On The DL

Ethel Waters: His Eye Is on the Sparrow

by Mark Cofta

Runs through Feb. 24, $10-$30, Hedgerow Theatre, 64 Rose Valley Road, Media, 610-565-4211, hedgerowtheatre.org

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Just over a year ago, Philly actress Demetria Joyce Bailey was asked to understudy a one-woman show at Bristol Riverside Theatre. Understudies seldom perform in regional theater, especially in solo roles. But two days later, it was suddenly hers: 59 pages of dialogue, 17 songs and the responsibility to bring famed Broadway and Hollywood star Ethel Waters to life.

A singer since the age of 12 and an accomplished stage and screen actress (The Wire), Bailey rose to the challenge, earning a Barrymore Award nomination for best actress in a musical. Now she reprises the role at Hedgerow Theatre — fitting in nicely with a trio of plays that explore the 1920s in celebration of Hedgerow's 85th anniversary, beginning with Dorothy Parker in One Perfect Rose, and continuing in April with Nagle Jackson's Kafka in the Hedgerows.

Born in Chester in 1896, Waters stands out as the fifth black woman to make a record (in 1921), the second nominated for an Academy Award (in 1949, for Pinky) and, in 1933, the first to perform on Broadway in an otherwise all-white show (As Thousands Cheer). She also starred in the 1950s television series Beulah.

All of these accomplishments cannot beat her singing, though, and that's where Bailey really shines. She nails "Stormy Weather," "Black and Blue," "Sweet Georgia Brown" and Waters' most famous tune, "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," as she takes us through her 80-year life. If you missed Ethel Waters in Bristol, be sure to catch her in Media.