‘Paradise Blue’ Combines Jazz And Social Commentary
True Colors’ Artistic Director, Jamil Jude and actor Keith Arthur Bolden sat down with Lois to tell us about it.
Summer Evans / WABE
After World War II, city officials campaigned to demolish Detroit’s African-American neighborhoods of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. By the 1960s, the destruction of the historic neighborhoods were complete.
True Colors Theatre Company’s newest play is called “Paradise Blue” and is set against a backdrop of gentrification and displacement. The story is told for the perspective of Blue, a gifted trumpeter. During the play Blue considers selling his once thriving family jazz club, leaving his beloved Pumpkin and her dreams aside.
As Blue fights personal demons to better his life and maintain his sanity, his fellow band members, Corn and P-Sam, are stuck wondering where they fit into the plan to benefit from the changes in their neighborhood.
Silver, a mysterious woman with a history, enters the scene with her own plans, turning the lives of everyone upside down.
True Colors’ Artistic Director, Jamil Jude and actor Keith Arthur Bolden sat down with Lois to tell us about it.
“Paradise Blue” opens on Sept. 24 and runs through October 20th at the Southwest Arts Center.
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