By Theresa Allen, guest blogger

Low Down Dirty Blues offers audiences at the Lone Tree Center Arts Center a rollicking good time through October 27, 2018. The musical revue is set in the late evening in Big Mama’s Bar in the Southside of Chicago. Big Mama, Shake, Jelly, Calvin and Jameal are telling stories and jammin’ straight through the morning and you are privy to their performance.

Felicia Fields, Shake Anderson, and Chic Street Man belt out blues standards that filled the auditorium and brought the audience to its feet in appreciation. Even if you’ve never experienced the blues before, these singers work through a repertoire of songs that encapsulates a short history from the Delta blues sung by slaves in the fields to New Orleans blues sung in gin joints during prohibition to the present day Southside of Chicago blues.

As Big Mama, Felicia Fields’ throaty voice resonated in “They Call Me Big Mama,” “I Got My Mojo Working,” and the truly spectacular “Good Morning Heartache.” Fields is a strong personality who worked the audience with her humorous and playful charm, coming down from the stage and joking with audience members as she sang.

Shake Anderson gave an outstanding performance with his rich, deep voice on “Shake Your Money Maker,” but he brought the experience of the blues to a new level with his heartbreaking rendition of “Death Letter.” The repartee filled with sexual innuendo between Shake, Big Mama and Jelly provided for quite a bit of fun throughout the show.

Chic Street Man’s performance as Jelly, a blues guitarist from the Mississippi Delta, was outstanding and the rich depth of feeling in his version of “Change is Gonna Come” is still with me. The group would not be complete without the Calvin Jones’ remarkable performance on the bass and Jameal Williams noteworthy performance on the piano.

The set design, under the direction of Christopher Waller, and lighting design by Jen Kiser, captures the wonderful atmosphere of a shabby, downstairs dive bar with its brick walls, posters of Muddy Waters, electric Budweiser signs, jukebox, and wooden stage. The first act opens with the stage in a wash of blue hue but as the cast heats up with their songs, the stage takes on vivid reds and golds evoking the hot conversation on the stage coupled with the feeling of heartbreak and despair in the music.

At the end of the show, Fields asked, “Did you have fun? Then go home and tell all your friends! Tell them to come down to Big Mama’s!” And she’s right, don’t miss the show of the season!

Tickets for Low Down Dirty Blues are on sale now from $36 to $60 and can be purchased at http://www.lonetreeartscenter.org. Both matinee and evening performances are available. The Lone Tree Arts Center is located at 10075 Commons Street in Lone Tree. Free on-site parking is available.

By Michelle Marx, guest blogger

The October 18 opening night performance for Low Down Dirty Blues at the Lone Tree Arts Center was a spirited evening full of blues music both joyful and heartbreaking.

The stage is Big Mama’s club. The show is over and the musicians are hanging out afterwards. Three musicians are playing a piano, a bass, and a guitar and then Big Mama makes her grand entrance. Big Mama, performed by Tony-Award nominee Felicia Fields, is captivating and immediately engages the crowd. She wants to know if you’re ready to have a good time, and you should be.

The show is essentially an impromptu blues jam session including tunes from Muddy Waters, Ma Rainey, Sophie Tucker, Howlin’ Wolf, and Pearl Bailey.  While the show is predominately music, the song choices tell a story. There are brief narratives, short comments really, that tell the history of and the story of the people playing the blues. It’s the subtle reference to the Delta blues as opposed to the Chicago blues or the comment about scrubbing floors during the day to play at night or the humorous banter between musicians to make a point.  The combination of song lyrics and remarks create a snapshot of the lives at the center of the blues, touching upon heartache and difficulty, discrimination and social injustice, and obstacles faced trying to get their music heard.

With just five people on stage and only three of them singing and sharing stories, Fields, Chic Street Man, and Shake Anderson have to carry the show. And they do so flawlessly. All are talented singers and musicians who have performed the show together before. Despite the sadness in some of the songs, one is quite gut-wrenching, the musicians are having a good time. And so will you. It’s hard not to have fun when the performers are having fun. The singers do a fabulous job engaging with the audience. You can’t get out of there without clapping along and possibly even singing along, too.

Director Randal Myler (Muscle Shoals: I’ll Take You There and Tony Award-nominated Best Musical It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues) and musical director Dan Wheetman make a successful return to the LTAC with Low Down Dirty Blues. The show continues through Sunday, October 27 with evening and matinee performances.

Tickets and more information are available at:  www.lonetreeartscenter.org/lowdowndirtyblues