REVIEW: “Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Thru the Cotton Patch”

Leslie Odom, Jr is now starring in “Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Thru the Cotton Patch” at the Music Box Theater. Comedy written by Ossie Davis and originally produced on Broadway in 1961 w/ his wife Ruby Dee in one of the lead roles.

Heading the strong cast, Odom plays Purlie, a charismatic, conniving preacher trying to finagle Ol’ Cap’n Cochipee out of $500 to rebuild his church. The Broadway veteran Jay O. Sanders plays Cotchipee, a dumb racist who’s the biggest man in the Georgia town, and Kara Young is Lullabelle, Purlie’s accessory in trying to get the cash. Kenny Leon, the go-to director for black-oriented plays, stages the show with the promised over-the-top broadness.

The great physical comedy, especially Young’s loose-limbed walk, does make it something of a romp, but Ossie Davis, who was a civil rights activist and set the play “in the recent past,” had more serious things in mind. Some are certainly relevant, but unlikely to change anyone’s minds. At the end of the day, it’s Leslie Odom who’s victorious with a winning performance that makes him one of Broadway’s most appealing leading men.

photo by Marc J. Franklin