Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: August Wilson's blues classic at Flint's Elgood Theatre

It's 1927 in a Chicago recording studio, where legendary blues singer Ma Rainey shows up ready to lay down tracks on her own terms. As tension builds between Ma, her band and the white producers running the session, ambition, pride and exploitation collide in a room thick with heat and history. August Wilson's play digs into race, art and the cost of claiming your voice in a world set on silencing it.

Rico Bruce Wade directs a cast of X’ydee Alexander, Nathan Barlow, Henrí Franklin, Richard E. Harris, Kenn Hopkins Jr., Aaron Kottke, Conor McShane, Cassius Merriweather, Joel Mitchell and Yewande Odetoyinbo. The show plays the Elgood Theatre, 1220 East Kearsley Street in Flint. Tickets start at $39, or $30 for Genesee County residents, with fees included.