Fly North’s Updated ‘Madam’ Charms with its Female-Forward Focus

Fly North’s Updated ‘Madam’ Charms with its Female-Forward Focus

By Lynn Venhaus
Spotlighting attitude and intrigue, a still-vivacious “Madam” has been nipped, tucked, and excised into a promising female-forward musical focused on womanhood’s advancement in this third go-round.

At the center is a fascinating account of Eliza Haycraft, one of St. Louis’ most notorious businesswomen, who ran a brothel and was known for her philanthropy in the late 19th century.

Born in 1820, Haycraft arrived destitute in St. Louis at age 20. She couldn’t read or write. Eventually, she bought commercial and residential property, then rented it back out.

A champion of ordinary folk, she was loved by the public, helping the poor and offering financial aid. During and after the Civil War, she supported widows and orphans affected.

The opening song, a statement, “Empire” touts her achievements building her business, and Haycraft became the wealthiest local woman during the Reconstruction Era. The tribute is the show’s catchiest earworm and emphasizes modern sensibilities.

“Madam” takes place during the last year of her life – Haycraft died in 1871 at age 51. She still had enough gumption to fight to be buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery. (She won, but to date, her grave doesn’t have a headstone).

Kimmie Kidd as Eliza Haycraft. Photo by Cady Bailey.

But despite the passage of The Social Evils Act of 1870 making her business legitimate for a brief time, she was shut out of polite society, even with the town’s upper crust, political bigwigs and business scions her patrons. Ye olde double standard.

In fact, the law was detrimental to the women – denied habeas corpus (unlawful detention) to women arrested for prostitution and had a fee/tax instituted, not to mention unlimited police power to search homes and people. Aren’t we having this discussion now about who has control over women’s bodies?

The women who worked for Eliza that she nurtured and took good care of get more attention this go-round. Their personal experiences are woven in, and Haycraft seems more of a supporting – but integral – role.

As she has in all three versions, Kimmie Kidd owns the role, and commands the stage. Kidd is well-known for her star power on local stages, and she shines here as a smart, pragmatic, trailblazing woman. She has two richly textured solos – “Friends” and “Dinner for One.”

Kidd knows how to sashay and make her mark. She also joins her girls in a robust “The Grateful Imposter” finale.

Taken under her wing are a spunky quartet – Adrienne Spann as gutsy Billie, Lillian Cooper as naïve Tennie, Avery Lux as agreeable Ripley, and Rachel Bailey as jaded Calista bring sass and spirit to the working girls.

Rachel Bailey as Calista. Photo by Cady Bailey.

They are also devoted to Eliza, as their song “It’s Because of Eliza” indicates. Haycraft empowered them by allowing them to refuse service to anyone. She had three simple rules: Respect, Consent and Pay Up Front. She also believed “No debts among women.”

They support themselves through prostitution but assert independence at a time when they have few legitimate rights. Girl power ahead of its time, and this show leans into that.

Adrienne Spann, whose star is on the rise, brings ambitious Billie to vivid life in such songs as “Another Fence” and her solo “Joy.” Her character is a composite of historically strong women, including an escaped slave who disguised herself as a man to fight in the Union Army.

Rachel Bailey has found a niche in playing outspoken, sagacious women, and Calista is a bold version of that. Her spidey sense is revealed in an exchange with Mercy that leads to the new number, “La Fille Evanouie.”

Think of Calista as the tough-love mom with a world-weary view of life, but ever the intuitive and shrewd woman looking out for herself.

With Calista, the feisty group numbers include “Special,” “The Great Imitator,” “It Feels So Good” and “Another Pastime.”

Adrienne Spann sings “Another Fence.” Photo by Cady Bailey.

The young Tennie and Ripley appear to be squabbling, but through their journey, grow up under the ladies’ influence. Their characters are not as distinct as the others, but Lillian Cooper and Avery Lux are energetic, enthusiastic performers.

The new downtrodden kid in town, actress Mercy Jones, is hiding a secret, but Madam takes a shine to her, and she ingratiates herself into the quarters. They all have one thing in common, though – dreaming of a better life.

Jade Cash is mysterious as Mercy – we are kept off-guard but sense her conflicted nature. She announces her intentions in her solos “Man with Money” and “Star.” She joins the working girls for the playful “Love is Work.”

When she has a change of fortune in the second act, she joins the girls in the opener “Mercy’s Empire.”

Unbeknownst to the other girls, Mercy is the sister of The Benefactor, an over-the-top villain modeled after dastardly vaudeville archetypes. In a departure from his usual likable protagonist roles, Dustin Petrillo oozes unctuousness, no scruples detectable.

