Jubilee Theatre’s musical revue Blues in the Night takes its title from Harold Arlen’s shimmering, insinuating 1940s jazz number, and that should give you the right clue about what to expect from this show. The emphasis is not on Delta blues or anything that hardcore. Instead, it focuses on vintage jazz, back when the art form was relatively new and crossbred freely with pop music.
Though a great many songs in this revue feature the word “blues” in the title, the show has its share of dreamily optimistic numbers like “I’ve Got a Date With a Dream,” “Takin’ a Chance on Love,” and “I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So.” Of course, if you turn to this music for gorgeous despair, there’s the likes of “Wasted Life Blues,” “Lover Man,” and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” (a song that has been covered by everyone from Eric Clapton to Carla Bruni). Cutting against that are the bitchy “Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues” and Bessie Smith’s sexually aggressive numbers like “Baby Doll” and the double entendre-laced “You’ve Gotta Give Me Some.” All that gives an idea of how expressive this music was of a variety of moods. As the song title indicates, everybody’s got a right to sing the blues. With Jubilee, you know it’ll be done beautifully.
Blues in the Night runs Jul 23-Aug 15 at Jubilee Theatre, 506 Main St, FW. Tickets are $10-25. Call 817-338-4411.
