Music is more than just entertainment in August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – it’s a voice, a heritage, an identity
No playwright better captured the joy, pain, and pathos of the Black experience in America than August Wilson. The American Century Cycle of Wilson’s ten plays spans each decade of the American twentieth century and is an artistic accomplishment without rival. In Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, his 1920’s-set play in the cycle, audiences are transported to a run-down Chicago recording studio during the summer of 1927, where the famous “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey, is set to record her newest album. When Ma’s desire to retain control of her music runs up against her cocky trumpet player and the demanding recording studio heads, dramatic fireworks erupt. Much more than just music goes down in this riveting drama.
By August Wilson
Directed by April Louise
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SHOW TIMES
April 30 – May 16, 2027; preview Apr. 29
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 PM
Sundays at 3 PM
Saturday, May 15 at 2 PM
Student Matinee Thursday, May 6 at 10 AM (sign-ups coming soon)
Estimated run time: 2 hours 30 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission
This play contains themes of racism and includes racial slurs (the N-word), strong profanity, acts of violence, intimate moments of kissing, and discussions about sexual content. Recommended for teens and up, but use your parental discretion.
Executive Producers
Katherine and Tony Gelderman
Cathy and Walter Isaacson
Charles D. Urstadt and David Bernard
Associate Producers
Julia Lennox
Lorraine Smiley
August WIlson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Support for Le Petit Theatre Provided by Joy and Boysie Bollinger, The Adelaide Wisdom Benjamin Foundation, The Rosemary B. and Brunswick G. Deutsch Foundation for Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, The Favrot-Van Horn Fund, The Eugenie and Joseph Jones Family Foundation, The Le Petit Theatre Endowment Fund from the Greater New Orleans Foundation, The Harold W. Newman Endowment Fund, The New Orleans Recreation and Culture Fund, The New Orleans Theatre Association (NOTA), The Elizabeth Porch Schwartz Endowment Fund, The Selley Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation. Sponsored in part by WWNO 89.9 FM and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, Inc.
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