Theater Review - This man is your man

Spoken or sung, all of the words in the Alliance Theatre’s Woody Guthrie’s American Song were written by the legendary folksinger. The show’s five actors alternate speaking in Guthrie’s voice, no matter what their sex or race, in a conceit that instantly conveys how Guthrie’s songs express the feelings and aspirations of Americans without regard to color or gender.

Adapted by Peter Glazer and directed by Susan V. Booth, American Song uses both classic and obscure Guthrie compositions to provide a kind of musical biography, focusing on his travels across the country. “Dust Storm Disaster” evokes the plight of Depression-era farmers, “Do Re Mi” dispels the image of California as a worker’s Garden of Eden and “New York Town” offers a sardonic salute to the nation’s largest city.

Supported by a five-piece band, the entire cast has stage presence and includes Bernadine Mitchell, Jahi Kearse and the strikingly versatile Rebekah Baty. Their styles don’t always mesh perfectly, however. Tom Key is clearly energized by the force of Guthrie’s ideas, but his intensity — and even decibel level — seems out of sync with the others.

The only non-Atlantan is Brian Gunter, a late addition who seems to channel the real Guthrie and becomes the most valuable player. In the extended second-act section on the singer’s Manhattan years, Gunter proves every inch the sly, streetcorner troubadour, tweaking New York for its faults and genially coaxing the audience to sing along.

With tune titles like “I Ain’t Got No Home” or “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” American Song is no feel-good revue of songs and dances, but comes across more like a grim but hopeful musical version of The Grapes of Wrath. And Guthrie wouldn’t have it any other way.

Woody Guthrie’s American Song plays through June 9 at the Alliance Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St., Tues.-Fri. at 8 p.m. Sat. at 2:30 and 8 p.m., Sun. 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. $21-$60. 404-733-5000.??