Highly Recommended ***** Most of America remembers Nina Simone as a jazz singer. Her music was amazing and her music was “genius”. But many of us learned a great deal more about this woman in Christina Ham’s “Nina Simone: Four Women”, on stage now at Northlight Theatre. Sharply directed by Kenneth L. Roberson, “Nina Simone: Four Women” tells the tale of what took place after the bombing of the 16th Street Baptists Church in 1963. It is because of this horrific event that she became an activist in the Civil Rights Movement that had started.
The bombing, that left four little girls dead, shocked her and provoked her to become a part of the movement, in her spirit and her music. Her tribute song to the four little girls, “Four Women” and anthems such as :Mississippi Goddam” ( a number that will take your breath away as performed by Sydney Charles who takes on this role as if she was born to do so. Those of us who were around during those years read about what was happening, but as we learn in this story, we did not get “the rest of the story” ( Paul Harvey’s great line). From what we heard and read it was the men who were attempting to change the world, but in Ms Ham’s work, we see that the women of the times played a strong role in getting things done.
In this 95 minute production ( no intermission) we are in the scene of the bombed church. The set (Christopher Rhoton) is powerful in that we are seeing the aftermath of this tragedy as we walk to our seats. Northlight has no curtain, so we are greeted by tragedy from the onset. The technical aspects of the production are flawless: Costumes (Michael Alan Stein), lighting (Lee Fiskness), sound (Lindsay Jones) and musical direction (Daniel Riley). Yes, even though this is a drama, there is a lot of music. After all, this is the story about Nina Simone, a great musical talent and as we learn, a great civil rights activist.
The other cast members in this story are all brilliant actresses as well ( with singing voices and ranges that are astounding): Sarah ( Deanna Reed-Foster) is there to help with the clean-up. She works as a domestic. Sephrnia ( deftly handled by Ariel Richardson) is of mixed blood, so despite being “Black” is treated by many as “White” and shows her pain. The last of the “Four Women” is Sweet Thing ( a bubbly performance by Melanie Brezill , who truly shows that good things come in small packages). These four ladies tell us a story filled with inspiration that tells us “the rest of the story”. Each of them represents the stereotypes of the “African-American woman”!
At the piano is Daniel Riley as Sam Waymon, who has very few lines, but is an important character in that he helped Ms Simone in her powerful music. Some of the music in this production is from names you will recognize: Oscar Brown Jr. ( “Brown Baby”), George Gershwin ( “I Loves You Porgy”) and Bert Williams (“Nobody”), but most of the music is either traditional hymns or the music of Ms Simone: “Old Jim Crow”, “Sinnerman”, “To Be Young Gifted and Black” and of course the title song, “Four Women”.
This is an outstanding production filled with spirit, music that will shake your world and four very talented women. In our modern world and all of the turmoil we read about and hear about on the news, this play should be one that our young generation views. With our current “Black Lives Matter” sentiments, this message come through loud and clear. One can only hope that the audiences who view this play, learn from the experience.
“Nina Simone: Four Women” will continue at Northlight Theatre located at 9501 N. Skokie Blvd. in Skokie thru March 2nd with performances as follows:
Wednesdays 1 p.m. (except 2/20) and 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays 7:30 p.m.
Fridays 8 p.m.
Saturdays 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sundays 2:30 p.m. and 7:00 (2/24 only)
Tickets range from $30-$88 and can be purchased at the box office, by calling 847-673-6300 or online at www.northlight.org 
There is plenty of free parking
SPECIAL EVENTS: to see about Backstage with BJ , visit https://northlight.org/events/backstage-with-bj/
Open Caption performance will take place on Saturday, February 23rd at 2:30 p.m.
Post show discussions evening :2/14, 2/21, matinee 2/6, 2/10 and 2/13
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Nina Simone: Four Women”.
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