A thrilling voice, a troubled life

You can't turn the life of someone who married seven times, was lethally addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs, and didn't take much guff from anyone (except her nasty mother) into a Cinderella tale.

So it's fortunate "Dinah Was," the bio-musical play about singer Dinah Washington, doesn't even try.

The show, having its local debut at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, portrays Washington as one hard-livin' gal. That she was — and a tremendous singer.

Early in her career, Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.) would slice and dice up a funky blues tune like nobody's business. But before her life was cut short in 1963 (she died at age 39, from a toxic mix of booze and diet pills), Washington made a then-usual leap from the R&B to the pop charts.

"Dinah Was," which was written by Oliver Goldstick and debuted Off Broadway in 1998, is crudely constructed as drama, with leisurely scenes that don't build on one another. But it can keep you invested when a charismatic entertainer like Seattle's Stephanie Hatley powers through Washington's rage, her profanity-laced humor and her songs.

Staged at Langston Hughes by Jacqueline Moscou, the play pivots around a defining true incident. The first black woman to headline on the Las Vegas Strip, Washington sweeps into the Sahara Hotel lobby swathed in mink — only to discover the management expects her to enter by the back door and sleep in a trailer instead of a guest room.

That racist treatment of black entertainers was still standard in 1959. But Washington fights back, staging a solo sit-in while hotel minions, her managers (played by Ron Davids and Nik Doner) and her assistant (Felicia V. Loud) try to talk her down.

The play flashes us back to Washington's earlier adult life. There's lots of fighting with her cold, Bible-thumping mother (also played by Loud). There are flirtations, breakups and makeups with unreliable musicians she married (all played by G. To'mas Jones).

The best scenes simply show off Hatley's robust voice. With live instrumental backup, Hatley doesn't mimic Washington's clipped phrasing that so strongly influenced Nancy Wilson, Esther Phillips and other singers. But Hatley is a fine belter in her own right, as she shows on "This Bitter Earth." And she's a joy on raunchy shouters like "Long John Blues."

Hatley also doesn't stint on the anger and hurt which rippled through Washington's short, fierce life. "Dinah Was" never whitewashes its subject — which is a form of respect.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com