In theatrical terms, "kitchen sink" refers to dramas of social realism in which angry young men and women work out their frustrations. Then there's the other "kitchen sink," as in "everything but the." Both definitions fit "Tearing Down the Walls," Daniel Beaty's musical about gentrification, sex, friendship, religion, and poetry. It's a heady, energetic, but unwieldy mix.
Beaty, who won an Obie for his solo play "Emergence-See!," juxtaposes two somewhat parallel tales, linked by the character Renee, a virginal, religious would-be poetess with swinging girlfriends and a job at a mortgage company. Her pals ply her with drink one night, leading to her letting Tyson, a studly construction worker she met on the subway, tear down the walls of her virginity, with near-dire consequences.
She's also wooed by Dennis, the nerdy but nice mortgage company owner, who has his hands full with longtime tenants being shoved out of their apartments by rising real estate values. One client is the woeful, amusingly sassy Mrs. Rogers, who, when not playing matchmaker for Dennis and Renee, makes speeches about the legacy of famous Harlem Renaissance figures like Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes.
In the hymnlike "Harlem, Will You Let Me Stay?," Mrs. Rogers, who's lived through everything from poverty to crack cocaine, pleads for remembering "ancestral roots" and working together to rebuild torn-down walls. That Mrs. Rogers is a manifestation of a character called Angel Unaware, a guardian "leading us to our destiny," underscores the message. Meanwhile, Renee visits her Alzheimer's-stricken grandmother in a poignant nursing-home scene in which the younger woman recalls her violent childhood and tries to reconcile her spiritual and physical desires.
Tough friend Rhonda's in-your-face song, "I Kick Ass," is self-explanatory. The admittedly sex-obsessed Jessica, another pal, runs a poetry café, where the conflicted Renee finally has the courage to read one of her poems: "I am God's poetry/I choose life/I choose me."
It's a full meal, all right, and it had the capacity audience whooping it up with joy and empathy. Beaty's sprightly book and lyrics are complemented by catchy pop-to-gospel music written by Beaty, Charles Mack, and Jamal Joseph. Playing in front of Bryan Collier's colorful projections, the cast, under Beaty's lively direction, is as enthusiastic as the audience.
Umi Shakti is a warm Renee, with Dietrice A. Bolden a roof-raising Rhonda. As Jessica, Kelechi Ezie skillfully integrates nice and naughty, while Jevon McFerrin is wonderful as Dennis, who bursts into a hilarious moonwalk. Rumando Kelley is the muscular Tyson, whose sexy solo-in-a-Speedo sets hormones racing. As Angel Unaware, Mrs. Rogers, and the grandmother, the versatile Adrienne C. Moore dominates her every scene.
"Tearing Down the Walls" is a graceful look at what was and what might be. But its call to arms gets sidetracked in storylines that go every which way.
Presented by the Riverside Theatre, New Heritage Theatre Group, and WTG Productions at the Riverside Theatre, 91 Claremont Ave., NYC. May 12–29. Thu.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., 3 p.m. (212) 870-6784 or www.theriversidetheatre.org.