Episode 53: Disappointment leads to despair in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at The Goodman in Chicago

Set circa 1927 -- at the height of the Great Migration, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is rooted in personal trauma, systemic racism and economic exploitation. Ma Rainey is the leading artist of a struggling Chicago based blues label..Four of her backing musicians sitting in a rehearsal hall of the recording studio examine their lives while waiting for the prima donna to perform. In true blues tradition…