Star-Quality Cast Brings Flair & Heart to New Musical

by Zack Rogow

“Every Saturday Night” is based on a story by creator Danny Duncan, who grew up in San Francisco’s Fillmore District in the 1950s. The Fillmore was “the Harlem of the West,” a largely Black community known for its jazz clubs and sparkling atmosphere. Duncan’s musical immortalizes the Fillmore’s glory days before the neighborhood was gentrified.

“Every Saturday Night” takes place both during the Fillmore’s golden age, and in the present.  The play begins in the twenty-first century with a well-to-do Black family maneuvering to buy the Victorian house that the lively Ardella has left her talented son Donte.

The older Donte is sensitively played by Darryl V. Jones, who is often on-stage observing scenes he remembers from his youth. Jones’ slightest gestures and expressions give a powerful and understated poignancy to those recollected events. And Jones is also a triple threat as elegant actor, singer, and dancer.

Two full-cast numbers give the play’s amazing ensemble the chance to celebrate the 1950s Fillmore district in stylish songs: “I Got Me Eye on You” and “Ardella’s Place.” With a jazz combo half-hidden behind a scrim, those numbers bring to life a joyous and sophisticated era in San Francisco Black history.

This musical’s strong point is its sensational actors, the most talented and polished ensemble of local performers I’ve ever seen on a Bay Area stage. The entire cast of sixteen can act, sing, and dance like nobody’s business.

The legendary Cathleen Riddley leads the ensemble in the role of Ardella, a tough-love mother who hosts an after-hours club in her home on Saturday nights. Ardella struggles to maintain her sprawling Victorian and support her teenage son by working multiple jobs and bringing in lodgers.

As Ardella, Riddley sculpts a complex character, the foundation of her household and a pragmatist who keeps her head down to avoid the animosity of a White-dominated police force and city government. Despite her traditional outlook, Ardella has a steamy relationship with her runaway, jazz singer husband Bobby Joe (RJ Wayne).

In his song “Life Ain’t Nothin’ but Jazz,” Bobby Joe gives his view of life as improvisation. His philosophy hasn’t made him the most present dad, though. Ardella may be middle-aged and cautious, but with her flirtatious quips she surprises her newly returned lover: “See: I’m still all that!”

Ardella and Bobby Joe’s son, the young Donte (Jacob Henrie-Naffaa) has to hide from his mother his ambition to become an actor—he’s playing Peter Pan in a local theater. Even though Donte’s dad has been absent, as a fellow performer, Bobby Joe touchingly helps his son embrace his gift. Henrie-Naffaa dazzles us with his acting, singing, and dance steps.

There are so many fine performances in this show. I don’t want to leave out Velina Brown’s double role as the possessive 50s hussy trying to rein in her Don Juan of a boyfriend (Devin A. Cunningham) and as the present-day advocate for well-to-do bougie busybodies promoting continued gentrification. What a range!

And Imre M. Tate gives an impassioned and soulful performance as the activist who stands up against the hollowing out of the Fillmore.

This fantastic cast could use more plot to focus on the human drama of gentrification. For the most part, the song lyrics also use cliché rhymes that dilute their strength.

Fortunately, the outstanding acting, choreography, and costumes make “Every Saturday Night” a dynamic vehicle for an all-star cast.

“Every Saturday Night: A Harlem of the West Musical” –based on a story by Danny Duncan, book by Michael Gene Sullivan & Danny Duncan, music & lyrics by Danny Duncan, directed & choreographed by AeJay Antonis Marquis, musical direction by Othello Jefferson, scenic design by Sarah Phykitt, lighting by Spence Matubang, costumes by Tiersa Nureyev, produced by SFBATCO, Artistic Director Rodney Earl Jackson Jr., at A.C.T., The Strand Theater, San Francisco.

Info: act-sf.org – to November 1, 2026.

Cast: Isaac Barnwell, Velina Brown, Devin A. Cunningham, Kaila Dyson, Jacob Henrie-Naffaa, Ron Johnson Jr., Darryl V. Jones, Janelle LaSalle, LaRae Mays-Hardy, Trevor Miller, Jon-David Randle, Cathleen Riddley, Rob Robinson, The T, Imri M. Tate, Jocelyn “Jojo” Thompson-Jordan, and RJ Wayne.

Banner photo: Cathleen Riddley (Ardella) & the cast of SFBATCO’s “Every Saturday Night.”
Photo: Alexa LexMex Treviño

Zack Rogow is a playwright, poet, and literary translator, author of a memoir about his drama critic dad, Hugging My Father’s Ghost. www.zackrogow.com