Episode 53: Disappointment leads to despair in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at The Goodman in Chicago

Chicago Broadcasting Network · Apr 8, 2026 · 6m

Set circa 1927 -- at the height of the Great Migration, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is rooted in personal trauma, systemic racism and economic exploitation.

Ma Rainey is the leading artist of a struggling Chicago based blues label..Four of her backing musicians sitting in a rehearsal hall of the recording studio examine their lives while waiting for the prima donna to perform. In true blues tradition each man reveals his inner self through storytelling.

In the process there is a good amount of convivial, often dark, humor born of a recognition of similar life experiences and a mutual…