The World According to Micki Grant

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Singer, actor, writer, and composer Micki Grant is the subject of the collection of songs, stories, and poems playing at the WP Theatre, The World According to Micki Grant.

In doing my due diligence for this show, I perused Micki Grant’s Wikipedia page and noticed a “related article” for one “Arnold Wilkerson, American Actor.” I cocked my head and reflected; I know an ‘Arnold Wilkerson.’ Sure enough, upon clicking further, I landed on the Wiki page for said Arnold Wilkerson, creator and owner of the Little Pie Company, a Hell’s Kitchen treasure revered for its legendary Sour Cream Apple Walnut Pie and other delectables. Back in the last century when I wore a younger man’s clothes, I worked on the LPC’s computer system, but I did not know that Wilkerson was an original cast member of Grant’s celebrated Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope.

I called up Arnold and immediately asked him to attend The World According to Micki Grant with me at the WP Theatre, and to my delight, he readily accepted my invitation.

Grant’s work is well-known to many, but this intimate, compact little revue featuring four actors, Matelyn Alicia, April Armstrong, Patrice Bell and Brian Davis, is an enjoyable, informative, and intimate love letter celebrating Grant anew.

Although known for writing the 1959 single “Pink Shoe Laces” (sung by bobby sox darling Dodie Stevens), and the more visible musicals Your Arms Too Short to Box with God and Cope, the evening’s offerings include many lesser-known works by Grant as well as unpublished songs, narratives, and poems, all demonstrating the broad, deep, and cutting edges of her humor, observation, and thought provocation in subjects running the gamut from love, war, rebellion, and justice. Days later, I’m still singing her two big songwriting numbers from the Stephen Schwartz musical Working, “Cleanin’ Women” and “If I Could’ve Been” in my head.

Alicia, Armstrong, and Bell each give delightful and unique performances as they tell Grant’s stories through song and verse. I commend casting director Lawrence Evans for finding these three distinctive women to convey Grant’s life and experiences through their expressive voices and genuine personalities. Davis’ performance is less organic, but he provides powerful vocals, and some artfully deft dance moves created by choreographer Lakai Worrell.

The Micki Grant estate provides many wonderful photographs from her life for this production, and projections designer Michele Baldwin presents them throughout the evening on the back wall during the performance. These projections are relevant to the songs and readings, but ultimately, they distract from the actors. Sometimes there are fewer photos on display for any given scene, so they begin to repeat themselves; all the while, the audience makes a concerted effort to not divert their gaze from the actors every time the photos change. The projections would compete less for attention if their rotation were slowed, or if they were only presented at the top of every scene and not changed, giving the actors direction to acknowledge them and then to reclaim focus for themselves.

This continued distraction is most evident during “Don’t Underestimate a Nut” from the musical Carver, where there is only one picture of George Washington Carver darting around like a computer screen saver on the backdrop while Davis sings. Had the photo simply been projected in one place at the top of the number, the audience would see it once and then be able to turn their gaze to Davis and give him their entire focus for the rest of his dynamic performance; instead, there is a persistent competition between the backdrop and Davis.

Director Nora Cole has created a well-structured piece, maintaining variation between songs and narratives and staging the actors around the simple but multilevel space designed by set designer and technical director Patrice Davidson.

All told, The World According to Micki Grant provides a wonderful opportunity to inbue today’s audiences with Grant’s profound contributions to the theater and to the standing of Black artists therein. Although it plays in this venue only through June 29, hopefully this piece will have a continued life on the stage, and with more than solely piano accompaniment.

Turning on its axis the world does on its own

But the kind of world that turns is left to us alone

Micki Grant

The World According to Micki Grant (An Evening of Music, Poetry, Song & Dance) (through June 29, 2024)

New Federal Theatre (NFT)

WP Theatre, 2162 Broadway, in Manhattan

For tickets visit https://www.newfederaltheatre.com/tickets/micki-grant-step-into-my-world

Running time: 90 minutes without an intermission