'Saturday Church' Off-Broadway review — new musical spreads the gospel of joy and belonging
Read our review of Saturday Church off Broadway, a new musical adaptation of Damon Cardasis's 2017 indie film now running at New York Theatre Workshop.
Sentiment can only get you so far in art or theatre. For the new musical Saturday Church, adapted from Damon Cardasis's 2017 film and directed by Whitney White, sentiment gets it a little more than halfway. It tells a charming story of families chosen and given, self-acceptance, and resilience, soundtracked by perfectly serviceable music, and the effects of all of it will probably drift from your mind a few days later. There's little soul-saving or spirit-stirring here, but a decent amount of head-bobbing and foot-tapping, which is something.
The show follows the coming of age of Ulysses (Bryson Battle), a queer teenager who finds solace from bullying and repression at Saturday Church, a quasi-utopia for outsiders led by house mother Ebony (B Noel Thomas). Saturday Church begins with Black Jesus (J. Harrison Ghee) proclaiming to the audience, “You’re about to have the time of your life...can I show y’all what collective love looks like?” That the show falls short of this promise feels due to a tension between fidelity to the film’s paint-by-numbers plot and themes and a desire to color outside its lines by building out side characters like Dijon and Heaven, Ebony’s companions. There’s a feeling that Saturday Church holds itself back from too much emotion or excitement, always simmering but never reaching a rolling boil.
Perhaps that has somewhat to do with the score by Sia, the pop songstress behind hits like “Chandelier” and Rihanna's "Diamonds." Her music certainly has an exciting, even ethereal and operatic quality. But it doesn't exactly have a Black church flavor. She is an impressive mimic when doing pastiche of gospel or funk in Saturday Church, as in tracks like “Sunday” or the Boyz II Men-styled “Die 4 U,” but they all carry an unmistakable sonic whiff of “Titanium,” with generic lyrics. However soaring those songs get, they feel a little out of place (and a little out of range for Battle). However, Honey Dijon, credited with additional music, provides some solid beats.
All this bears the marks of a show that repeatedly inches close to excellence without ever arriving. Cardasis and James Ijames imbue their script with buoyant humor, and Saturday Church tends to work better with less music and more jokes (and more vogueing) that illustrate the intimacy between its community members.
A little too much time is spent with characters who hand-wring over Ulysses’s “flamboyancy,” like his Aunt Rose (Joaquina Kalukango) and their pastor (also Ghee). While the narrative calls for the reconciliation between these two parts of Ulysses’s life, the world of the queer and trans characters is more compelling, especially when there’s room for them to chill and not necessarily move the plot forward. In particular, Thomas as Ebony, Caleb Quezon as Dijon, and Anania as Heaven inject a goofy and sweet adrenaline to the proceedings.
Saturday Church’s heart is in the right place, but its conventionality overpowers the serene joy that comes with just being around your people.
Saturday Church summary
After the death of his father, teenage Ulysses is left under the watchful gaze of his Aunt Rose while his mother works to keep food on the table. He’s bullied and ostracized at school, and his aunt's homophobia leads her to keep him out of the church choir. With nowhere to turn, he finds Raymond (Jackson Kanawha Perry), a cool and unusually welcoming presence who invites him to Saturday Church, a safe haven for queer, trans, and homeless youth. But that haven is also hanging by a thread, as its house mother Ebony deals with her own grief over the passing of her lover.
Ulysses discovers a new part of himself but still feels the pull of his blood family, forcing him to confront who he is, what he wants, and how he makes himself seen to the people in his life.
What to expect at Saturday Church
Adam Honoré’s lighting and David Zinn's scenic design, featuring simple but effective moving platforms and benches painted in Prince purple, are highlights of the production, at once minimalist but fully capable of crafting a specific universe and mood throughout the show. The design effortlessly places you in Ulysses’s home, the church basement, and the angelic vogueing space.
What audiences are saying about Saturday Church
Saturday Church currently has a 68% audience approval rating on the review aggregator Show-Score, with theatregoers sharing mixed responses to the script, songs, and performances.
- “Saturday Church’s pleasure is in the queer ballroom culture - the drag, the movies, the party. The cast is energetic. We have some strong voices singing Sia's lovely but unremarkable songs. The plot is oh-so basic and not particularly fresh, though it does deliver the feels.” - Show-Score user aka
- “A deeply bland, ineffective adaptation of a much better movie. The book and score just don't work, and while some of the cast is exceptionally talented, it's just not enough.” - Show-Score user Jim DM
- “I saw the potential in the imperfect movie version. [...] The musical has an uneven book, but the music was the best part. Overall, Saturday Church was a major letdown!” - Show-Score user mewantbroadway
- "This is really lovely about a young man trying to grow up & be his true self despite some religious demands. You've seen the story before but so what? Right now we all need the joy that this show provides!" - Show-Score user Bobby Baby
Read more audience reviews of Saturday Church on Show-Score.
Who should see Saturday Church
- Fans of Damon Cardasis’s original 2017 film will be intrigued to see how it makes the lead from screen to stage.
- B Noel Thomas, Michael Samarie George, Caleb Quezon, and Anania give terrific, naturally sharp, and expressive performances that will have audiences snapping their fingers.
- Sia fans will be entertained by the pastiche and some solid tracks along the way, like “House on Fire.”
Learn more about Saturday Church
Saturday Church seeks to stir the soul, and while elements are undeniably moving, the show — with a flabby book and music that struggles to belong to the piece — never reaches transcendence.
Photo credit: Saturday Church off Broadway. (Photos by Marc J. Franklin)
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