Nina Metz

From Elvis to Eminem, the appropriation of black music by white musicians (often to greater financial and popular success) has been a sticky wicket of an issue: Is it theft or homage? English playwright Randall Jeffreys attempts to address both sides of this question in "I Just Stopped by to See the Man," the story of a white rock star (a foppish Mick Jagger type) named Karl and his quest to find the man who first inspired his passion for music, an aging African American blues musician named Jesse. The time is 1975, the place is somewhere in the Mississippi Delta and Karl, sensing that rumors about his idol's death are probably untrue, stumbles into a rickety shack where Jesse has been holed up, hiding from the world. Jesse's militant daughter Della (running from demons of her own) complicates matters when Karl finally convinces the old guy to return to the stage for one final performance. There is something unsatisfying about Jeffrey's play--unlike the aching melodies of the blues, there is no resonance here--but the Steppenwolf production, under the direction of Randall Arney, is a winning effort. As Karl, the Surrey-born rock star in hip-slung jeans and mullet hairdo, Jim True-Frost gives a particularly detailed performance, right down to his draggy, carelessly arrogant pigeon-toed walk.

"I Just Stopped by to See the Man" runs at Steppenwolf Theater, 1650 North Halsted, (312)335-1650, through January 12 .

(2002-12-04)

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