Benny Jay: God Is A Black Man Named Rick Stone

November 19th, 2009

On the spur of the moment, my wife and I head over to the Black Ensemble Theater to see the latest from the great Jackie Taylor: “The Message is in the Music (God is a Black Man Named Ricky).”

We’re all geeked up to see it cause 1.) it got strong reviews – particularly Hedy Weiss’s write-up in the Sun-Times – and 2.) it stars my old friend, Rick Stone, the aforementioned Ricky, in the role of God.

I got a big chuckle out of that bit of creative casting. Don’t get me wrong – Rick’s got a lot going for him. He’s a charismatic song-and-dance man, who’s played Howlin’ Wolf, Rufus Thomas, Nat King Cole and other superstar entertainers in previous Jackie Taylor productions.

Oh, and, by the way, did I tell you we wrote a book together? Well, we did. It’s called “The Greens,” and it’s about two teenagers (one black, one white) having the time of their lives running around Chicago back in the 1970s, and — if I may take this time to make this shameless plug — it’s the world’s greatest book!

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, Rick Stone as God? As in the force of all that’s good in the world? Well, as much as I love Rick, I don’t know about that. I mean, he does say – “peace” – at the end of the greeting on his phone-answer machine. But let’s be real – he’d be the first to tell you that he’s been more Lucifer than God for a good chunk of his fifty-something years. Why, one time, when he was seventeen, he and his gang-bangin’ buddies broke into this railroad car and stole all these guns and — sorry, you’ll have to read the book to get the rest of the story.

I figure Jackie Taylor must be making a larger point about redemption by casting Rick as God because she knows all about the things he did way back when. They grew up together in the Cabrini-Green housing project on Chicago’s north side. In fact, she helped Rick turn around his life years ago by giving him a spot on the Black Ensemble stage to showcase his singing, acting and dancing talents. The way I see it — if anyone should be playing God, it’s Jackie Taylor.

But there he is up on the stage – resplendently dressed in white – playing the Big Man himself. He’s got it down cold, too. Powerful, yet compassionate. Strong, but wise. Forceful, but forgiving. And tolerant – really tolerant. When his right-hand man questions his love for Elvis Presley, Rick/God says: “This is my house and in my house everybody comes to the party.”

I appreciate the sentiments because I feel the same way about The Carpenters, and it reminds me of an exchange we had after I made a disparaging remark (or two) about Elvis.

“Don’t say nothin’ about Elvis, man,” Rick told me.

“You’re kidding me – you really like Elvis?”

“Man, why wouldn’t I love Elvis? The man had soul. I seen all of his movies – `Viva Las Vegas,’ `Kissin’ Cousins,’ `King Creole’….”

He went on to say he adored Barry Manilow and that “Mandy” was his favorite song.

Okay, just kidding about that – Rick’s not that tolerant.

Anyway, in the play Lucifer attempts to take over the world, which gives some unbelievably, talented singers an opportunity to sing some absolutely, fantastic songs.

They got a singer named Rhonda Preston who sings Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin as well as the originals, I kid you not. You absolutely have to hear her sing Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way.” It will make the hair on you arms stand up.

They have another singer — France Jean-Baptiste — who sings “Imagine” so beautifully, it makes you want to cry for shame at the difference between the way the world is as opposed to the way it’s supposed to be.

They got a scene with the cast singing Sam Cooke’s “We’re Having a Party”….

And they have a smoking good band….

And Lucifer – played by Donald Barnes sings “Fight the Power”….

And they have all sorts of songs by The Beatles, Paul Simon and Curtis Mayfield….

And — oh, just go see it for yourself….

The Black Ensemble’s phone number: 773-769-4451. Their website is www.blackensemble.org

It cost forty-five dollars. Call them up. Make a reservation. It runs until the end of year. If enough of you go, maybe they’ll extend the run. Personally, if it were up to me, they’d run it forever.

By the way, as with all Jackie Taylor productions, the cast lines up in the lobby at the end of the show to shake your hand and thank you for coming. When you see Rick, tell him Benny Jay sent you. Then tell him — peace.

He’ll get a kick out of that. Hey, it can’t hurt to have God on your side….