‘Blooming in Dry Season’ brings calypso and Grenada village life to Manhattan stage

NEW YORK, United States. A musical now playing near Broadway and West 76th Street in Manhattan captures many of the vibrant qualities associated with the Caribbean island of Grenada.

“Blooming in Dry Season”, staged at WP Theater, celebrates the lifelong dedication to quality theatre of Woody King Jr, founder and director of the New Federal Theatre. Mr King died before the play’s debut in May, but his artistic vision runs through the family-friendly production.

A rum shop by the sea

Audiences are transported to a seaside fishing village on the island. Scenic designers Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay create a rum shop, the kind of neighbourhood gathering place where villagers meet and do business.

The shop is run by Rose, played by Melanie Matthews, and it is there that the drama unfolds.

Rose’s daughter Garland, an ambitious teenager played by Nikyla Boxley, embodies old-school Grenada, where children traditionally pursued ambitions that honoured their parents’ wishes. But Garland, as written by playwright Eljon Wardally, goes against the grain and chooses to play the tenor pan, a path her father never managed to conquer.

A father’s regrets

The three-member ensemble also features Brian Richardson as Fitz, a regretful musician whose dream of acclaim in the national calypso arena never materialised. Determined to steer his daughter away from the dream he once pursued, he relentlessly tries to dissuade her.

Calypso infuses nearly every line, and the way the story unfolds feels like music to the ears.

Directed by Jackie Alexander, the comedic musical drama offers authentic and effortless entertainment, and the intimate theatre creates the kind of communal comfort audiences have praised. Lighting is designed by Antoinette Tynes.

What truly strikes a chord is the calypso that permeates the production, and the cadence and authenticity of the performers.

The short run closes at the end of the month.