"Goddess" at Berkeley Rep

Berkeley Rep photo by Kevin Berne and Alessandro Mello

 Berkeley Rep has become known over the last decade or two as a place where musicals get developed or premiered on their way to Broadway. Starting with Passing Strange and American Idiot and Amelie, then more recently Ain't Too Proud and Paradise Square, Berkeley has become a staging and trial ground for new musicals. The latest iteration is a world premiere of a new musical by a team with a pretty solid track record: it was conceived by Shaheem Ali, composer Michael Thurber wrote the music and lyrics, and the book is by Jocelyn Bioh. I suspect they're already making arrangements to transfer the show to Broadway.

The Play

Set in Mombasa, Kenya, the play is the story of Marimba, the goddess of music and beauty, who has had a falling out with her mother and come to the mortal realm to seek true love. Meanwhile, she gets by in the guise of Nadira, a singer at a trendy club called Mota Mota. There she meets Omari, the scion of the Mombasa political dynasty, just returned home from college in New York. Omari is supposed to succeed his father as mayor of Mombasa, and his fiancée, Cheche, has been making preparations for his campaign while he was away. But Omari just wants to play the saxophone at the club, where he is also falling in love with Nadira.

So the folktale sets up the conflicts between Omari and his parents, Omari and Cheche, Nadira/Marimba and her mother, Nadira and Madongo, the owner of the club who has romantic designs on her. All with a backdrop of the club and its excellent band and crew of colorful, dancing patrons. Lots of singing and dancing, lots of light and color.

The Production

Because this is a show with Broadway aspirations, it's a much bigger, fancier production that we would normally get in a regional theater. The set is large and elaborate. The band is large (and excellent), starting with the Afro jazz music while the audience is getting seated and playing nearly all the way through the show. And the cast is pretty much Broadway caliber: big voices, great dancing skills, etc. The production quality is high throughout. This is a top-notch production.

And it definitely appeals to its audience. This was the first truly packed theater I've been in since the pandemic, and the reception was enthusiastic. I suspect the run will be very successful and the show will go on to New York and do well.

Bottom Line

If you're looking for a Broadway-style and -quality musical show, I would say this is probably as good a bet as any of the touring shows currently playing in San Francisco (though I haven't seen them). The show has been extended through October 2nd, so you still have a chance to see it.

However (you knew this was coming, right?), although I found the show enjoyable, I felt like it was mostly flash and not much substance. Like many folk tales, there isn't a lot of depth or subtlety to the story. Once you get the setup, you pretty much know where everything is going. So it's very predictable, which I realize is what a lot of people want in their Broadway musicals. I also didn't find any of the major characters very engaging. Amber Iman (Nadira) is beautiful and sings incredibly, but her character doesn't have much dimension, and her acting doesn't add much to it. Phillip Johnson Richardson (Omari) has some personal appeal, but his character seems pretty set in his entitled ennui, never really convincing me that there's any conflict involved in choosing his preferred life of music over his family obligations. (And for that matter, it's kind of the same story with Marimba/Nadira--she never seems to show any sense that she has any inclination or reason to go back to being a goddess, preferring instead to pursue the path of personal love. Only when the curse placed on her threatens people she cares about does she get motivated at all to resume her goddess job.)

So the moral of the story seems to be "be true to yourself", almost regardless of the consequences to everyone else. It's kind of a bizarre message to be preaching, but it's done with lots of flair and charisma, so that's something.

On the other hand, a full house and an extended run, and an audience full of more young and BIPOC people than I have seen at almost any other show. So Berkeley Rep has another successful cash cow. The question is, will any of these audiences come back for other shows? And how much of the revenue will go to promoting local artists and shows? A big theater like Berkeley Rep can be a tremendous force in the local theater scene, but only if it invests in that local theater scene. Let's hope.