Dinah Washington was best known for the song “What a Difference a Day Makes.”
The same could be said of Shadow Theatre, which christened its striking new home in Aurora with Thursday’s opening of “Dinah Was,” an elongated musical biography about the blues legend who died of an overdose at 39, less than a month after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
It’s a new day for Shadow, whose new 191-seat facility passed its first test with mostly flying colors. “Ecstatic” doesn’t do justice to the opening-night vibe. Initial audiences who once crammed into the McGlone Center were in awe of the vast legroom, the width of each plush seat and the swank bathrooms.
The only drawback was the sound system, which was installed only the day before, and will need a few repetitions to find the right balance.
“Dinah Was” is (regrettably) a straightforward dramatic biography set to some music, rather than a cabaret revue of her songs. So director Jeffrey Nickelson has, out of storytelling necessity, put a big, at times obtrusive, body mic on star Rene Marie. It’s turned on when she sings (so the three-piece combo doesn’t drown her out); it’s off when she doesn’t. That’s problematic because it makes transitions disjointed.
If body mics could be arrested, these would be charged with robbing Marie’s mellifluous voice of the fullness that’s made her a rising jazz superstar. She comes out criminally tinny on the other end, though Nickelson promises that’s a short-term problem.
The inaugural performance was a bit emblematic of Shadow’s artistic history — at moments, it’s as good as anything you’ll see on any area stage; at others it’s more reflective of the community-based theater it is. This move sets forth its welcome challenge of rising up to an artistic level consistent with its new surroundings.
It’s a huge coup to have Marie on the Shadow stage, powerfully communicating deep emotion (“This Bitter Fruit”), overt sexiness (“Long John Blues”) and high energy (“A Slick Chick on the Mellow Side”). What’s surprising are her dramatic chops.
But as a piece, “Dinah Was” is too much bio, not enough blues. As groundbreaking and tragic as her life was, it doesn’t come across as compellingly stageworthy as those of Billie Holiday (the far superior “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” remains Shadow’s biggest hit) Janis Joplin, Hattie McDaniel or Edith Piaf.
The difference is while the other portrayals focus on the music, Oliver Goldstick’s score includes only 12 (mostly gorgeous) tunes — and some, like the standard “Come Rain or Come Shine,” only for a few bars. Believe me, when Marie sings, she leaves her listeners avariciously wanting more.
Goldstick’s purpose is simply to tell us a life story. We open in 1959 with Washington arriving at the Sahara Hotel, where she’s about to become the first black woman to headline in Vegas. Hotel management (written and oddly performed almost to melodramatic, camp effect) has a trailer for her in back.
Washington strips to a slip, pulls out a flask and refuses to budge — or perform — until she gets a room. Her story then plays out in flashbacks. It’s an awkward structure — at times she sings because she’s performing; at others she breaks into song as one might in a typical musical.
There’s some fine support work — notably the disapproving mother who’s raising Dinah’s kids (Ghandia Johnson in her best work to date); her loyal assistant Maye (a terrific Tyrongela Ross); and particularly, ShaShauna Staton as a late-appearing hotel kitchen worker who infuses this too-long affair with great energy.
But Washington herself doesn’t make for an easily likable protagonist. She was a great singer but also a mean, pill-popping addict; a serial bride; a spiteful, cursing diva who pushed those closest to her away. Why she turned out that way is easy to surmise, but there’s nothing all that sophisticated in this script that elevates it beyond simple, sad biography.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Dinah Was” *** (out of four stars)
Musical bio. Presented by Shadow Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora. Written by Oliver Goldstick. Directed by Jeffrey Nickelson. Starring Rene Marie (Yvonne Underhill subs on May 17-18). Through June 1. 2 hours, 20 minutes. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays- Sundays, 3 p.m. Sundays. $25. 720-857- 8000,
