3 mo' divas

Arena Stage, Washington DC

August 7, 2006

by Dawn E! Robinson

for VocalMusician.com

3 mo divas just completed a run (on Aug. 13) at Washington DC's Arena Stage.  The show is produced by the same team who brought you three mo' tenors.  The "3 mo'" concept has evolved - for better or worse - to embrace and/or celebrate the female voice.  Unlike its forerunner, the voices are not classification-specific.  In other words, the singers are not only sopranos or only altos.  Also different from the original, there are two casts this time - two sets of three ladies performing two sets of music.  On August 7, I saw the cast which featured Broadway star VIVIAN REED.  Before I get started, let me send out a "great, big, giant thank-you" to Sipho Kunene, drummer for the show, who got me tickets to see it.

There are some similarities in this show to three mo' tenors - the show begins with classical/operatic repertoire and takes the audience on a journey through vocal music history in America - Broadway show tunes, jazz, blues, soul/r&b, pop - ending with Negro spiritual and gospel.  Some of the arrangements the performers sing as a trio are taken directly from three mo tenors.  One difference is that each of the three times I saw three mo' tenors, it was on a large stage - giving the revue a more concert vibe.  In Arena Stage's Kreeger Auditorium, backed by a rhythm section and reed player, 3 mo' divas had a much more intimate feel to it - a quieter energy.

The cast I saw was ANDREA JONES-SOJOLA, NINA NEGRI and, as mentioned above, VIVIAN REED.

JONES-SOJOLA was the least versatile of the three, vocally-speaking.  But she served clean, clear-as-a-bell tones and arpeggios all evening.  Glancing at her program bio she had sung, up to now, entirely on the international opera stage.  So I really wasn't mad at her when her turn at scatting on the Ella Fitzgerald classic "How High the Moon" totally lacked swing.  However, JONES-SOJOLA delivered a perfect "O Mio Babbino Caro" at the beginning of the show, a really decent "Memory" from Cats and "Your Daddy's Son" from Ragtime during the Broadway medley and an amazing a capella "City Called Heaven" which had me in tears.

NINA NEGRI, according to her program bio, is originally from Annandale VA - just down the road from Washington DC.  She definitely had hometown appeal and was young enough to take on the more "cute and bubbly" tasks of the show.  It fell to her to, at times, be the "hippie chick," the "vamp," and a cross between Tina Turner and Beyonce.  Vocally, NEGRI made seamless transitions throughout the show.  She showed great virtuosity with the very difficult coloratura aria "Una Voce Poco Fa," served an introspective "Somewhere" from West Side Story, a sweet "Seasons of Love" from Rent during the Broadway medley and was both hot and subtle - even Fosse-like - in her delivery of "Hit Me with a Hot Note and Watch Me Bounce."  Being the only non-Black singer of the three, NEGRI also handled the jazz/blues, soul/r&b and spiritual/gospel segments very well.

VIVIAN REED was, by far, the standout for me.  First of all, I immediately remembered REED from seeing the Broadway hit Bubbling Brown Sugar back in the '70s.  It was a role that took her to the Tony Awards and an appearance on "The Mike Douglas Show."  My dad had bought the cast album recording for me after seeing the show and her tunes - "God Bless the Child" and "Sweet Georgia Brown" were the ones I had played over and over and over again, trying to mimic her deep, rich, belty tones with my 10-year-old cords, but I digress...  I was totally psyched to see REED live onstage again and she did not disappoint.  In fact, I was pleasantly shocked and surprised at her operatic tones.  I mean, who knew???  Her "Pace Pace Mio Dio" was almost perfect.  I say almost because, as a soprano paly of mine said, "Leontyne ruined that piece for the rest of us."  The only recording of "Pace" that I've ever heard is Leontyne Price's.  So, you know - the shoes are there, but know that you ain't gonna fill them.  It was more then an ambitious fete for REED to take on this aria and the fact is, she NAILED it...almost.  The aria ends on a "coda" phrase that surges up from a high 'G' to a high 'B' which Price holds for an eon.  Though, to me, it seemed like a split-second decision on her part, REED stayed on the 'G' which works harmonically, of course, but - you know - kind of kills the moment.  She made up for it by serving dramatic face, but I would have preferred the high 'B' even if she didn't hold it long.  I noted a few grunts of disappointment in the audience as well.  Obviously, I wasn't the only one with a Price recording.  Still, I really couldn't be mad at REED.  She worked it well.  Her "God Bless the Child" took me back to her Bubbling Brown Sugar performance - and she got a little emotional on that piece.  "Fever" was ALL HERS as she strutted, kicked and worked the entire stage.  And her "The Way We Were" was reminiscent of Gladys Knight's stellar live recording.

A major high point in the show was a duet with REED and JONES-SOJOLA - a pairing of the Billie Holiday classic, "Strange Fruit" with the wordless "Lament."  Done as a "call and response" kind of thing between REED's bluesy chest tones and JONES-SOJOLA's soaring head voice, it was a vocal masterpiece - both heart-wrenching and beautiful.

Although JONES-SOJOLA, NEGRI and REED have three distinctly different voices, as a trio they sang as one - blending flawlessly on unison parts and harmonies.  There were times, however, when each took a solo line and the other two "had to" roll their eyes, snap their chins or look at the soloist like she was crazy.  Although it drew some chuckles in the audience, it also fed into the ridiculous idea that women can't work together.  The fact is that they just DID work together - quite WELL - on the unison and harmonies.  They had, in fact, been working well together all evening.  So what was all the snapping about?

For those I've mentioned 3 mo' divas to, who had also seen three mo' tenors, the reaction was "why?"  I admit that I tried very hard not to wonder "why" as I watched 3 mo' divas - to just watch and enjoy the vocal performances.  I think the title is what kept bothering me though.  I mean, three mo' tenors was an answer to THE Three Tenors - PAVAROTTI, DOMINGO and CARRERAS (followed by "Three Irish Tenors").  The mo' speaking to the fact that black tenors - despite their ability to hit 7 or 8 high 'E's in a row - are not getting prime operatic roles and, therefore, have to be more versatile singers than their counterparts of European descent... that is, if they want to make a career singing.  But black female opera singers do not have the same problem getting roles on the same scale as their brother singers.  So, "why" call the show 3 mo' divas?  Then I had a vague memory of three operatic sopranos who had performed together as The Three Sopranos, but it wasn't nearly as popular (or successful - though I could be wrong there) as The Three Tenors.  So, again, "why" call it 3 mo' divas???  I don't have an answer.  I will say, however, that I totally enjoyed the parts of 3 mo' divas that DID NOT remind me of three mo' tenors.  Whenever they sang one of the numbers from tenors, I got annoyed the way I do when I hear a really bad cover version of a hit song I once loved.

The other cast includes GRETHA BOSTON, N'KENGE and JAMET PITTMAN.  For future performances of 3 mo' divas, check out the VocalMusician Performances page or visit www.3modivas.com

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