Crowns the Musical at Long Wharf Theatre

So in exchange for choosing Crowns: Black Women in Church Hats for our April book discussion. The members of Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series were given passes for the play Crowns: the Musical.

According to NPR, "even before the book was finished, Marberry approached the artistic director of the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ about adapting if for the stage. From the more than 50 women in the book, playwright and director Regina Taylor created six composite characters.

The things that I thought were lacking in the book: a story, a person who was not in church culture, a male, allusions to modern life, were all in the play. Even though Ms. Taylor stayed true to the real women in the book, using some of their lines verbatim, having a young person from a big city descend on the set which takes place in Darlington, SC, adds another dimension to these women's stories. Because of Yolanda, the teen from Chicago, the women themselves eventually open up and tell their stories of hurts and disappointments not included in the book.

Having a man in the play (who at various times is the minister, Mother Shaw's husband, and Yolanda's brother) adds even more. Oh and did I mention the gospel singing? Did I mention the hip hop? What a talented group of people!

Seeing the the book Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats performed as Crowns the Musical made me appreciate the book even more. In the book, some of the women who were interviewed were the daughters of domestic workers, yet they themselves became business owners and college professors. I was wondering how in one generation a people could come so far. Could it be that it was faith?

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