Artistic polymath Edgar Arceneaux reconceives what is immersive theater in “Until.. Until… Until…,” the story of Ben Vereen’s blackface performance at the 1981 Reagan/Bush Inaugural Ball, running Oct 17-19 at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Frank Lawson plays Vereen at the height of his career, which took a drop after his tribute to Vaudevillian Bert Williams, fell flat with audiences. Unlike the live televised event, “Until…” includes the original ending, which was cut from the broadcast and adds new context to a major cultural event. That alone is enough to elicit interest, but Arceneaux and Lawson go further and bring you face-to-face with Vereen’s personal tragedy and one of America’s original sins.
Edgar Arceneaux, writer, director and producer of "Until... Until... Until..."
Co-written by Arceneaux and Kurt Forman, the play jumps from the recent past to the recent present, beginning with Vereen rehearsing the choreography for his entrance—he arrogantly swaggers onstage, pauses sharply, turns slowly to the front, and cocks his head slightly, lips pursed and eyes wide. Later, Arceneaux appears as himself visiting the home of an aged, bent-over Vereen, who snarls, “You want to see it, don’t you?” about the then unreleased video. Guest star Marie Osmond (Jes Dugger) joins Vereen to sing an excessively corny original song, “Nobody But Ronnie,” while soliciting the audience for campaign donations. Midway through the show in a show, Vereen dons greyish face paint, outlines his lips with white, and in a dusty top hat and disheveled suit goes into Williams’ trademark tune, “…Who soothes my thumpin’, bumpin’ brain? Nobody.”
Lawson gives a near-perfect impression of Vereen doing an impression of Williams and does the routine whole and in parts multiple times—immediately recognizable if you’ve seen the original [link]. The use of blackface is disarming, but it is not as dark or thick as in, say, Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled,”; it gets the point across without gratuitousness. All the classic minstrel moves are here: the high-kicking Cake Walk, light and percussive Buck dance, bent-over In the Trenches, a hip-swiveling Fall off the Log, done while belting out long notes in Williams’ wide-vowel idiolect. Lawson’s dancing doesn’t live up to Vereen’s. How could it? But he embodies him holistically, in style of speech, vocal tone, facial mannerisms and body language. The climax of the “lost half” of the original performance is poignant and satisfying, and the emotional denouement will freeze you in place.
Every aesthetic element of the production shows attention to detail. Amorphous and ever-changing light projections creep off the stage and onto the walls. Irregular quadrilaterals across an angled backdrop and on the floor forms a three-dimensional cage around Vereen as he kneels before a television set. A live recording of Lawson is projected on a screen to look just like the broadcast video. The feeling of being part of a roaring crowd at a giant arena is recreated by… That’s giving too much away. I’ll just say that it’s not what you will expect—and that’s a good thing!
Cheers to Arceneaux and the design team for creating a truly immersive experience. Was Vereen censored? Was his choice of material too risky? “Until…” is shy about answers. But it will make you take a good look at yourself, the others around you and the current state of the union—highly recommended.
“Until… Until… Until…” runs Oct. 17, 18 & 19 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave. Onstage cocktail hour begins at 7:30pm; showtime is 8:30pm. Tickets are $32-$40, Students $10 (limit 2), available by clicking the event link below.
