Singer Bessie Smith was one of those iconic performers whose outsized talent and turbulent life story seemed a perfect match.
One of America’s most successful and influential recording artists of 1920s, Smith was dubbed “The Empress of the Blues,” and credited with saving Columbia Records from financial ruin. Her personal history was no less compelling: coming from a poor family to emerge as an American icon, battling chauvinism, the Ku Klux Klan and substance abuse along the way, not to mention frequent gossip about her complicated love life.
Smith’s story and amazing music are captured in “The Devil’s Music,” a concert/jukebox musical show by Angelo Parra coming to the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. Starring Katrina Lauren McGraw, the show captures Smith as dishes on her life and performs classic blues numbers, including “Tain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do,” and “St. Louis Blues,” backed by a four-piece band led by pianist Kenneth Little.
Details: Presented by Center Repertory Company; in previews Jan. 24-26, main run is Jan. 28-Feb. 22; $35-$69; 925-943-7469, www.centerrep.org.