The Preacher’s Wife by Tituss Burgess and Azie Dungey

a critique by Korinn Annette Jefferies, korinnannette.com

The Preacher’s Wife is one of my favorite Christmas movies. it has angels, and church, and snow, and goodwill, and Whitney Houston is singing, and Gregory Hines is conniving, and Courtney B. Vance is a Preacher with a Yale bumper sticker on his hatchback— it is truly a carefully crafted work of art.

and the musical is no different.

Tituss Burgess and Azie Dungey have created a version of The Preachers Wife that stands alone in music, story, and magic.

this version of the story is fully about Julia Biggs.

not Henry

not Jeremiah

not Hakeem

not Dudley

it’s really about the preacher’s wife.

though beautifully modernized, the plot is generally the same: the church needs a new boiler but there is no money. it is Christmas time and the church is in jeopardy of closing. the preacher of said church is stressed and has been neglecting his family as a result. an angel, Dudley, appears to help and accidentally falls in love with the preacher’s wife, who has been feeling distant from her husband. the preacher asks a shady businessman for help, but it comes at the price of disappointing his wife and losing ownership of the church. somehow, they evade losing the church and everything works out and it’s a merry Christmas for all.

as previously mentioned, this version of the story is about Julia. the songs, written by Tituss Burgess, emphasize Julia’s desire to be heard and seen by her husband who seems to have forgotten that she is more than just ‘the preacher’s wife.’

the music has been in development for years, and Azie Dungey was challenged with crafting dialogue around the music.

again, the plot is generally the same. however, there was one semi major change that I couldn’t quite find justification for.

at some point in the play, Julia shares that her father encouraged her dream of becoming a preacher until she got pregnant by Joe Hamilton out of wedlock. Joe Hamilton is the shady businessman her husband asks to help save the church. which means Henry, the preacher, is fathering Joe Hamilton’s child.

now, while this made for some beautiful audible audience reactions (gasping, omgs, clutching pearls) it didn’t add anything to the story. I want to say that it raises the stakes and heightens the tension between Henry, Joe, and Julia, but it wasn’t really mentioned again or built upon as the show continued. I found myself wondering why Jeremiah couldn’t just be Henry’s kid, and if there’s going to be such a drastic change, why not sustain it?

as someone who is always concerned about the portrayal of Black women onstage, I am— overall— thrilled about Julia being the primary protagonist in this story in a way that doesn’t limit her plight to cheating on her husband with an angel. she is a W H O L E character with thoughts and dreams outside of love and it is so refreshing.

and even though the play takes place around Christmas, it is not excessive or gaudy— it is the context, not the focus.

the story is still set in Harlem with a stunning set that really captures the essence of each location. designers Teresa L. Williams and Dane Laffrey were able to contrive moving sets that emphasized the depth of both the stage and story. there was a platform down center stage that operated as a lift, and was used in a really unique way to articulate Julia’s memory of Henry coming to see her sing at Jazzy’s.

while we are discussing design elements, it is important to note the work of Skylar Fox, the magic and illusions designer. Dudley the angel is not just an angel in name or appearance but in the way he makes people feel, which can be hard to communicate onstage in a tasteful way. Fox handled this with grace and from the moment Dudley met Julia and Henry, you could feel the magic he brought. this of course would not be possible without the immensely talented actor, Donald Webber Jr., playing Dudley, but alongside the illusions created by Fox, Dudley radiated as heavenly being.

I really have nothing but good things to say about Dudley and not just because I am the president of the ‘Dudley the Angel’ fan club, but because Webber brought such a vibrant, angelic energy to the character. YOU COULD FEEL IT.

yall the play was good. it was SO good. Loretta Devine’s portrayal of Marguerite was so fun, and Alan H. Green as Joe Hamilton was… yall he KILLED IT.

I am forever moved by the talent, effort, dedication, and passion it takes to create a work like this and admittedly, spent the majority of this show crying.

theatre is such a beautiful thing. I’m honored this craft chose me.

The Preachers Wife at Alliance Theatre runs untilJune 16, 2024

get tickets here.