What does it mean to be a Black woman with darkly toned skin? What does it mean to be non-binary, queer, polyamorous, sober? What are the stories behind the stories? Where do they begin and where do they end?
For two Philadelphia Fringe artists, the stories can be told through music, wrapped up in songs from two of the greatest female artists of our time – Nina Simone and Amy Winehouse.
Karen Moore’s solo film, spoken word, live storytelling and poetry show, “Kindled by Nina,” is inspired by Nina Simone’s song, “Four Women,” about four Black women and what they’ve faced and how they’ve endured.
The other show, “You Know I’m Good,” stars the performer Patti LuStoned, using their character’s name from the show. It’s a burlesque, live band cabaret with songs and stories built around Amy Winehouse’s iconic “Back to Black” album and its title song.
While “Kindled by Nina” is a solo show, “You Know I’m Good” comes from The Bards Theatre Group, a queer musical collective based in Philadelphia.
“I feel that music, in and of itself, is a vehicle for change,” Moore said. “It’s a vehicle to have an anthem. When you listen to the lyrics and hear what the songwriter is conveying, music can drive a movement. It has the ability to change people’s perspective and can change their lives.
“Music is universal. It crosses all boundaries, it crosses color, it crosses ethnicity, so it’s a way that brings people together.”
“There is so much that is separating people,” said Moore, who lives in Germantown and is the founder of The Colour of Beautiful Media & Entertainment Group, “but if you can bring people together, they can experience it in a way that they no longer think about things that are separating us, but what has brought us together.”
Yes, and what also probably brings many of us together are screwed-up loves, betrayals and regrets.
“I talk about ex-boyfriends who did me dirty just like Amy talked about ex-boyfriends who did her dirty,” said LuStoned, who shows up in drag with purple hair, purple eyebrows and lots of glitter, bringing Broadway to Broad Street.
“I’m telling a story about my life and how it connects to Amy’s story. She loved sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.” And so does LuStoned. Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning at age 27. LuStoned, who grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and now lives in South Philly, has been sober for three years.
“The music is complicated and full of emotion. It’s got love and it’s got pain,” LuStoned said. Winehouse’s “Back to Black” song leans into her despair after her boyfriend returned to a previous lover, leading her on a path to depression.
But as serious as all that sounds – and it is – “I want them to have a good time,” LuStoned said. “I wanted to do something that people could sing along and dance in their seats.”
Women’s struggles
Moore wants people to understand the lasting impact of colorism in the Black community. Simone’s song and Moore’s “Kindled” both describe four women. The first is dark-skinned. The second says her skin is yellow, and her father was “rich and white. He forced my mother late one night.” She’s between two worlds. The third, named Sweet Thing, has hips that invite; she’ll be anybody’s baby at the right price. The fourth is bitter – her parents were slaves.
Moore said she has recrafted the fourth woman to be less bitter, and more strong, powerful and understanding of the different, yet difficult, struggles that Black males also face.
In the Black community, Moore said, “there remains a preference for lighter skin over darker skin.”
Moore said she was always singing the blues, metaphorically, about her experiences as a dark-skinned Black woman. Then, “my biological sister, who happens to be light-skinned, let me know that light-skinned women also have the blues. My sister’s piece was that she was too dark to be white, too light to be Black.”
Moore hopes that the people who aren’t Black will gain an understanding of colorism.
As for Black women in the audience, Moore quotes Simone’s answer to a question about freedom. Simone, she said, described freedom as life without fear.
Moore’s work “is addressing some of the fears of who we are as Black women and making sure we understand one together,” she said. “Not having the whole idea of separation – you live in a different neighborhood, have a different skin color, have a different job.
“We are still Black women and we have to communicate with each other, so we can move ahead as a group, especially with what is happening in the country right now.”
FYI
“Kindled by Nina,” by Karen Moore from the Cannonball hub of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, 6 p.m. Sept. 7, and 7 p.m. Sept. 9, at the Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks St., Phila. Pay what you can.
“You Know I’m Good,” from The Bards Theatre Troupe, 8 p.m. Sept. 11. (The 8 p.m. Sept. 7 show is sold out, but there may be room to squeeze in). An online version will be available about a week after the Sept. 11 show. Sawubona Creativity Project, 1626 E. Passyunk Ave. #1, Phila. Donations requested.
