The Kansas City Repertory Theater (KCRep) recently performed “Nina Simone: Four Women.” The show follows musician Nina Simone as she explores her role as a civil rights activist after the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama.
The attack, performed by a white supremacist, took the lives of four young girls and injured many more.
“The violence referred to in the script continues to be just as relevant and contemporary right here and now,” said Andi Meyer, artistic associate at KCRep and UMKC theater major alumni.
The show runs at almost two hours and contains numerous musical numbers- many from Simone’s repertoire. While the cast included a mere five people, they portrayed numerous perspectives of being a Black woman in America.
The actors harnessed their palpable chemistry throughout the entire show, captivating the audience.
“The characters battling stereotypes is a really relevant issue. It showed that we haven’t really moved on as a society when it comes to liberating black people. The fact that those stereotypes live on today shows how little progress we’ve made,” said freshman criminal justice major Yasmina Mokhtar.
“An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times,” said Nina Simone in an interview with Black Journal after writing the protest anthem “Mississippi Goddam.” Simone is also known for her hits like “Feeling Good” and “I Put A Spell On You.”
“Live theater really does something to you,” Meyer said. “If you come into it willingly, it can really transport you. You can grow from the moment you sit down to the moment you leave.”
The arranger of the show, whose job is to primarily enhance songs and scenes with additional musical material in theater, is also the co-music director for the KCRep’s production. This results in a version of the show that nobody had seen before, according to Meyer.
While other companies have produced the show in the past, the KC Rep’s production will most likely become the published version. This means that this script, including specific song arrangements and dialogue, will become available for other theaters to use.
Tickets for upcoming shows at KCRep can be found here.
