Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jillian Walker’s THE WHITNEY ALBUM attempts to free the troubled pop star through ritual and the act of theater-making

• By drediman
• June 21, 2023
• No Comments

This past weekend down at Off-Broadway’s Soho Rep, I caught Jillian Walker’s play The Whitney Album (Ms. Walker also stars in the piece). If you haven’t already surmised, the new work is an attempt to unpack pop star Whitney Houston’s life and legacy, particularly as a Black woman. Don’t be fooled by the premise, however. By attempting to free the troubled singer from the clutches of history, the show transcends your typical biopic or jukebox musical.

Indeed, the uncompromising multi-disciplinary performance piece is as avant-garde as you’d expect from the tiny but mighty theater company (which over the past decade has brought us important works like Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Fairview, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon, and last season’s award-winning hit Wolf Play by Hansol Jung). Moving silkily between music, poetry, drama, dance, and ritual, The Whitney Album eschews traditional structure and narrative in favor of ritualism and storytelling by freewheeling association. But despite its stream of conscience quality, there’s studied rigor that underlies the performance that keeps it spiritually centered.

The work’s parade of seamlessly interlocking scenes dreamily unfurl with intent and purpose, particularly in the hands of the show’s excellent trio of performers (confidently joining Walker onstage are actress Stephanie Weeks and sound designer Ben Jalosa Williams). Admittedly, The Whitney Album isn’t for everyone. The piece is inspired by Whitney Houston, and it only intermittently delves directly into her life. As gracefully and steadily directed by Jenny Koons, be also warned that the piece works best as a participatory exercise.

RECOMMENDED

THE WHITNEY ALBEM
Off-Broadway, Play
Soho Rep
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through July 2