THEATER CHAT: Onstage talent shines in ‘Layers of Love’ despite script’s flaws

Whenever anyone sang or danced or exchanged comic banter in Lantam Productions/My Heart Entertainment's "The Layers of Love," I had to remind myself I was watching a free production. This tribute to the late Ruth Brown at the West Las Vegas Library, which played only three dates last weekend, was filled with professional-level talent one rarely sees in local theater, let alone free theater.

Book writers Ron David McPhatter (Brown and Clyde McPhatter's son) and Sheree Ealey take a novel approach to their subject. They fictionalize the characters of the two main roles, meant to be Brown and McPhatter Sr. (of The Drifters), and have them being interviewed on a television talk show. During their communications, conveyed mostly by Ron's original songs, we learn about the roller coaster ride of their relationship. A lot of humor is squeezed in by a series of video clips from call-in fans, who give a hint of the craziness stars must endure.

Ron looks on first appearance like a middle-age Everyman, but when he sings, he inherits a youthful bounce and passion. He's greatly aided by the royallike presence of Devyn Nouvelle as Dominique Swann (the fictionalized Brown); the likable and natural Nikki Foster as the interviewer Jackie; and Cameron Miller, as Jackie's hopelessly in love sidekick, who tries hard (and hysterically) to win Jackie through buffoonery.

Foster and Miller establish a great rapport. You can tell at first glance that they belong together. And Swann effortlessly projects not just the diva side of Brown, but the obvious pain she's still suffering from her long-ended affair.

The script, often well-directed by Lanyard Williams, needs work. Nearly all the dramatic dialogue is overwrought (and badly performed). And the writers can't seem to decide if they're writing a one-man show, or a multicharacter musical drama. Not sure, too, what sense it makes to fictionalize the characters. And in a musical about Brown, a legendry pop and R&B singer and songwriter, isn't it only natural to expect some Brown songs?

But the evening was made special by the onstage talent, and with some rewriting, this could be a fitting tribute to an exceptional artist. It's a work in progress, and I'm eager to see the next step.

As a side note, the apparent segregation of the theater community continues to baffle me. Brown was a cross-over artist (I became an immediate fan when I saw her Tony-winning Broadway performance in 1986's "Black and Blue"); yet, the Las Vegas Library audience was almost exclusively black. Were there no local whites interested in seeing a show about the Vegas-based Brown? To be fair, the pre-production publicity was tepid, but if this had played Summerlin, or the Spring Mountain Ranch, or Las Vegas Little Theatre, I've no doubt whites would have found their way.

West Las Vegas Library productions continue to be an undiscovered gem for whites, and I find it hard to believe it's just the drive that keeps them from attending. What's up with that?

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheater chat@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.