Milwaukee Rep's 'Nina Simone: Four Women' dramatizes turning point in singer's life

One at a time, the women interrupt Nina Simone (Alexis J. Roston) as she tries to write words to a new song:

Meek, faith-filled Aunt Sarah (Gabrielle Lott-Rogers), wearing a maid's uniform. Light-skinned protest marcher Sephronia (UW-Milwaukee alum Toni Martin), covered with bruises. Blade-brandishing streetwalker Sweet Thing (Brittney Mack), strutting in a fur coat.

Furious at the murder of Medgar Evers and at the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four Black girls, Simone is trying to write a song that will shock and wake up her nightclub audiences. She wants her notes to be daggers.

But first she is going to getting an earful from her three visitors.

Christina Ham's "Nina Simone: Four Women" is a play with substantial music dramatizing Simone's decision to make her music a form of activism. Milwaukee native Malkia Stampley directs Milwaukee Repertory Theater's new production.

Watching "Four Women" in a Rep space, it's hard not to think about Ebenezer Scrooge, another character visited by three spirits. While Scrooge's ghosts pushed him to enlarge his heart, Simone's visitors lead her to deeper self-acceptance as a Black woman.

Each visitor objects in some way to what Simone is trying to do in the protest song that will become "Mississippi Goddamn," pushing Simone to stick to her imperative while also coming to terms with the survival strategies her three visitors represent.

Between the heated arguments, there's plenty of music. Roston, last seen here in 2021 performing Ella Fitzgerald's music in "First Lady of Song," has the chops to sing Simone's idiosyncratic melange of jazz, folk, blues and show tunes, as well as the force of personality for Simone's imperiousness and theatrical vocal style.

Lott-Rogers brings convincing depth and a powerful gospel-friendly voice to her portrayal of Aunt Sarah.

Many songs associated with Simone are in this show in some form, including "Four Women," the traditional "Sea Lion Woman," "Sinnerman" and "To Be Young, Gifted and Black." Some of my favorite moments are when three or four of the performers sing together. That's when they sound unstoppable.

Stampley co-music-directed with Matthew Harris, who appears on stage as Simone's silent brother Sam and accompanist. Marc Wayne choreographed movement.

Sensory note: Simone is so haunted by the church bombing that she periodically hears the explosion in her mind, something reflected on stage by loud percussive noise and dramatic light changes.

If you go

Milwaukee Repertory Theater performs "Nina Simone: Four Women" through May 12 at the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater. 108 E. Wells St. For tickets, visit milwaukeerep.com or call (414) 224-9490.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Rep's 'Nina Simone: Four Women' dramatizes turning point