Not to be confused with the new opera by Jeanine Tesori, this Blue is a play suffused with a lush jazz and soul score written by Nona Hendryx. Its playwright, Charles Randolph-Wright (who began his theater career in the original cast of Dreamgirls on Broadway), took inspiration from his own upbringing to write the story of a wealthy South Carolina family faced with issues of identity and class. Blue premiered in 2000 at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., with Phylicia Rashad starring. Now Rashad is directing a cast that boasts Leslie Uggams and Lynn Whitfield. —L.J.