Before a not-so-sold-outâbut niceâcrowd; Je’Caryous Johnson presented his play âCheaper to Keep Herâ for St. Louis showings on Saturday, October 23, 2010 at the Chaifetz Arena.
The show opened with a splash of humor as gospel comedian, Jonathan Slocumb, warmed up the crowd with good-clean humor as he lead into the introduction to the rest of the cast. Â Immediately, it was obvious that the plot was going to be predictable. Â With R&B singer and talk-show host, Brian McKnight and actress Vivica A. Fox starring in the leading roles of Dr. Raymond Mays and his wife, Morgan Mays; the crowd knew one thing for sureâthe singing would be superb, and the acting would be awesomeâwell, at least they were partly right in this assumption.
From the beginning the plot was predictableâtwo married couples and their single friends; St. Louisâs own, comedian, Gary âG-Thangâ Johnson and actress Karen Malina Whiteâwho both happen to be attorneysâ made you slightly reminiscent of every plot to every black romance ever written.
Johnson clearly wasnât looking to showcase his literary prowess during this play.  With predictable one-liners and what Iâd like to consider clichĂ© comedy, the cast over-acted their way through the story line.  From the beginning, it was obvious that McKnight wasnât feeling his wife.  At no time did the audience feel a connection between Fox, who stepped out of her usual sassy self to play a submissive wife with dreams deferred while watching her husbandâs new practice take off, so it was no surprise that the audience was rooting for the more convincingâand extremely handsomeâ actor, Christian Keyes, who played Foxâs first love to win her over.
Overall, the story felt a bit rushed, and unless you are a major fan of the comedy from Tyler Perryâs House of Pain, then you wonât really be too keen on all the corny clichĂ©s that fill the scriptâalthough a few of them were so corny, they were comical.
What Johnson did do well was pair a cast of familiar faces with a score composed of Brian McKnightâs greatest hitsâcertain to gather crowd participation and anticipationânot anticipating the obvious and predictable plot, but anticipating which song Brian McKnight was going to sing, reminding us of his purposeâto sing his way into our spirit. Â Although his acting wasnât of the most sincere sort, his music was moving, and consistent in keeping the crowd engaged enough to be believers in his music again.
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Your title “cheaper to keeper (by seven) delux magazine…” shows that you sympathised well with your target audience.