For two years, the pandemic has delayed full presentation of Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, mainly by Goodman Theater, Chicago. Preliminary versions were spatially limited, even to a truck through the city and to Seattle Theater working on a West Coast showing. Finally, at Sarasota’s Asolo Rep, one of few major regional theaters presently offering big shows live, its administrative and production teams joined with those in Illinois and Washington to premiere, in a traditional way, all of Fannie’s important life and music to audiences. Strong-voiced E. Faye Butler tries hard to embody traits that made Fannie Lou Hamer a heroine of the Civil Rights Movement, the Rise of Feminism, and Get Out the Vote campaigns. After a daughter died of malnutrition, Fannie even advocated eating wisely and taught how to economically grow good food. Though husband, family, friends helped, Fannie had to travel and pick her causes principally by herself, usually picking up local musicians.
Fannie’s voice attracted crowds, especially of people of color like herself. Her music included mostly traditional jazz, gospel, folk—in fact, whatever suited both their messages and those of messengers to come afterward. She started by drawing in blacks to question why only whites were Mississippi delegates to the Democratic National Convention. They nominated LBJ. After first being cut off as if “an ignorant old black woman”, Fannie eventually got to feel part of Johnson’s move to Civil Rights legislation.
Highlighted sections of Fannie’s contribution to Civil Rights include her being a come-on “act” for Martin Luther King Jr., her making freedom a matter of religious belief, her respect for the young Freedom Writers and work with them, and her boosting education rather than incarceration as a plan to secure the best future for every person of every color. “We are all made of the same stuff!” she shouted.Yet, though supporting women’s suffrage, she seems to have chastised white women for getting the vote before black women (as if white women caused that).
An extended horrible beating by racist police takes up much time. It’s mostly done in symbolic darkness with continual sound. Unfortunately, the prolonged beats, beats, beats begin to seem like a botched version of a Cole Porter lyric about tom toms. Nor does the dress Fannie wears in jail seem to suffer as she physically did. Her unfair trial is simply talked about without a detail shown. And E. Faye Butler’s vocal volume never seems to waver.
What Cheryl L. West’s script fails to do is make audience members feel as close to Fannie Lou Hamer as her real audiences, especially Southern blacks, apparently did. There’s so much marching through her life of civil rights politics, protests, and persuasion that she seems more of a historical hero (such as those pictured in abundant slides at Asolo) than a performer who enthralls and a persistent woman who shares warmth with family, friends, fellow workers, and those hearing her speeches.
The play is less a musical drama than a biographical monologue punctuated by some acted-out scenes, pieces of historical music, and many projected pictures, colors, flags. Hopefully, it will pick up power and Fannie Lou Hamer will be a more engaging personality as both “roll on” during Asolo Rep’s premiere and in the Chicago and Seattle ones to come.
