Sarah Vaughn & Bessie Smith meet in the hereafter!!!

Sassy & Bessie - Alive at the Paradise Lounge

a new musical by Ericka Ovette

SYNOPSIS
A recently departed Sarah finds herself listening to a band and sipping a cocktail in the Paradise Lounge. As she wonders where she is and how she got there, the band plays Body and Soul. She recognizes the song and joins in with the band. There is a commotion at the entrance and in struts Bessie Smith singing Gimme a Pigfoot. Sassy recognizes Bessie, who explains that she’s been sent to help Sassy earn her “feather boa.” (Wings are for squares…)

But first Sassy has to figure out the lessons of her life on earth. Bessie encourages Sassy to talk about her life.

Sassy begins with her induction into the Earl Hines band, singing East of the Sun. Bessie responds with the story of her own first musical experiences and sings Young Woman Blues. Sassy then recalls the help and encouragement she received from other band members, and sings I Didn’t Know What Time It Was. The two singers compare their experiences in the racial climate of their times. Bessie describes with pride how she once faced the Klan down at an integrated show, and sings ’Tain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do.

Sassy tells of her romantic involvement with her manager, George Treadwell, who helped her develop from an awkward but talented young girl into the beautiful, sophisticated, and very successful Sarah Vaughan. She sings You’re Mine, You, and wistfully recounts how the romance—
and the business arrangements—went sour. Bessie commiserates, sharing her own troubles with Jack Gee, her husband and business manager. Bessie sings A Good Man Is Hard To Find. She then sings about the hard times after the crash of ’29 in Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.

OVERTURE: Tain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do / So Many Stars *
Body and Soul * Gimme a Pigfoot * Do Your Duty
East of the Sun * Young Woman’s Blues
I Didn’t Know What Time It Was * Tain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do
You’re Mine, You! * A Good Man is Hard to Find *
Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
There Are Such Things* Sophisticated Lady
I’ve Got the World on a String * Tea for Two
So Many Stars * Tea for Two (Reprise)
MUSIC FOR BOWS / EXIT MUSIC: East of the Sun /
Body and Soul

Starring:
ERICKA OVETTE as Sassy
RUBY HAYES as Bessie

Orchestra:
JERRY ALLEN - piano and all arrangements
CHUCK REDD - drums
MICHAEL BOWIE - bass
HERB SMITH - saxophone, flute and clarinet.
KENNY RITTENHOUSE - trumpet
PAUL PIEPER - guitar