The Public Theatre in New York has been the birthplace of many groundbreaking musicals, among them Hair, Hamilton, and the legendary A Chorus Line. The next groundbreaking musical from the Public is Goddess, written and directed by Saheem Ali (with additions by James Ijames) and composer Michael Thurber.
Goddess mixes a story of family duty and a legend of love and honesty, setting it all in modern day Mombasa, Kenya. The intersecting musical influences that make up Kenya — Jazz, R&B, Taarab, Afrobeat, Pop, and Soul — underscore these stories. The infectiously rousing combination invites you to move, to dance, to lose yourself in the rhythms.
We first meet the GrioTrio (Melessie Clark, Teshomech Olenia, Awa Sal Secka), our guides through the story. They take us to Moto Moto, the last popular music and dance club in the city, where we meet cocky owner Madongo (Jason Bowen), bartender-manager Rashida (Arica Jackson), DJ and host Ahmed (Nick Rashad Burroughs), and star singer Nadira (Amber Iman).
Omari Tehmu (Austin Scott), scion of a leading political dynasty and son of the current Governor of Mombasa, stops in at Moto Moto on his return from the U.S. before he heads home. Ahmed and Rashida try to get him to play his sax with the band, but he demurs. Returning home, Omari is greeted by his ailing father Hassan (J. Paul Nicholas); mother Siti (Ayana George Jackson); and fiancee Cheche (Destinee Rea), all of whom are focused on Omari’s own run for Governor — and his wedding to Cheche, planned since their childhood.
The GrioTrio relates a story of the ancient gods. The goddess of evil, Watamaraka, is mother to the beautiful and pure-hearted Marimba. Watamaraka decrees Marimba will be the goddess of war, but Marimba wants to follow her own path. Mother sends daughter to oversee her first battle, but Marimba turns a soldier’s war bow into a stringed instrument.
The power of music brings peace to the warring factions. Marimba declares she will be the goddess of music, so Watamaraka imprisons her rebellious daughter. Taking human form, Marimba escapes, descending to earth to spread her gifts and learn about human love in her new identity as Nadira. But she remains inside Moto Moto where her back room lodgings offer protection from her mother.
Omari finds himself increasingly torn between his two worlds. His family and fiancee are fixed on running his campaign in their old style. His need to reach out to all of Mombasa’s people meets with barely-tolerated disdain. What he hides from them is his deep love of music and his deepening attraction to Nadira, who encourages his gift.
His father is of the opinion that Moto Moto is a den of sin and depravity and has forbidden Omari to return to the club. Omari sneaks back to get to know Nadira better, but is caught there by Cheche, who gives him an ultimatum: choose either Moto Moto and its clientele and staff, or her and his family and their political and matrimonial plans.
This theatrical season has been filled with performers in breakout roles. To that list of emerging stars, I add Amber Iman, last seen on the New York stage in Broadway’s Lempicka. Iman is a golden-throated treasure, a beautiful and talented singer-actress who is every inch a goddess while being simultaneously every inch a vibrant, beautiful, strong woman. It is her performance that is the heart and soul of Goddess, and she delivers with power and majesty. Several of her songs — “Honeysweet,” “Near You,” “What Is This Feeling,” “Nadira’s Aria” — reveal a talent and voice that rivals the legendary Dinah Washington. Hers is an artistry that deserves a larger stage, and one that I will be eager to follow.
Other outstanding musical numbers include “Mombasa, Mombasa,” and “Boom Boom,” both lively ensemble numbers set in Moto Moto; the lively, funny “It’s a Date,” sung by Nick Rashad Burroughs’ Ahmed and Arica Jackson’s Rashida; The GrioTrio’s scene-setting close harmony in “To Mombasa’s Other Side,” “To Mombasa’s Furthest Reach,” “The Home of a Seer,” and “The Fate of Madongo;” and Reggie D. White as the seer and mystic Balozi in the eerie “The Water Speaks.”
Arnulfo Maldonado has created a protean environment that is the setting for a (literally) underground nightclub, the sacred space where the seer Balozi speaks to the old gods, the Tehmu home, and the realm of the gods, among other places. Dede Ayite’s costumes are colorful and sensuous for the denizens of Mombasa, understated and elegant for the upper class Tehmu family. Julian Crouch has created the puppet figure of Watamaraka to be as frightening and powerful as the ancient goddess of evil herself.
Bradley King’s lighting design and Nevin Steinberg’s sound design bring life to the stage and to this musical. The onstage band, led by Music Director Paul Byssainthe Jr., skilfully embraces the energetic dances, comic numbers, and soulful ballads of Thurber’s score.
What more can I say? This legend brought to the stage of the Public Theater, this cast, this music, all combine to make Goddess a must-see show. I strongly recommend you get yourself downtown to the Public Theatre and make the acquaintance of this transcendent Goddess!
Goddess is presented by the Public Theater at their Newman Stage, 425 Lafayette St., in New York through June 8, 2025. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to publictheater.org.
