“Midnight,” playing at the Daryl Roth Theatre ( E. 15th Street), is a new musical from composer (book, music, and lyrics), choreographer, and director and star Todrick Hall. The musical addresses the horrible history of how gay men have been victimized in society as far back as slavery times.
Back then, if you were found to be gay, you faced being murdered for this taboo behavior. This musical tells the tale of Rail, an enslaved Black man, and Richard, a white slave master, and their forbidden love. It addresses how their relationship developed and had to remain a secret — but, of course a secret like this is not going to be overlooked. The question that comes to mind is why would any Black male slave, who has no rights ever, be attracted to a white slave master? Just the thought boggles the mind, but let’s say you accept this idea. Then what?
This musical comes across as a work-in-progress. There are too many things happening in the production, so much so that the telling of this story lacks cohesiveness. The piece also needs to be reduced — it runs 2 hours and 45 minutes. Hall needs to take a look at his storyline, because there are definitely aspects that do not line up. He decides at one point to reverse the roles of the Black slaves and the white masters, so the white masters could live a day in the slaves’ shoes. It is strange how the acts of defiance in the beginning of the musical that result in a Black father being murdered as he tries to protect his child are not the outcome when the white character is now a slave and his child is demanded.
The connection between these two characters, Rail and Richard, is also a bit confusing at times. In one part of the story, Rail was taken from the arms of his mother and sold. Rail’s mother then raised Richard after his white mother passed away. This is why Richard has empathy for the Black slaves. On the flip side, when Rail is born, when the white actors take on the roles, the father is not killed and the mother of Rail commits suicide. If that is the case, then Rail’s mother would never have had a chance to raise Richard. Again, things don’t add up.
While this musical is disappointing, I must give credit where it is due: The cast in this production have incredible voices and the choreography is wonderful. It would just be better if they were in a piece that made more sense. Hall leads the cast as Rail and is joined by Jeremy Beloate as Richard, Ayanna George as Ethel, Charlotte Odusnya as Lily Rose, and Kennedy Caughell as Scarlet. The other company members all bring incredible voices and include Autumn Hurlbert; Kolbi Jordan, Bella Coppolo, Sidney DuPont, Jimmy Brewer, Dwayne Clark, and Ciaran McCarthy. There is also a marvelous ensemble cast.
Another positive aspect of this musical can be found in the technical elements, from the exquisite costume design of Beck Jones to the scenic design by Morgan Large, lighting design by Jake DeGroot, sound design by Lawrence Schober, and hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe.
Hall definitely has to overhaul this piece.
For more info, visit darylroththeatre.com.
