REVIEWS

For D MAGAZINE by Savannah Fakhoury

LYRIC STAGE’S ABYSSINIA IS A STORY OF OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

The inspiring musical, based on Joyce Carol Thomas' Marked by Fire, comes to the Majestic Theatre this weekend. 

Dallas’ Lyric Stage is celebrating women in its 27th season. The musical theater company deliberately chose productions that are focused on empowering females for its “Wonder Women” season, and its latest musical follows that mission. In honor of Black History Month, the non-profit company is presenting Abyssinia, based on the young adult novel Marked by Fire by Joyce Carol Thomas, which was inspired by the Book of Job in the Bible.

Set at the turn of the 20th century in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the play follows Abyssinia ‘Abby’ Jackson as she endures a series of trials and tribulations, ultimately testing her faith in God and in humanity.

A young woman blessed with a beautiful voice, Abyssinia uses song to spread joy in her community. However, when Abby’s faith is eventually tested, she succumbs to darkness and vows to never sing again. Her silence has a devastating effect on the people around her, but she has to find the will to heal herself before she can help anyone else.

Texas Christian University student Jaden Dominique takes the lead as Abyssinia. This is her first professional show, and she doesn’t know if she’ll ever have an experience quite like this again. “This process has been scary, exciting, powerful and exhausting,” she says.

Dominique knows that African American literature is not only significant to African American culture and Black History Month, but to American literature as a whole: “Being able to dive into this work, specifically this month, has an even greater impact.”

Hoping the audience finds joy and comfort in the performance, Dominique wants viewers to see themselves on stage. She offers, “It is important that the audience realizes that life has trials and it’s not about how hard you fall but how you get back up.”

BWW NEWS DESK REVIEW

Lyric Stage will celebrate Black History Month with ABYSSINIA February 14-16, 2020, continuing its Wonder Women of Season 27.

Lyric Stage originally produced ABYSSINIA in its ninth season, and is excited to share this powerful and moving show with Dallas audiences in its twenty-seventh season. The Dallas Morning New's Lawson Taitte called ABYSSINIA "an ideal uplifter of spirits in this troubled time." "The writers have provided a glorious sequence of up-tempo numbers that keep things bubbling. The song that opens the second act, "Pickin' Up the Pieces," has the entire audience putting their hands together, ready to testify."

Based on the novel Marked by Fire by Joyce Carol Thomas, this musical was adapted and written by Ted Kociolek (Music/Book) and James Racheff (Lyrics/Book). Texas Christian University's (TCU) own Jaden Dominique stars as Abyssinia.

Set in Stillwater, Oklahoma at the turn of the 20th century, Abyssinia 'Abby' Jackson was born during a tornado and blessed with the gift of song and a voice that thrills and delights the entire community. Like Job, Abby is fated to undergo a series of trials, and consequently, her faith in both man and God is destroyed, so she vows to never sing again. Abyssinia's withdrawal affects the devastated community like a long drought, but when Mother Vera takes the girl under her wing to teach her the ways of a healer, Abby begins to heal herself, her voice, and her community as she learns to relieve pain in others.

For IRISH FILM CRITIC by Tracee Bond

“ABYSSINIA” HEALS A COMMUNITY’S TRANSGRESSIONS THROUGH THE POWER OF HER VOICE

Set in Stillwater, Oklahoma at the turn of the 20th century, Abyssinia ‘Abby’ Jackson was born during a tornado and blessed with the gift of song and a voice that thrills and delights the entire community. Like Job, Abby is fated to undergo a series of trials, and consequently, her faith in both man and God is destroyed, so she vows to never sing again. Abyssinia’s withdrawal affects the devastated community like a long drought, but when Mother Vera takes the girl under her wing to teach her the ways of a healer, Abby begins to heal herself, her voice, and her community as she learns to relieve pain in others.

The community of Stillwater, Oklahoma was never the same once Abyssinia (Abby) Jackson (Jaden Dominique) made her way into the world during one of the worst storms the community had seen. From a very young age, her powerful voice held the community together and gave them hope during the toughest times of their lives. Once a happy and youthful person, Abby’s entire life changed when her father abandoned the family and Abby was raped by a group of young men. She became withdrawn and refused to sing ever again because she couldn’t understand why the God she believed in would allow her to become a victim. While everyone close to her tried their best to lift Abby’s spirit, no one could bring her out of the slump and convince her to return to the church where they could all heal together. While there were many things the town’s healer, Mother Vera (Carol Dennis) pulled them through, she was getting older and weaker and while she wanted to pass her skills along to Abby, she couldn’t persuade her to expend any energy. While the church and the local pastor continued to pray that Abby would come out of her slump, her mother, Patience Jackson (Chimberly Carter Byrom), who needed assistance with quilting in order to make money for the family, tried to impress upon Abby the need to let go of the past and contribute something productive to help her family survive.

With Mother Vera’s health continually declining, she decided to go directly to Abyssinia and ask her family’s permission to take Abby under her wing so she could teach her the healing techniques that the community depended on. Once Abby decided to take a chance with Mother Vera, she realized that people were in need of her healing services and that allowed her to begin the process of healing on her own. While she had many detractors, she finally convinced herself that the community desperately needed to hear her voice and her father’s return made a profound impact as she was able to heal through forgiveness. In the end, Abby’s spirits were lifted and her voice spread throughout the community and once again, they begin to flourish.

TCU’s own Jaden Dominique did an outstanding job in the title role of Abyssinia. The power of her amazing voice was felt throughout the theater and every song made an amazing impact on the storyline as she hit note after note with ease. Not only was Jaden’s voice amazing, but the entire vocal cast had an abundance of musical power that carried the story in its entirety. Shelia Vaughn Walker, the music director, led an outstanding orchestra through a series of spiritually uplifting songs and satirical melodies. It goes without saying that director Akin Babatunde’ did an awesome job bringing the entire cast together with producers Steven Jones and Catherine C. Cox introducing the production as well as writer James Racheff making his presence known in the audience. This strong presence was a testament to the support behind Lyric Stage’s Black History Month celebration as part of its Wonder Woman Season. Don’t miss this powerful story of healing and recovery!