Keith Glover, the talented writer of “Thunder Knocking on the Door,” must be tired of hearing himself described as an artist of great “potential,” but on the basis of his enterprising “bluesical,” which he has also directed for Northlight Theatre, “potential” is the operative word for his work.
He has a gift for language, as the rich down-home Alabama dialogue of his play resoundingly indicates, and in the story of Marvel Thunder, the sly imp/troll who comes knocking on the door of a blues-playing family, he has a fashioned a rollicking modern myth that works well for a musical.
Keb’ Mo’, the bluesman who wrote most of the 13 songs in the show (Glover and Anderson Edwards contributed the rest), has further hopped up the story with several soulful numbers, which are played to the hilt by the three-man band of Edwards, Steve Ditzell and Rodney Harper. And the wired-for-sound five-person cast puts its all into the singing, dancing, harmonica playing and miming of guitar licks that the script requires.
Yet, for all the sound and energy unleashed, and despite the tiresome old device of having the actors encourage the audience to clap their hands in time with the music, “Thunder” only booms in fits and starts.
It starts promisingly, with the cocky young Jaguar Dupree coming home to his blind twin sister, Glory; his mother, Good Sister; and her suitor, Dregster, with the unhappy news that he has lost one of two precious guitars, bequeathed the twins by their late father, in a contest with a devilish “shape-shifter” magic man named Marvel Thunder.
No sooner does this news sink in than the blue-eyed, white-suited Thunder himself comes strutting down the curved blue ramp that dominates designer Todd Rosenthal’s fanciful setting. He has a fresh challenge, this time for Glory, and if she beats him playing her guitar, Thunder says, he’ll restore her sight for good.
The big guitar duel of the second act provides the opportunity for some heated bluesmaking, and the show ends with the glow of true love, plus a good, quick kick of humor. But before that ending, the staging and the story slow to a crawl, and the funky ’60s struts created by choreographer Eva D. revert to repetitive funky chicken and mashed potato stuff.
Tab Baker, as the jaunty Jaguar, has the most sensational routine in his rousing “Big Money,” a number through which he leaps and flips and ends with a split.
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“Thunder Knocking on the Door”
When: Through Oct. 19
Where: Northlight Theatre, 9501 N. Skokie Blvd., Skokie
Phone: 847-673-6300
