Theater: Lackawanna Blues

by Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Lackawanna, New York is a small city located just south of Buffalo. A center of steel manufacturing during the 20th century, it fell on hard times due to industrial restructuring. In the 1980s, the local steel plant closed, following massive layoffs. In short, a textbook example of Rust Belt boom-and-decline.

But we can be grateful for one byproduct of Lackawanna’s blues: Ruben Santiago-Hudson and his marvelous one-man show, “Lackawanna Blues” currently at the Samuel Friedman Theater.

An accomplished actor/director (he performed in the original “Jelly’s Last Jam” and directed many of August Wilson’s plays), RSH had a hardscrabble childhood. Largely abandoned by his parents, he was raised by “Miss Rachel,” who ran a boardinghouse and whom he called Nanny. The play is an affectionate recollection of his early life with Nanny, who served as the Lackawanna neighborhood’s unofficial “mom.” If you needed a hot meal, a shoulder to cry on, or just a sage word of advice, she was there for you.

If you are a child of Depression-era parents like me, you may have treasured their stories of growing up working-class and living among folks nicknamed “Herbie,” “Cheech” and “Mama Doll.”  RSH takes these stories and gives them his own spin (not unlike what the young Bill Cosby did with “Fat Albert” and his crew in Philadelphia), breathing life into all the characters in his ‘hood (including Nanny), and moving seamlessly between their different voices, gaits, and personalities. Should that not be enough entertainment for you, RSH also plays a mean harmonica, accompanied by Grammy-winning Junior Mack on guitar.

“Lackawanna Blues” is not a new play and in fact has been around for awhile in various iterations: RSH wrote and executive-produced the HBO film based on his award-winning 2001 play. We apparently missed them all so rather than make the same mistake, grab your tickets now. You may never get to Lackawanna but after seeing this play, you’ll surely feel as if you have.