TEISHA DUNCAN and Maurice Bryan play supporting roles in Mama I Want to Sing, but their performances last Sunday, showed them as the real stars for the Jamaica Musical Theatre Company (JMTC) 2003 summer production. The musical is currently playing at the Phillip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, University of The West Indies, Mona, St. Andrew.
Written by Vy Higginsen and Ken Wydro, Mama I Want To Sing takes a look at the life of Doris Winter, who gave the world the R&B hits Just One Look and Watcha Gonna Do Bout It The play depended heavily on the performers and the set to make it work, since the script was particularly thin. Its largest weakness is that it concentrates only on biographical information, rather than creating a clear picture of the woman behind the music. Although the production promises to be very exciting at the beginning, it fails to build on the moment and, though it never quite flags, it does not fulfil its promise. It gives nothing more than a typical story of a girl who tries to follow her dreams of singing, despite the odds. More is shown of her mother's issues with Doris' singing career than Doris' experiences as she follows her dreams.
Fortunately, the musical benefited from the talent of Alwin Bully (director), Paula Shaw (choreographer), Ron Steger (set designer) and Peter Ashbourne (musical director). Additionally, all the performances were strong enough to add the necessary flesh and make up for the lack of brilliant writing.
Teisha Duncan once again proves that she has amazing stage presence. Although her role of Sister Carrie does not vie for her best performance, she remains engaging to watch. Her performances invariably bring out the art behind the craft of acting. So engaging is this performance, that after she gave a 'testimony' in song she had the audience as moved as the 'church'.
The moments when she shared the stage with Bryan were particularly delightful and most of the humour came from their characters. Bryan plays the Minister of Music and engages the audience as soon as he hits the stage. Bryan alternates with Lawrence Woodham (another promising actor) in the role.
Dorothy Cunningham alternates with Martine Wright as Mama Winter. Cunningham gave a good performance, which was marred only by her inability to hang on to the New York accent which the play dictated. However, she quite embodied the role of a mother tries to keep her daughter from a road she believes will lead her daughter to destruction.
Orrin Scott-Stewart continues to show amazing development in both his acting and singing. Scott-Stewart alternates with Karl Williams (who has proven that he can command a stage) as Reverend Winter. Anyone who had seen Scott-Stewart either sing or act a few years ago would be pleasantly surprised at the growth in his confidence and craft. So far, he seems to have made the sky the limit.
Candice Tomlinson, who shares the lead role with Suyenne Ramdeen, plays a convincing Doris Winter both as a child and as an adult. Her performance showed promise.
