My wife and I saw this Saturday and we can really recommend it
We have a problem with Broadway itself for many reasons but a show like this rekindles your love of theater if only for the 2 hours you are there.
It sort of reminded me of August Wilson 's work re the black experience in Pittsburgh. The cast is uniformly excellent. There are 7 in the cast but 3 have to be singled out. The other 4 are good but their parts are minor to the 3 to be mentioned here. My one knock on the show that the other 4 parts are underwritten . Merkerson holds the whole piece together however.
First and foremost is S Epatha Merkerson. You see her on one of the Law & Order series and also does those corricedin commercials. The fact that she is this great of an actress was a revelation.She plays the mother figure in the piece . The role is not only a great part but is physically demanding . If this were on Broadway it would be a Tony caliber performance. Sheria Irving plays the sister of the Porter role and she ages in the part from teenager to young woman. She is fabulous. Kevyn plays the porter part and he also shines
We sat in the first row and the closeness was another great part of experience.
This is theater and not the hype of Mormon or Wicked. Go see it before it ends.
I also saw this from the first row and enjoyed it a lot. I think the play needs work, as others have said.
I would be happier if the Billy Porter character had more to do. He leaves the scene at one point and doesn't return for seven years. Meanwhile, the play goes on without him. The mother and sister (who narrates) are the main characters. Instead of having him missing in action, I would prefer having a few scenes showing the Billy Porter-esque character (who is named Calvin, I believe) in New York, struggling to get established in theater. I guess that will be Porter's next play!
He's trying to be August Wilson, or maybe a better way to say that is that he's influenced by August Wilson. But I felt that Between Riverside and Crazy was much more in the Wilson vein.
Also, the play needs to be cut, cut, cut. Too much of the text is repetitive. Plus, the ghosts could be handled better. S. Epatha Merkerson is magnificent, worth the price of admission alone.