He lusts after the downtown property so he can amass more power through the St. Charles Street real estate, and resorts to nefarious tactics. Petrillo is dynamic – and depraved — in “All the Money in the World” and duets with Kidd in the power play “All of This Goes Away.”

Dustin Petrillo as The Benefactor. Photo by Cady Bailey.

Accomplished composer Colin Healy and his dedicated creative partner, multi-faceted Bradley Rohlf, have rewritten, reworked and re-mounted the musical at their Greenfinch Theater and Dive Bar for Fly North Theatricals.

It’s Healy’s sixth original musical, and he not only wrote the music, infusing the score with St. Louis-flavored blues and jazz, but also the lyrics and book.

After a workshop at COCA, the musical was staged in 2019 at the Bluff City Theater in Hannibal, Mo., which commissioned the work. Fly North mounted it here in January 2020 at the .Zack.

This update has slashed six songs and reconfigured others to make the show tighter. While the vocalists harmonize well, one of the drawbacks was the sound was too loud for the space during Saturday, July 26, presentation.

That, and this current reliance on singers trying to be powerful when in fact it becomes a cross between screaming and belting, or ‘screlting,’ to the detriment of pleasant-sounding melodies.

The repetitive nature of this new direction detracts from the likable performers’ commitment to their parts, not to mention strain on voices.

The streamlined musical numbers also benefit from Cady Bailey’s choreography, with an exceptionally skilled Lux standing out as a well-trained dancer.

While the songs have strong rhythmic hooks and clever lyrics, the book could still use some tweaking. A few plot threads are muddled, including Calista’s illness (real or fake?) , what is so attractive about Eliza’s location and some unanswered questions in a desire to wrap the show up.

Jade Cash as Mercy Jones. Photo by Cady Bailey

In the two previous versions, Mercy and The Benefactor were husband and wife. This version is stronger by making them siblings.

For this production, director Sam Hayes keeps the pace brisk, the women alert and enabled, and makes sure each has moments to shine.

As costume designer, too, they also adorned the characters in eye-catching finely textured outfits and finery that enhances the show’s visual appeal.

Healy is the musical director and Rohlf is the technical director and lighting designer. Both worked on the set design, which created a homey, cozy feel with a parlor and bedroom for Calista in the intimate space.

Katie Orr painted the set with its intricate stencil work, Kel Rohlf gathered the period props, and Dizzy Funke was production and stage manager, with Dereis Lambert production assistant and light board operator. Aslyn Damerval was the dramaturg and Rhiannon Creighton the intimacy coordinator.

Shining a spotlight on a prominent but little-known 19th century woman, “Madam” is an alluring musical that draws potency from its modern parallels. The one-of-a-kind Haycraft is worth researching to find out more about a well-lived life.

A lovingly crafted piece presented with sincerity and obvious talent, one hopes it finds a way to flourish and prosper, much like the title character deserved.

Fly North Theatricals presents “Madam” from July 25 to Aug. 10, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Greenfinch Theater and Dive Bar, 2525 Jefferson Avenue. For more information, visit www.flynorth.org.

An August Wilson Play Changed Kimmie Kidd-Booker’s Life

An August Wilson Play Changed Kimmie Kidd-Booker’s Life

Article originally appeared in Arts For Life’s Feb. 18 newsletter. Article written by Kim Klick and Lynn Venhaus

After working as a professional actor and singer for more than 30 years in Las Vegas, including performing opera at the Venetian Hotel on the Strip, Kimmie decided to move back to her hometown.

To leave her comfort zone and start over at 45 years old was daunting.

“More than a few people thought I must have been crazy!” she said.

But she knew it was time for a change and she did have support.

She was hired to work at Nordstrom Department Stores and found an apartment in Valley Park.

“I thought I’d be satisfied with all of that, but I wasn’t. Frankly, I was quite miserable. I was lonely, broke and terribly homesick! Most of all, I missed performing.”

However, things slowly fell into place. She not only found her way into the St. Louis theatre scene but reconnected with childhood friends, settled down here and married Gregg Booker. They grew up in the same neighborhood, and found each other on Facebook.

She started researching St. Louis theater companies, sending out letters and headshots, hoping to be acknowledged, but no response.

One day in 2012, she came across an audition for an upcoming production of August Wilson’s “Fences” at Hawthorne Players.

“I hadn’t even heard of August Wilson! Can you believe that? Someone like me, who has done theatre her entire life, had not heard of August Wilson?”

She showed up, prepared but “terrified.”

“A little-known fact about me is that I had never done a ‘straight play’ before! I had always done musical theatre. So, to put myself in a position where I had to just ACT, well, it was unchartered territory for me, to say the least!”

She was offered the part of Rose, the long-suffering wife who is married to the lead character, Troy.

