Singer/actress Felicia P. Fields celebrates her passion for blues in 'Pearl's Rollin' With The Blues' at Writers Theatre

“Pearl's Rollin' With the Blues: A Night With Felicia P. Fields” - ★ ★ ★

In her heart, Felicia P. Fields is a blues woman.

A veteran of Marriott, Drury Lane, Northlight, Goodman and Chicago Shakespeare theaters, among others, the Joseph Jefferson Award-winning theater artist has spent decades on Chicago-area stages. In 2006, Fields earned a Tony Award-nomination for originating the role of Sofia in Broadway's “The Color Purple.”

But the premiere of the jubilant revue “Pearl's Rollin' With The Blues: A Night With Felicia P. Fields” - which she created with director Ron OJ Parson - suggests where her true passion lies. Indeed, it's evident in her expression, the way she carries herself and in the obvious relish she takes in belting out such standards as “Wang Dang Doodle,” “I'm a Man” (updated as “I'm a Woman”) and “Everyday I Have the Blues.”

A powerhouse singer whose shrewd, playful presence served her well as she bantered with the audience, Fields is enormously entertaining. And here, in a theater re-imagined as a blues lounge, she is in her natural element.

The show marks Fields' return to the Glencoe theater for the first time since 2019 when she co-starred in August Wilson's “Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,” also directed by Parson. Enthusiastic applause greeted her on opening night as she emerged upstage, dressed in a silver-sequined gown and a high-collared cape. She made her way to the center of set designer Jack Magaw's oyster-inspired bandstand, where she was surrounded by a top-notch quintet led by keyboardist Frank Menzies and featuring music director/guitarist Chic Street Man, trumpeter Ricardo Jimenez, bassist Julie Ponce and drummer Harold Morrison.

“We want to protect you from what's going on outside,” Fields announced to the crowd at the top of the 90-minute set featuring mostly blues standards paired with several Chic Street Man originals and gospel selections.

The show - whose title is inspired by Fields' middle name - begins on a rollicking note with Willie Dixon's party tune “Wang Dang Doodle,” which sets up several suggestive songs whose sexual innuendoes aren't especially subtle. Among the more tame offerings is Dixon's “Built for Comfort,” during which Fields croons “I'm built for comfort/I ain't built for speed.”

Several numbers later, in the joyful “Rough and Ready Man,” she describes her ideal partner - “a hardworking, no shirking, good and steady man” only to find her mojo isn't working. She laments the fact in a toe-tapping, head-bobbing version of “Got My Mojo Working,” punctuated by Jimenez's dazzling trumpet solo and interrupted several times by Fields, who used the number to engage with audience members seated at cafe tables near the stage about the state of their romantic relationships.

Muddy Waters' “I'm a Man” (revised by Fields as “I'm a Woman”) sparks a good-natured battle of the sexes that concludes with Fields' cheeky warning to her would-be romantic rival: “You can have my husband, but you better not mess with my man.”

More of a blues showcase than a primer, “Pearl's Rollin' With the Blues” offers us a glimpse into the soul of an artist, but only a glimpse. The final third of the show includes Fields' powerful version of Buddy Guy's “Skin Deep,” which reminds us “we all gotta be careful how we treat one another,” and her soulful “Lord I Tried,” an emotional mea culpa. This particularly touching section - during which Fields and her guitarist share personal stories reflecting on racism and social injustice - hints at the show's unrealized potential, specifically, the opportunity to know Fields - an iconic Chicago-area theater artist - more fully.

Those intimate, genuine moments draw us in, promising a deeper connection to the artist that at this point the show fails to deliver. Perhaps that's something Fields and Parson will explore the next time Pearl rolls with the blues. I'm betting that's a show this blues woman's fans would pay to see.

Location: Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, (847) 242-6000, writerstheatre.org

Showtimes: 3 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday through July 24

Tickets: $35-$90

Running time: About 90 minutes, no intermission

Parking: Street parking available

Rating: For teens and older, some mature subject matter

COVID-19 precautions: Masking required