Two shows with extremely short runs are gracing New Jersey stages right now. The first is A Beat of Our Own, a musical about competing teams dancing to the rhythms of Bhangra. The other is Effa Loves Baseball, a play about the first woman inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Both have their attractions, and both give glimpses into minority communities in the United States.
A Beat of Our Own, with a book by Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew and score by Sam Willmott, tackles young adults’ search for identity and authenticity by means of two conflicting Bhangra teams from one school heading toward a national competition. One team is run by Preeti [Tara Venkataraman], who insists on her team’s return to authentic Bhangra as she defines it. The other is led by Mary [Salina Qureshi], whose Indian mother performed classical dances of the sub-continent. Mary is shaken by Preeti’s condescending comments that she is not Indian enough to have opinions on Bhangra performance styles. Mary, whose father is white, finds herself worn down by having others try to label her as one race or another and judge her worth accordingly.
Outstanding performances are given by Qureshi and Venkataraman, with able support by J. Antonio Rodriguez as Billy, Mary’s shy suitor; Rohit B. Gopal as Amit, titular head of Preeti’s team; and Sohm Kapila as Rekha, the worldly-wise restaurateur who was a star in Indian musicals. Comic turns are provided by Aathaven Tharmarajah as Just Bob, a fifth-year student, and Aliyah Jacobs as New Mary, Mary’s replacement, both on Preeti’s team; and Laura Dadap, Mikey Corey Hassel, Benjamin Howes, Elliot Lazar, and Sushma Saha as misfit members of Mary’s team.
A Beat of Our Own, while being a teen angst story, has a lively musical beat that got the whole audience moving at the performance I attended [myself included]. If you’re curious about the Bhangra dance movement or are already a fan of the art, you’ll have one hell of a good time at A Beat of Our Own!
Effa Loves Baseball focuses on the career of Effa Manley [Kerry Warren], who with her husband Abe [Greg Alverez Reid] owned and ran the Newark Eagles team in the Negro League during the 1940s. We follow the infatigable Effa through negotiations with Larry Doby [Grand Kennedy Lewis], a rookie who becomes one of the stars of the Negro League; Biz Mackey [DeShawn Harold Mitchell], the irascible manager of the Eagles; and Bill Veeck [David Andrew Morton], with whom Effa negotiates Doby’s move into Veeck’s Cleveland Indians, breaking the color barrier in the American League.
Pia Wilson’s one-act play makes a decent presentation of the high points of Effa’s career, culminating in the Eagles’ win of the 1946 Negro League World Series. Effa’s obvious love for Abe, who was wise enough to let Effa run the team and not stand in her way, is also presented. Kerry Warren’s performance is solid, and she sells Effa’s story with style. However, there is so much more to Effa Manley’s life and career than can be told in this one-act play.
There is a solid germ of a story in Effa Loves Baseball. This is one of those plays that I think needs to be expanded into a second act to fully bring out all the facets of Effa Manley’s trailblazing life. I look forward to seeing playwright Wilson expand on what she has here. Effa deserves it.
A Beat of Our Own is performed at the Matthews Theatre in the McCarter Theatre Center at Princeton University through Oct. 25. For more information or to get tickets, go to mccarter.org.
Effa Loves Baseball is presented by Premiere Stages at the Enlow Recital Hall on the campus of Kean University in Hillside through Oct. 25. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to premierestagesatkean.com.