Kimmie Kidd-Booker in “Fences” at the Hawthorne Players. Photo by Larry Marsh

“It’s one of the most important, historical, emotional, heartfelt roles to exist in American Theatre. I thought, ‘What the hell did I get myself into?’” she said.
She did not need to fret.

“This was one of the best and most fulfilling theater experiences of my career,” she said.

For the record, August Wilson was not only an African American playwright, but also was an amazingly talented award-winning playwright who died too soon at the age of 60, Kidd-Booker explained.

“Fences” is part of Wilson’s celebrated “Pittsburgh Cycle,” sometimes called “The Century Cycle,” in which he wrote 10 plays, each set in a certain decade of the 20th century.

Set in the 1957, it is the sixth play of the cycle, premiered in 1985, and like the others, explores the evolving African American experience and among other themes, examines race relations.

Troy is a Negro Baseball League player who now works as a garbageman – but can’t be a driver (yet). His bitterness is apparent and affects his family – wife Rose and sons Lyons and Cory, and disabled brother Gabriel.

“Fences” won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.
“I am honored and privileged to say I performed in an August Wilson play! Being in an August Wilson play was both thrilling and terrifying. The context is historic and genuine and dramatic. His words are thoughtful and compelling and emotional,” she said.

 While “Fences” is her only August Wilson play to date, she said she is optimistic that moving forward, there will be more opportunities to educate, perform, explore and share the African American experience with everyone.

“Black History Month is just a drop in the bucket. But it is certainly a start. My hope moving forward is that we can continue to gain an understanding of each other and continue a dialogue and put fears to rest. We have many differences, but we must continue to be reminded that we are more alike than we’d like to think,” Kimmie said.

Before she debuted in “Fences,” after a year here, she was considering returning to Las Vegas.

But once she started rehearsals with the cast and crew, then bonding with everyone, she decided to stay.

“My love for theatre kept me here in St. Louis. As I began to meet other theatre people and make more and more theatre connections, I knew that this is where I belonged. These are my People!” she said.

As Eliza Haycraft in the original musical “Madam”

Kimmie recently became part of the AFL Board of Directors. She has won two Best Performance Awards for Best Featured Actress as Glinda in “The Wiz” at Hawthorne Players in 2014 and as Estonia Dulworth in “Nice Work If You Can Get It” at the Kirkwood Theatre Guild in 2019.

She was nominated as Best Actress in a Featured Role as Sister Mary Hubert in “Nunsense” at Hawthorne Players in 2015 and as The Witch in “Into the Woods” at Curtain’s Up Theater in 2018.

Among her roles in regional professional theater, she played Tom Robinson’s wife in “To Kill a Mockingbird” at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, as Lady Bird in Stray Dog Theatre’s “Spellbound: A Musical Fable”and in the ensemble of “Sweeney Todd,” as “Aunt Missy” in The Black Rep’s “Purlie” and as Evangeline Harcourt in “Anything Goes” at New Line Theatre. In January 2020, she starred as brothel owner and philanthropist Eliza Haycraft in the original musical, “Madam.”

About August Wilson

August Wilson

Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel in Pittsburgh, Penn., on April 27, 1945. His mother, Daisy Wilson, was of African American heritage. His father, Frederick Kittel, was a German immigrant.

As a child, Kittel attended St. Richard’s Parochial School. When his parents divorced, he, his mother and his siblings moved from the poor Bedford Avenue area of Pittsburgh to the mostly white neighborhood of Oakland. After facing the relentless bigotry of his classmates at Central Catholic High School, he transferred to Connelly Vocational High School, and later to Gladstone High School.

When he was 15 years old, Wilson pursued an independent education at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where he would earn his high school diploma.

Following his father’s death in 1965, a 20-year-old Wilson adopted the pen name “August Wilson” — reportedly an homage to his mother — and declared himself a poet. In 1968, Wilson and a friend, Rob Penny, co-founded the Black Horizon Theater.

Wilson remained primarily focused on making it as a poet — largely to no avail — until moving to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1978.

Wilson wrote his first notable play in 1979,” Jitney,” for which he earned a fellowship at the Minneapolis Playwright Center.

The following year, his new play, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” was accepted at the Eugene O’Neill Playwright’s Conference. The year 1982 was particularly fruitful for Wilson, as it marked his introduction to Lloyd Richards, who went on to direct Wilson’s first six Broadway plays.

“Joe Turner,” the second part of the cycle, opened on Broadway in 1988.He took home another Pulitzer Prize in 1990, this time for The Piano Lesson, following its Broadway premiere.

Wilson died of liver cancer on Oct. 2, 2005, in Seattle. His new play, “Radio Golf,” had opened in Los Angeles just a few months earlier.

Information from www.biography.com is included here.

Mrs. Harcourt in “Anything Goes” at New Line Theatre 2018