When the audience meets nightclub singer Angel Allen (Virgilia Griffith), she’s draped in a champagne-coloured evening gown. Griffith is a force of nature in the role.

Title : Blues for an Alabama Sky

Written by : Pearl Cleage

Performed by : Mary Antonini, JJ Gerber, Virgilia Griffith, Allan Louis, Stewart Adam McKensy

Directed by : Kimberley Rampersad

Company : Shaw Festival

Venue : Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre

City : Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

Year : Runs to Oct. 4

Critic’s Pick

One hundred years ago, New York was in the throes of a revolution. Jazz flowed through the streets of the city like bootleg gin; spoken-word poetry peppered the air. Something big was happening: the Harlem Renaissance, the kaboom of dance, art, fashion, music, literature and politics in the 192

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