Charles Smith and Chuck Smith, two venerable artists with a long and auspicious history in Chicago theater, don’t just have similar names. They’ve been friends and collaborators for close to 40 years. Anyone who knows them knows not to call Charles “Chuck,” or Chuck “Charles,” on pain of gentle correction.
Their latest, and let’s surely hope not their final, teaming up is for an American Blues Theater show called “Golden Leaf Ragtime Blues,” a play that goes back almost four decades, having first been developed at American Blues in 1987. As far as I am aware, though, the first full production of the final version did not take place until 2016, when the show, a piece about a pseudo-paternal friendship between an aging and crusty white vaudevillian and an African American teenager, was first seen in Ohio, where Charles Smith long has taught. The staging at the new space developed by American Blues is the show’s Chicago premiere.
I’ve seen most of Charles Smith’s typically detailed plays over the years, many of which have been excellent, and his body of work includes a longstanding interest in the history of vaudevillian performance. But in this case, to be frank, this feels a bit more like the kind of odd-couple play that was more in vogue some years ago.
We start out by watching the octogenarian Pompey (Dennis Cockrum, of recent “Shameless” fame) struggling to remember his lines sufficiently well to keep up his wordplay act with Ollie (James Sherman, another distinguished name). Then the show movies a few years later, to the point where Pompey’s domestic well-being has become an issue for his daughter Marsha (Dawn Bach), who can see all the empty cans of food strewn around. Marsha has a foster son, Jet (Justin Banks), and most of “Golden Leaf Ragtime Blues” is about the developing relationship between Pompey and this kid, one that you quickly intuit will be beneficial to them both.
This certainly is a structure you’ve likely seen before, although it’s performed with integrity, charm and authenticity here. At times, it feels like you are watching an old-school sitcom with both laugh lines and what they used to call “treacle cutters,” meaning poignant lines. Ollie doesn’t disappear as the 90-minute show progresses; he pops up occasionally, haunting Pompey’s memory.
At the show I attended, the piece needed a bit more pizzazz and, frankly, speed. Simply put, I think everyone focuses a bit too much on what Pompey cannot do anymore, over what he can, which is needed to drive the dramatic action. Somehow, the show never quite transcends its devices; it’s just too familiar a scenario and you see what’s coming down the pike before it actually arrives. Smith has penned much better plays. Several of them.
Still, the show does indeed deal with salient issues of aging, caregiving, and the importance of both listening to oldsters and passing on your truths to the next generation. And it comes with a baked-in optimism about America, at least in one 1990s living room.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “Golden Leaf Ragtime Blues” (2.5 stars)
When: Through June 29
Where: American Blues Theater, 5627 N. Lincoln Ave.
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Tickets: $49.50 at 773-654-3103 and americanbluestheater.com
