Leslie Odom Jr. is back on Broadway in first-rate 'Purlie Victorious'

“We still need togetherness; we still need each otherness – with faith in the futureness of our cause. Let us, therefore, stifle the rifle of conflict, shatter the scatter of discord, smuggle the struggle, tickle the pickle, and grapple the apple of peace!”

— Purlie Victorious Judson

Tony and Grammy Award winner Leslie Odom Jr. is back on Broadway in the first revival of Ossie Davis’ fun, hilarious and intelligent satire, “Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch.”

But who would ever have guessed Odom wouldn’t be the highlight of the show?

Set in the 1950s, Purlie (Odom) is a fast-talking preacher who returns to his childhood home in Georgia with Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins (Kara Young), a young domestic worker who adores him.

Purlie has come up with a plan to fund his church: He wants Lutiebelle to impersonate his cousin Bee, who is owed $500 in inheritance from the bullwhip-toting plantation owner Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee (Jay O. Sanders). Since Bee is dead, and it’s been two decades since Cap’n has seen Bee, Purlie thinks it’s bound to work.

But Lutiebelle is nervous because unlike Bee, she never went to college. She’s going to have change the way she acts, dresses, walks and talks.

Could they pull this off?

Director Kenny Leon keeps this 100-minute show moving quickly. The laughs never stop in this "Romp," from the wisecracks to the vaudeville antics. Of course there is more to it than that, as Davis is making a not-so-subtle commentary on American racism.

Odom brilliantly conveys Purlie’s charm and charisma, his passion and determination, his desire for freedom. He has been missed on Broadway, and it’s no surprise that he turns in an award-winning performance.

Two-time Tony nominee Young, so good in “Cost of Living” and “Clyde’s,” takes it to another level here. Her scene-stealing physical comedy and vocal agility is a riot. But Young also shows that her character is a little bit mighty. Lutiebelle may not have much, but she is proud of who she is and what she does for a living.

The rest of the cast is solid all around. Billy Eugene Jones plays Purlie’s brother Gitlow, a fake Uncle Tom married to the kind and loving Missy (Heather Alicia Simms), who welcomes Lutibelle with open arms.

Sanders brings out all of Cotchipee’s bluster and backward thinking. Noah Robbins plays Cotchipee’s son Charlie, who believes in civil rights and equality thanks to Idella Landy (Vanessa Bell Calloway), who raised him right.

Derek McLane’s set design offers a surprise that is a joy to witness. Costumes by Emilio Sosa are mostly plain, but Purlie is a sharp-dressed man.

This is the first Broadway revival for the show, which originally opened in 1961. Times have changed in 62 years, but nobody can deny troubles remain.

Yes, we still need “togetherness.”

Stifle the rifle? That’s even harder (impossible?) to do today.

Peace? We can always dream.

But there is power in laughter — and Ossie Davis understood that.

Amen and Hallelujah.

Go: “Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch,” through Feb. 4, 2024, Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St., $74 to $318; 212-239-6200, purlievictorious.com.

Bill Canacci can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Broadway: Leslie Odom Jr returns in Purlie Victorious