Doo Lister's Blues October 24, 2010

The National Pastime Theater, one of Chicago's most innovative and provocative theater companies, will present the Chicago premiere of a revised version of 'Doo Lister's Blues,' Terry Abrahamson's powerful story of the turbulent 1960s as seen through the eyes of an African American barber in Garfield Park, Chicago. This powerful play looks back at the meeting of the political turmoil of the 1960s with the rise of an emerging Black music experience. Set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement, 'Doo Lister's Blues' traces a songwriting Chicago barber's creative metamorphosis from Motown to militant, with results that challenge the validity of the evolution of Black popular music. In 1965, as the smoke clears over Chicago's riot-ravaged West Side, Doo Lister's chance encounter with a white radical leads to shared tragedy and a revelation that transforms Doo Lister's musical style from Motown to militant. On the brink of altering the course of American music, they confront the realities that molded our culture while sowing the seeds for a highly unexpected redemption.