Nat “King” Cole once considered himself the “Jackie Robinson of Television” because he was the first African-American to host a television variety show. The show began as a 15-minute outing in November, 1956 on NBC. It began without a national sponsor because a fear by Madison Avenue of a backlash in the Deep South. The show remained without one for its entire 64-week run. This was the era when U.S. Steel, Alcoa, Kraft, Ford, Chevy and other brands were often part of a TV show’s title. Cole cancelled the show himself when the network, who always stood by him, decided to move the show to an undesirable early Saturday evening time slot. Playwrights Colman Domingo & Patricia McGregor have created a play with music entitled Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole which is receiving its West Coast Premiere at The Geffen Playhouse. It’s a candid look back at a barely remembered period in America’s troubled racial history. The writers show the indignities Cole had to suffer like having his faced powdered down so he filmed less dark and the silly distance he had to keep from his white female guests.
The action takes place on the night of December 17, 1957, at the taping of the final show. Cole is depressed by the ending of his show and his constant battle against the rampant prejudice of the time. Cole’s cool public demeanor breaks at times as he gives vent to his anger and frustration. It’s a powerful and theatrical storytelling device that is occasionally marred by unclear writing and the not always in sync direction of McGregor. Most of the time the “fantasy” sequences are clearly delineated by changes in the set design by Clint Ramos & Ryan Howell, with the TV studio lights and band disappearing from view. Other times the studio set is still in place during what is clearly a rage-filled fantasy in Cole’s mind. These rages are usually fueled by the appearance of Sammy Davis, Jr. who acts as the devil on Cole’s shoulder, encouraging his break with pleasing the white folks.
Dule Hill gives a commanding performance as Cole, looking and sounding like the star in his prime. Most of the singer’s big hits get some play, in full or in part, by either Hill or one of the many other fine singers in the cast. Gisela Adisa scorches the stage as the one and only Eartha Kitt while Ruby Lewis does a great job as both Betty Hutton and Peggy Lee. Daniel J. Watts is a dynamo as Davis and his tap dancing duel with Hill is the show’s highpoint. The writing gets heavy handed as the show progresses and could use some smoothing out. The direction also needs to be clarified. The performers are ready; give them the material to really sell this story.
“Is this how I’m going to go out?” American Negro singer Nat “King” Cole asks himself before performing for the final episode of his TV variety show after a makeup artist tries to apply cosmetics to lighten his skin.
This question and how Cole answers it forms the basis for the wild fantasy that’s Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole at the Geffen Playhouse, which recently debuted in the Gil Cates Theater and runs until March 24. As Cole, Dulé Hill [NBC’s The West Wing, USA Network’s Psych] can sing and dance, which Psych fans already know, though he doesn’t come close to matching Cole’s smooth, crooning voice.
This harsh show business fantasy has eye-popping visuals, gimmicks and plot turns that keep the audience paying attention. It’s more modern social commentary than nostalgic performance evoking an American icon.
Indeed, playwrights Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor cast Cole as repressing or suppressing his inner rage as he prepares for the last broadcast of his variety show [Cole was TV’s first black host]. Integrally, the 90-minute show revolves around tormented Cole as he ponders advice from pal Sammy Davis, Jr. [Daniel J. Watts] to “go out with a bang.”
With raw, inventive staging and lighting that mocks or challenges the audience, depending upon one’s perspective, the entertainer who broke the color barrier on television experiences his moral dilemma through song. Most of the Nat “King” Cole classics are performed, often with cutting tie-ins to racism and other cultural points, as an elfin Davis pops in and out of the show.
The climax comes with a tap dance-off between Hill’s Cole and Watts’ Davis, with choreography by Jared Grimes that requires more stomping and pounding than tap dance of the day. This, too, is part of the playwrights’ contention that beneath the lightness of song and dance men like the marvelously talented Nat “King” Cole and Sammy Davis, Jr., there must’ve been real pain and suffering. Lights Out provokes the audience to think about that and, though the show doesn’t match its mania with substantial dramatic scenes, there’s a sense in which its catharsis earns Cole’s happier song.
What is the best Nat King Cole LP?
All can be found at Spotify or at Amazon:.
Just One of Those Things [1957] is hands down Cole's finest album. ... .
Let's Face the Music and Dance [1964] was arranged by Billy May. ... .
The Piano Style of Nat King Cole [1956] features Cole at the piano backed by an orchestra arranged by Nelson Riddle..
Was Nat King Cole good?
He started out playing jazz piano, and he was one of the best. His trio — piano, bass and guitar — turned rhythm and melody into a seamless mix. For that alone, we would celebrate Nat King Cole. But what defined his greatness, and his groundbreaking success, wasn't his playing.
What happened to Nat King Cole?
Nat “King” Cole, 45, world-renowned singer and jazz pianist, died in his sleep at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica early Monday, three weeks after he had undergone surgery for removal of a cancerous left lung.
How did Nat King Cole make a difference?
He regularly performed for civil rights organizations. From 1956 to 1957, he hosted the NBC variety series The Nat King Cole Show, which became the first nationally broadcast television show hosted by an African American.