Harlem’s Heartbeat: The Character Soul of Blues for an Alabama Sky

On Oct. 23, the Spelman College Department of Theatre and Performance premiered its production of "Blues for an Alabama Sky", written by acclaimed playwright Pearl Cleage and directed by Associate Professor and actor Keith Arthur Bolden. The show marked the department’s first major fall performance, drawing crowds throughout the weekend for four powerful stagings.

Set in Harlem during the early 1930s, "Blues for an Alabama Sky" captures a Black community balancing dreams of artistic freedom against the harsh realities of the Great Depression. Once a vibrant detonation of creative and political energy, the Harlem Renaissance was fading under the weight of economic struggle. Cleage’s characters—Angel, Guy, Delia, Sam and Leland—live at this crossroads of art and survival, clinging to hope, love and the ongoing fight for liberation.

The heart of this play lies not only in its profound exploration of the social issues that plagued Black communities in the 1930s, but in the humanity of its characters, the individuals who embark on journeys toward Black American liberation, advocacy, and artistic expression.

Junior theater and performance major Nyla Miller embodies Angel Allen, the glamorous yet wounded nightclub singer whose charm conceals years of struggle. Angel is a dreamer who has learned to trade survival for beauty, and love for safety.

“The play doesn’t tell us everything about Angel’s past,” Miller said. “But we know she’s had to do a lot to take care of herself, including offering her body when she was younger, which is really hard, especially for a woman who doesn’t want to do that. So I think her version of freedom is being able to live her dream, to sing, to perform, without having to depend on her body for survival.”

Miller’s portrayal channels both the defiance and exhaustion of Black womanhood in the 1930s.

“At the end of the day, Angel is just a Black woman, and Black women’s stories aren’t that far apart,” she said. “We share that same experience of trying to make it in a world that doesn’t make it easy for us. Her vulnerability comes from that.”

Through Miller’s performance, Angel becomes a symbol of resilience, the artist who fights to be seen and loved on her own terms, even when the world insists she cannot.

Her complex and tragic journey reflects the immense cost of Black female autonomy in a world defined by patriarchy and racial prejudice. Miller’s impassioned portrayal of Angel’s relationships with men, her devotion to performance, and her evolving sense of womanhood reveals a profound understanding of what liberation truly meant for Black women.

In the 1930s, when access to safe and legal abortion was largely denied, the right to control one’s own body was a radical and often unattainable form of freedom, one that underscores the depth of Angel’s struggle for self-determination amid a society that sought to silence both her voice and her choices.

Junior theater performance major Elijah Powell brings to life Guy Jacobs, the flamboyant, sharp-witted costume designer who dreams of creating gowns for Josephine Baker in Paris. Guy’s artistry and queerness make him both liberated and marginalized, a badge of Harlem’s defiant creativity.

“To me, his dream of Paris is a sign of liberation, in the sense that his talents take him out of the situation he doesn’t want to be in,” Powell said. “It’s self-liberation. He’s showing up for himself and always being the advocate for his own dreams.”

Powell’s interpretation highlights Guy’s balance of elegance and endurance.

“I wanted the audience to believe in Guy and all that he set out for himself to do,” he said. “Even through turmoil and abuse, Guy still always saw the glass half full. People like Guy are powerful. They’re testaments to the strength of authenticity and how far being yourself can take you.”

Through Powell’s performance, Guy radiates joy amid oppression, proving that art itself can be an act of protest and survival.

First-year theater and performance major Madison Norwood steps into the quiet courage of Delia Patterson, a social worker and activist inspired by Harlem’s real-life women leaders. Delia’s journey, from timid idealist to confident advocate, mirrors the growth of Black feminism during the Depression era.

Norwood prepared extensively for the role, researching Harlem’s social movements and historical figures.

“Our dramaturge really helped me dive into that world,” she said. “Learning about what was going on, the culture, the activism, the Depression, that really fed into Delia’s feminism and her strength.”

Her connection to the character deepened through empathy and research.

“Delia gave me more confidence in using my voice,” Norwood said. “She’s an advocate who isn’t afraid to stand up for what she believes in. I wanted the audience to walk away understanding that even people who are strong can still be learning how to love, and that everyone deserves to be shown love.”

Through Norwood’s portrayal, Delia stands as a testament to faith, intellect, and the revolutionary power of tenderness.

Junior music major and theater minor Imari Welcher captures the charisma and compassion of Dr. Sam Thomas, Harlem’s moral anchor and voice of weary hope.

“Medicine is so much more than just the physical,” Welcher said. “Sam believes laughter and joy are medicine too. Even when the world feels heavy, he’s the one reminding everyone that good still exists.”

Welcher drew inspiration from his father, a Morehouse graduate and pastor.

“My dad’s always been this big ball of energy and joy, even when he’s tired,” he said. “That’s what I wanted to bring to Sam, someone who gives everything to others and still finds light in exhaustion.”

Welcher’s Sam becomes the emotional glue of the ensemble, the embodiment of community care. His portrayal reminds audiences that joy, too, can be a radical form of resistance and to “Let the good times roll!”

Senior cinema, television and emerging media studies major Jamal Spencer commands the stage as Leland Cunningham, the Southern newcomer whose faith and grief ignite tragedy. Leland’s traditionalism clashes with Harlem’s liberated spirit, making him both victim and perpetrator of his own pain and the suffering of others.

“Now, is Leland the villain? I don’t really see him that way. Yes, he says awful things, calling Guy an abomination, trying to control Angel, acting out violently,” Spencer said, “but to me, he’s not evil. He’s a man who’s broken, pushed to his limit.”

Spencer grounded his portrayal in empathy and realism.

“Leland’s obsession with Angel isn’t just love, it’s grief disguised as love,” he said. “He does bad things, but he isn’t evil. He’s human, deeply flawed, deeply wounded.”

Spencer emphasized that the audience should leave the theater hating what Leland did, disagreeing with his beliefs and his bigotry toward characters such as Angel and Guy, while still understanding where his belief system is born.

This comprehension allows the audience to question their own upbringing and moral framework before it not only diminishes their spirit and humanity but quite literally destroys the lives of others. Through Spencer’s layered performance, Leland emerges as a haunting study of toxic masculinity, faith and loss, a reflection of how unhealed trauma can distort love and evolve into a hunger for power, control and revenge.

"Blues for an Alabama Sky" is a mirror held up to Black history, resilience, and the unyielding pursuit of freedom. Through each character, Spelman and Morehouse students reimagined the Harlem Renaissance not as a distant era but as an ongoing dialogue between art and activism.

Cleage’s story endures because it refuses to separate beauty from struggle. Harlem’s heartbeat, the rhythm of love, loss, and liberation, echoes through these performances, reminding us that even amid despair, creation is resistance, and hope is its own kind of freedom.