American Legion Post 168. 803 Emma Street. Ambition and music collide in August Wilson's award winning drama, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. The play mixes fact and fiction at a 1927 Chicago recording studio, where the great blues singer Ma Rainey is recording "The Black Bottom." Tensions rise when an ambitious trumpet player joins the session musicians to an irrevocable and tragic outcome. 1984 NY Drama Critics' Circle Award winner. The reading of this American Classic is presented in celebration of Black History Month, and in partnership with the American Legion Post 168 which was built in 1951 by veterans and employees from the Key West Navy Yard to commemorate African Americans killed in WWI and WWII. The Florida Keys Council of the Arts has awarded Fringe an Arts Builds Community grant in support of this special event.
Our readers include Joann Leggett, Gil Parker, Clayton Lopez, Jerry Ginsberg, Bob Wood, Richard Quint, Bob Capetta, Eva Parker, Ervin Gallo-Tumm, and Wilhelmina Lopez Martin as Ma Rainey. Our reading is Coordinated by Richard Quint.
In 2018, we read Fences as part of our Plays Out Loud program. Last year, we presented a staged reading of The Piano Lesson as part of our main stage selections. This year, we are pleased to read the award winning Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. DID YOU KNOW? The Broadway cast recording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award.
