New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

Gun & Powder Both Run Dry in Paper Mill Musical


By Bruce Chadwick

originally published: 04/22/2024

Katie Thompson and the Ensemble of Gun & Powder. Photo © Jeremy Daniel

I was a kid in the late 1950s and early 1960s and the western was undisputed, unchallenged King of television. No matter what channel you turned to, there was a marshal with a ten gallon hat and big, big badge shooting it out with the bad guys. There were good citizens, like the men of the Ponderosa in Bonanza, fighting evildoers every single week, Women? The most gorgeous women in the world, all in love with the good guys. No matter what channel you turned to, there was the story of truth justice and the American way – on horseback. Six gun glory.

You want more? How about the Lone Ranger and his good buddy Tonto? ("Hi Ho Silver!").

The years went by and the westerns were all chased into some big canyon and disappeared. So you can imagine my delight when the Paper Mill Playhouse, in Millburn, announced that it was reviving the old western with Gun & Powder, a new musical based on the true story of Mary and Martha Clarke and their mom, Tallulah Clarke, in 1893 Texas. The playwright, Angelica Cherie, is a descendant of the Clarkes.

Ciara Renée, Liisi LaFontaine and Hunter Parrish in Gun & Powder, photo © Jeremy Daniel

I expected to walk into the theater and see Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday battle with all the bad guys in the gunfight at the OK Corral or at least a wild and wooly shootout in the crowded and dangerous streets of Dodge City.




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info



No such luck. I had to keep my six gun in its holster. Gun & Powder has none of the old marshal heroism and gunfights. It is a quiet, studious look, true story, at the efforts off two twin sisters, Mary and Martha Clarke (light skinned African Americans (via their mom Tallulah’s marriage to a white man), who work hard to pay off the debts their mom incurred as a Texas sharecropper.

But no stage coach robberies, cowboys riding horses up into the hills, or main street shootouts here. Gun & Powder, written by Angelica Cheri, is a fine effort at the old days but it dies, bullet in chest, in its own Main Street shootout. There are beautiful girls running around in saloons and dance halls, but no Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke, no heroic old west marshals that’s for sure.

The play, abut black women in show business in that 1890s era in Texas, follows the careers of Mary, Martha and Tallulah Clarke and the troubles they found in a racist America. The play, written by Miss Cheri over the course of ten years, does not really go anywhere. It starts off as an effort to find a hall for a show, but does not. Then it  moves on with other plots, but never really zeroes in on the woes of women in that era, whether black or white.

The music, by Ross Baum and Austin Cook, with orchestration by John Clancy, with songs by Angelika Cheri, who also wrote the book, dries up faster than the paint on the old wagons, The first few songs all sound exactly the same. The play turns out to be several plays in one. The sisters sell themselves as whites to make money to pay the family debt. From there, the musical becomes a story about black segregation in Texas, then this then that In the end you have a rather late (1893) story about the family and its struggle. Oh, there are several love stories – with men black and white – bound into all of this.

Jeannette Bayardelle in Gun & Powder, photo © Evan Zimmerman

There are good things to be said about the play.  Beowulf Borrit has done a fine job with the scenery for the musical, Adam Honore’s  lighting and Conner Wang’s sound are impressive (the opening scene cotton field is rather striking). The story in the play, of the Clarke sisters, takes place amid several large and impressive sets, indoor and outdoor.

Stevie Walker Webb has done fine work in directing this convoluted play. Tiffany Rea Fisher deserves much credit for the choreography of the story.

The Clarke story is one of those interesting but untold tales of the Old West. That is obvious in the story.  The play enjoys really fine acting by Liisi LaFontaine, Ciara Renee, Jeanette Bayard Elle and others.




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info



Director Walker Webb deserves much credit for trying to put all the pieces of the tale together and Austin Cook has done fine work as music director.

There is a long and involved story about a gun the sisters get, but I won’t tell you it here.

Liisi LaFontaine, Ciara Renée and Malik Shabazz Kitchen in Gun & Powder, photo © Evan Zimmerman

The play is a solid story about the west in the 1890s, but it is too long ( 2 ½ hours) and has too many characters and too many parts to its puzzle.

Playwright Cheri might have been better off with a little Wyatt Earp thrown into the story. She might have written a tighter, easier to follow story, too.

Oh well, Hi Ho Silver.



Gun & Powder is presented at Paper Mill Playhouse (22 Brookside Drive) in Millburn through May 5, 2024. Click here for more information or to purchase tickets.

Hunter Parrish and the Ensemble of Gun & Powder, photo © Jeremy Daniel



Bruce Chadwick worked for 23 years as an entertainment writer/critic for the New York Daily News. Later, he served as the arts and entertainment critic for the History News Network, a national online weekly magazine. Chadwick holds a Ph. D in History and Cultural Studies from Rutgers University. He has written 31 books on U.S. history and has lectured on history and culture around the world. He is a history professor at New Jersey City University.

 

EVENT PREVIEWS

The

The Summit Playhouse presents "Fun Home"

(SUMMIT, NJ) -- The Summit Playhouse presents Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Jeanine Tesori, and Lisa Kron weekends from April 25 through May 10, 2025. In this groundbreaking and deeply personal musical, Alison Bechdel revisits her past to make sense of her father's secrets and her own journey to self-discovery.



"Bette

"Bette Davis Ain't For Sissies" premieres at The Puffin Cultural Forum in May

(TEANECK, NJ) -- Direct from its critically acclaimed off-Broadway run, Bette Davis Ain't for Sissies will have its Bergen County premiere at Puffin Cultural Forum with a special live talk-back following the performance on Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 7:00pm.



The

The Road Company presents "Hairspray"

(WILLIAMSTOWN, NJ) -- The Road Company presents Hairspray from April 24 through May 10, 2025. You can’t stop the beat in this big and bold musical about one girl's inspiring dream to dance.



NJ

NJ Rep presents "Comfort" by Neil LaBute

(LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- New Jersey Repertory Company (NJ Rep) continues its 28th season with Neil LaBute's Comfort, directed by Evan Bergman. The production runs from April 17 to May 11, 2025, with opening on April 19, 2025, at NJ Rep's intimate theater in Long Branch. The new play follows the complicated, love-hate relationship between a mother and son as they barrel towards the unknown, battling over ownership of a treasured manuscript.



Youth

Youth Performers Take Flight in ShowKids Invitational Theatre's "Mary Poppins"

(GLEN GARDNER, NJ) -- ShowKids Invitational Theatre (SKIT) brings the magic of Disney's "Mary Poppins" to the stage this May, featuring a double cast of talented young performers ages 7-18 at Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner. The production includes six performances between May 3-11, 2025 with special aerial effects allowing the iconic nanny to truly take flight.



FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


1776

1776

Friday, May 09, 2025 @ 8:00pm
Algonquin Arts Theatre
60 Abe Voorhees, Manasquan, NJ 08736
category: theatre


 

"How

"How The Light Gets In" by E. M. Lewis

Friday, May 09, 2025 @ 8:00pm
South Camden Theatre Company
400 Jasper Street, Camden, NJ 08104
category: theatre


 

The

The Shining Stars- Broadway and Beyond!

Friday, May 09, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) - Main Stage
1601 Irving Street, Rahway, NJ 07065
category: theatre


 

George

George Street Playhouse presents "The Shark is Broken"

Friday, May 09, 2025 @ 7:30pm
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)
11 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: theatre


 

Rock

Rock Of Ages

Friday, May 09, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Axelrod Performing Arts Center
100 Grant Avenue, Deal Park, NJ 07723
category: theatre