics), as are Artesia Lake and Kristen Irby as Shenisa and Maceo. Elaine Joyner as the ambitious Francine and Kenneth Fobbs as Two-Tone (who accepts his inevitable defeat with gentlemanly resignation) are two equally formidable tempters. As the deus ex machina Sammy, El Feigo anchors this microcosm with his gruff baritone and avuncular advice.
