Oh Happy Day! Off-Broadway Reviews

Opening on Wednesday following its 2024 premiere at Baltimore Center Stage, Oh Happy Day! turns out to be, oh well, not such a happy event for theatergoers due to its overabundance of content and an underwhelming resolution. The show looks to be none too pleasant a time for Cooper either, who struggles with a strenuous leading role.

Under the direction of Stevie Walker-Webb, Oh Happy Day! covers a lot of ground, but its main theme is the age-old question: What is the role of God in the face of unimaginable suffering? To that, Oh Happy Day! says to "lean not on your own understanding,” before God drops an excellent metaphor about spilled milk and carpet cleaner.

For Cooper, “Oh Happy Day!” is not so much a step forward from “Ain’t No Mo’” as it is a step sideways. It shows that he can also write a full two-act 130-minute family drama. Not that this playwright has abandoned his irreverent comic streak. God takes many forms in “Oh Happy Day!” and the ones that can be written about in this review are the fiercely attired (costumes by Qween Jean) girl group that features Holy Divine (Tiffany Mann), Mighty Divine (Shelea Melody McDonald) and Glory Divine (Latrice Pace). They sing so many great gospel-inspired songs, by Donald Lawrence, that “Oh Happy Day!” at moments turns into a rollicking musical.

“Oh Happy Day!” may sound like church: The plot retells the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark; a divinely-dressed trio called the Divines belt out original gospel songs; we hear theological discussions and sermon-like exhortations. But playwright and actor Jordan E. Cooper peoples his play with a struggling family in present-day Mississippi who are full of angry resentments and bitter memories. And Cooper, whose play “Ain’t No Mo’” on Broadway three years ago presented a collection of barbed satirical sketches, here largely puts drama and trauma center stage.