‘I’ll Be Damned If…’ @ Jubilee Theatre
Promo photos by LeightVision Photography
—Jan Farrington
Dallas-based playwright Cherié M. Williams (At A Girl Pearl!, a one-woman show about Pearl Bailey) scores again at Jubilee Theatre with I’ll Be Damned If… — a world premiere treatment of the life of Black showgirl, beauty entrepreneur and humanitarian Ms. Carlean Gill—whose name wasn’t familiar to me (I graduated high school about the time Black history finally got into the textbooks). But the name clearly rang a bell for many in the Jubilee audience around me, and I was happy to meet the lady in the form of a favorite actress, Sydney Hewitt, who takes us with Carlean (or “Carly” as some friends called her) through the decades.
Too often, it’s easy to think we’ve “discovered” all the interesting people — the strivers, the firsts, the doing-well-and-doing-good folks of the past. Carlean Gill was (and is!) one of them, and I was glad to get to know her in this time-jumping play that takes us from early days in Michigan, adventures as a performer (at the famed Idlewild Resort), a life-changing romance, and her reinvention as a beauty/cosmetics guru and a world-traveling humanitarian. Ms. Gill lives in Dallas.
In the decades before civil rights laws, glitzy Idlewild (think Dirty Dancing without white people) drew Black crowds from cities such as Chicago and Detroit for top-tier entertainment. In Idlewild, Black families could spend an idyllic summer, own property, and get away from the Jim Crow America of the world beyond these woods.
Among those who headlined the Idlewild Revue were Sammy Davis Jr., Etta James, Stevie Wonder, Della Reese, Sarah Vaughan, B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, the Four Tops, and Jackie Wilson. Four elegant showgirls were “Fiesta Dolls” who wove their way through the shows — and for six years, Carlean Gill was one of them.
Director Calvin J. Walker notes that he is drawn to “complicated Black lives…and the spaces where humor and humanity collide.” Williams’ I’ll Be Damned If… has both those elements in abundance, and Walker’s direction keeps this rather talky play feeling energetic and full of both motion and emotion, with the help of assistant director Melody A. Walker and stage manager Olivia Dickerson.
Especially effective is the warm, sassy, sometimes argumentative relationship Carlean has with her friends and co-performers. Hewitt is timid and jittery in scenes of her pre-showgirl years, first audition, etc.—and friends Eddie (Siara Obasuyi) and Margurita (Mikaya Martin) push and prod her to be brave, to follow the dreams she can hardly speak of out loud. All three give fine, distinct performances: Eddie is the rock-solid BFF, while Margurita is more manipulative and self-dealing — and caring when she wants to be.
Both men in Gill’s life, showman/producer Arthur Braggs (Calvin Gabriel) and horse trainer/hometown boy James Jackson (Johnny Jordan Jr.) are (and how rare is this in show-biz stories?) genuinely great guys, and the two actors are warm and charming in very different styles. Lucky in love, Carlean—and in other things, too, as she learns to use her drive and talents in unexpected ways.
Deontay Roaf is loving — and smart about life — as Gill’s mother Elise, and two fairly brief dancing roles (well done by Kayla Marshall as Donna/Inez and Matt John West as Ziggy) make a lasting impression. There isn’t much time spent on choreography, but the moves Kiandra Brooks comes up with for those moments is choice. The show is billed as a musical, but though there are songs and bursts of dance, I’ll Be Damned If… would benefit from adding more in future productions. Let us see, hear, and taste more of the club-and-revue part of Gill’s life.
Gabrielle Marbrough’s wide, multi-space set design allows for quick changes of scene and time, helped by a much-used yellow-gold curtain that draws across Gill’s cozy and timeless “home” (scenic painting by Pella Lafever). Nikki DeShea Smith’s lights effectively shift atmospherics, and Rayven Harris’ sound is clear as anything—though song volume needed an upward boost. And Kiera Powers’ costumes (with special applause for the bejeweled and feathery headwear) evoked the everyday and “showtime” wear of the mid-century.t
Sydney Hewitt’s portrayal spans decades, but her layered and elastic performance covers the ground very well. Though time clearly passes, she has the aura of a woman who looks like “herself” over the years—only more so as success and experience widen her vision of what she can accomplish in the world. She’s learned some lessons, and how to put them to work.
“The moment at hand is the only thing we ever own,” says Gill in the play. But from the start, she was moving forward, fitting those fleeting moments together, making a life — and holding on to her dreams, even in a world that didn’t always seem ready. But give up? Fit in? Settle? Carlean Gill, she’d “be damned” if she’d let anything stop her.
WHEN: October 2-25, 2026
WHERE: 506 Main Street, Fort Worth
WEB: jubileetheatre.org
