LACKAWANNA BLUES (TV)

Summary

This made-for-television production, based on Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s autobiographical off-Broadway play of the same name, tells of a young man growing up in Lackawanna, New York, in the early ‘60s and the eclectic residents he meets at the boarding house where they all stay. As the story opens, Ruben Jr. flashes back over highlights of his life upon getting a phone call that his surrogate mother, Rachel “Nanny” Crosby, is in bad shape at the hospital. Going to see her, he then recalls how Nanny held court at a 1956 party at her Lackawanna boarding house. There, Nanny warns the jealous Pauline not to make trouble when she sees her would-be beau Jimmy making time with another woman. Ruben Sr. runs into the party and announces that his wife Alean is about to give birth. Nanny delivers Ruben Jr. as violence breaks out at the boarding house: Pauline takes a straight razor to her rival. Now acting as narrator, Ruben Jr. states that Ruben Sr. and Alean broke up when he was two, also recalling how his mother – then a chambermaid at Nanny’s house – was angry to find him in Nanny’s room instead of her own. Bill Crosby, Nanny’s seventeen-years-younger husband, caters to Ruben Jr., though Nanny wants total control of Ruben Jr. while Alean is working. Ultimately, the boy is shuffled between Nanny and Alean until Alean is locked up for breaking into a store. Ruben Sr. wants to take custody of his son, particularly after Alean returns with her new boyfriend. As a squabble ensues, Ruben Jr. says he wants to stay with Nanny. Ultimately, Alean deserts Ruben Jr. Nanny takes in an increasingly odd series of boarders, all of whom amuse Ruben Jr. Nanny continues to drive to the South and transport needy individuals back to the boarding house. At nearby Maxie’s bar and grill, Nanny and most of the residents take part in a ‘40s dance as Ruben Jr. stays with the mysterious Mr. Paul, who tells tales about racial injustice focusing on the likes of Nat King Cole. Ultimately, Mr. Paul tells Ruben Jr. what led him to commit murder. The next morning, a drunken Bill returns to Nanny, saying he fell asleep at his sister’s house. Ruben Jr. awakens to hear Nanny accuse Bill of infidelity and tell him that he can no longer hurt her. After letting Ruben Jr. go fishing with Bill, Nanny demands to know how Ruben Jr. ended up in his underwear in a phone booth. Nanny finds out that Bill had an adulterous rendezvous, then drove off and left Ruben Jr. on a beach for having lost their fishing rods. Some time later, the boarding house is thrown into disarray when social workers Ulysses Ford and Mrs. Carmichael show up. Bill throws them out when they ask Ruben Jr. if he’d like to live somewhere else. Another potential crisis occurs when the abused Laura shows up with her children at Nanny’s in the middle of the night. Nanny threatens Laura’s husband Jesse when he comes to the house looking for Laura. Ultimately, Nanny unites Laura with her affluent mother. Back at home, Nanny tells Ruben Jr. about how she came to own the boarding house, as well as having had a daughter who died at three of pneumonia. Growing up, Ruben Jr. recalls the death of his father from a heart bypass, and how Alean tried to clean up her act but was gunned down in a drive-by. Ruben Jr. also tells how Nanny was diagnosed with breast cancer and that Bill died of lung cancer six months after Ruben Jr. graduated high school. He also notes the death of the black community in Lackawanna. Ending his reverie, Ruben Jr. finds himself coaxing Nanny back to health at her hospital bed. Ruben Jr. takes Nanny back to the boarding house, where she’s greeted by Pauline and the residents. Years later, Ruben Jr. looks at the ruins of the once-thriving Lackawanna and notes how the tales and characters that he encountered at the boarding house will stay with him forever.

Details

• NETWORK: HBO
• DATE: February 12, 2005 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:33:24
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:86645
• GENRE: Drama
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; African-American Collection - Drama
• SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 2005
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Ruben Santiago-Hudson … Executive Producer, Writer, Based on the play by
• Shelby Stone … Executive Producer
• Halle Berry … Executive Producer
• Vincent Cirrincione … Executive Producer
• Nellie Rachel Nugiel … Producer
• Jamie Venable … Visual Effects Producer
• George C. Wolfe … Director
• Meshell Ndegeocello … Music by
• Allen Cato … Music by
• Ken Robertson … Choreographer
• Fatine Robinson … Choreographer
• Neisha Folkes … Choreographer
• S. Epatha Merkerson … Cast, Rachel "Nanny" Crosby
• Marcus Carl Franklin … Cast, Ruben Santiago, Jr.
• Mos Def … Cast, Bandleader
• Carmen Ejogo … Cast, Alean
• Louis Gossett, Jr. … Cast, Ol'lem Taylor
• Macy Gray … Cast, Pauline
• Terrence Dashon Howard (See also: Terrence Howard) … Cast, Bill Crosby
• Ernie Hudson … Cast, Dick Barrymore
• Delroy Lindo … Cast, Mr. Lucious
• Rosie Perez … Cast, Bertha
• Ruben Santiago-Hudson … Cast, Freddie Cobbs
• Liev Schreiber … Cast, Ulysses Ford
• Jimmy Smits … Cast, Ruben Santiago, Sr.
• Patricia Wettig … Cast, Laura's Mother
• Charlayne Woodard … Cast, Bill's Woman
• Jeffrey Wright … Cast, Mr. Paul
• Omar Benjamin … Cast, Ruben Santiago, Jr. - toddler
• Julie Benz … Cast, Laura
• Robert Bradley … Cast, Otis McClanahan
• Thomas Jefferson Byrd … Cast, Numb Finger Pete
• Kathleen Chalfant … Cast, Mrs. Carmichael
• Byanca Godwin … Cast, Bill's Woman
• Hill Harper … Cast, Ruben Santiago, Jr. - adult
• Barry Shabaka Henley … Cast, Shakey Winfield
• Julanne Chidi Hill … Cast, Jimmy Lee's Woman
• Lou Myers … Cast, Ol' Po Carl
• Adina Porter … Cast, Ricky
• Henry Simmons … Cast, Jesse
• Michael Kenneth Williams … Cast, Jimmy
• Saul Williams … Cast, Lonnie
• Arista Pemberton … Cast, Fish Fry Guest
• Mohammad Parks … Cast, Fish Fry Guest
• Michelle Robinson … Cast, Fish Fry Guest
• Paula Brown … Cast, Fish Fry Guest
• Ron Kellum … Cast, Fish Fry Guest
• Neisha Folkes … Cast, Dancer at Maxie's
• Stevie Ray Anthony … Cast, Dancer at Maxie's
• Carmen Chavez … Cast, Dancer at Maxie's
• Ryan Francois … Cast, Dancer at Maxie's
• Aakomon Jones … Cast, Dancer at Maxie's
• Autumn Perry … Cast, Dancer at Maxie's
• Greg Poland … Cast, Dancer at Maxie's
• Indira Taylor … Cast, Dancer at Maxie's
• Eugene Lee … Cast, Nanny's Birthday Party Guest
• Ryan Michelle Bathe … Cast, Nanny's Birthday Party Guest
• Tracey Buckner … Cast, Nanny's Birthday Party Guest
• Roxanne Mayweather … Cast, Nanny's Birthday Party Guest
• Amead Jackson … Cast, Alean's Boyfriend
• Robert Tyus … Cast, Fish Sandwich Man
• J.B. Williams … Cast, Gambler
• Lily Santiago … Cast, Laura's Daughter
• Trey Santiago … Cast, Laura's Son
• Nat King Cole