Theater review: “His Eye is on the Sparrow”

One of the less depressing anecdotes Ethel Waters shares in “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” a one-woman show about the legendary singer and actress (1896-1977), concerns her breakthrough in the 1939 Broadway drama “Mamba’s Daughters.”

As thousands cheered, so to speak, New York Times theater critic Brooks Atkinson panned the play and Waters’ performance. There was such an outpouring of support from the Broadway community — several big stars took out a full-page ad and signed their names to an open letter praising Waters — that Atkinson ended up going back and reviewing the show a second time.

Take it from another critic: It must be nice to have that luxury. Director Gary Yates’ Theatre in the Square staging of “Sparrow” features Bernardine Mitchell, whose incomparable singing voice may be the only recommendation the show needs. In resonant renditions of such Waters hits as “Dinah,” “Black and Blue” and “Stormy Weather,” she enthralls.

Based solely on her opening-night performance, however, Mitchell’s tentative grasp on all of her dialogue kept the character from being very emotionally involving. (I can only review what I saw, but given her standing as one of Atlanta’s pre-eminent veterans, no doubt this particular issue of memorization has already corrected itself.)

There are other problems with the show, as written and conceived by Larry Parr. As a solo piece recounting the ups and downs of Waters’ long life, the structure is necessarily sketchy, but at times it’s overly obvious and forced. After a failed first marriage (at 14), Waters meets a new man — cue her song “Taking a Chance on Love.” Eventually, she must choose between her second marriage and her career — cue “Am I Blue?”

Some of Parr’s biographical details are sketchy, too. For all we hear about those two unhappy divorces, there’s nary a mention of her third marriage to bandleader Ed Mallory, which lasted some 40 years. And if you mainly know Waters for her most famous role in “The Member of the Wedding,” you could be disappointed that it’s dismissed in one fleeting reference.

When she isn’t struggling with her lines, Mitchell establishes a warm rapport with the audience that often belies or sugarcoats Waters’ “lonely, discouraged, troubled” nature and her reputation for being temperamental and difficult to work with. Moments of anger and rage, mostly dealing with the racial injustices she faced, develop suddenly as opposed to organically, and Mitchell tends to overact them.

It doesn’t help that Yates periodically incorporates synthesized mood music to underscore especially melodramatic scenes. Or that he equips Mitchell with a body mic (when she shouts, she SHOUTS) — an odd move considering the intimacy of the Marietta venue, the natural power of her voice, and the fact that she’s accompanied only on piano by music director S. Renee Clark.

Theater review

“His Eye is on the Sparrow”

Grade: C

Through May 30. 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sundays. $22-$33. Theatre in the Square, 11 Whitlock Ave. in Marietta. 770-422-8369. theatreinthesquare.com.