Teddy Pendergrass did more than sing R&B as well as anyone. He seduced every woman in the audience with renditions of such tunes as "Close the Door" and "Turn Off the Lights."
Pendergrass himself can't work that magic anymore. In the early 1980s, at the height of his musical powers, he became paralyzed from the chest down in a terrible car accident.
But the Black Ensemble Theatre of Chicago is giving us the next best thing, presenting Jackie Taylor's I Am Who I Am: The Teddy Pendergrass Story. The show, a highlight of the National Black Theatre Festival, opened last night in Williams Auditorium at Winston-Salem State University.
In Pendergrass, we experience the warts-and-all milestones of Pendergrass' story in a way that leaves plenty of room for performing by the Younger Teddy (Rashawn Thompson) and the Mature Teddy (Kevin McIlvaine), who also occasionally provides pithy commentary from a wheelchair.
We learn how Pendergrass became a solo artist and how he dealt with women, be they real lovers or fans overcome with fantasy. We are introduced to his stalwart and God-fearing mother, Ida (Rhonda Preston).
In Mature Teddy, the one in the wheelchair, we meet a man who has accepted some very hard knocks and gotten on with his life as best he can. He can also be quite funny -- especially in comments about his condition and the sometimes-inane questions it provokes.
One last note: Don't be surprised if women, overcome with rapture, rush to the stage as they did Thursday night to give one of the Teddys a kiss.
■ Ken Keuffel can be reached at 727-7337 or at kkeuffel@wsjournal.com.
■ The Black Ensemble Theatre will present I Am Who I Am: The Teddy Pendergrass Story at 8 p.m. today, and at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday in Williams Auditorium at Winston-Salem State University. Tickets, $42, are available at the box office at the Benton Convention Center and at the theater before the show.
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