Singing the B.D. Blues:
LangstonHughes
Queer Women of the Harlem Renaissance
FESTIVAL of NEW PLAYS
“Where she went, I don’t know. I mean to follow everywhere she goes; Folks say I’m crooked. I didn’t know where she took it. I want the whole world to know.”
—FROM “PROVE IT ON ME,” MA RAINEY (1928)
“I need a little sugar in my bowl. I need a little hot dog between my rolls. You gettin’ different, I’ve been told. Move your finger, drop something in my bowl.” —FROM “NEED A LITTLE SUGAR IN MY BOWL,” BESSIE SMITH (1930)
“Comin’ a time, B.D. women they ain’t gonna need no men. Comin’ a time, B.D. women they ain’t gonna need no men. Oh the way they treat us is a lowdown and dirty sin.” —FROM “B.D. WOMAN’S BLUES,” LUCILLE BOGAN (1935)
Many black female recording artists of the Harlem Renaissance were queer or bisexual, and their lyrics are full of this content. The most explicit lyricist of them all, Lucille Bogan (1897–1948) mostly recorded under her pseudonym “Bessie Jackson” and was one of the first American singer-songwriters to be recorded. Her lyrics have been some of the most sexually explicit in the history of the blues. She began recording lesbian-themed songs like “B.D. Woman’s Blues” (B.D. standing for “bull dyke”) later in her career. Inspired by this underappreciated artist, our play takes place on the night Lucille Turner prepares to perform her most explicitly sexual song yet—but before she performs this song, she must squelch resistance from her white manager, the voyeurism of her white audiences, and even members of the NAACP. Will Lucille bow to pressure or will she sing her blues?
blues for miss lucille
—ALEX VERMILLION, PRODUCTION DRAMATURG ISEMAN THEATER, 1156 CHAPEL STREET November 29 & December 3 at 8PM December 1 & 5 at 4PM
2018–19 SEASON