Reel

Neevah Mathis, age 18, returns home from a frustrating day where she forgot a line in rehearsals for the school play, Our Town. She thinks about giving up the drama scholarship that she’s been offered to attend Rutgers and stay in town to be with her boyfriend, Brandon.

When she sees Brandon and her older sister, Terry, sitting on the couch, Neevah expects bad news and recalls how their father died of a heart attack when she was 12. Terry reveals that she is pregnant with Brandon’s child. Neevah is furious and hurt by her sister’s betrayal. She decides to leave town and accept the scholarship to Rutgers.

In the present day, Canon receives an ovation for the documentary he is screening at the New York Film Festival. He enjoys the discussion afterward until someone in the audience brings up the affair he had with actress Camille Hensley that led to Canon being fired as the director for the feature film Primal. The film turned out badly, and Canon has vowed never again to jeopardize his professional integrity by getting involved with one of his actresses.

Canon dines with his friend Wright “Monk” Bellamy, a musician, and they discuss how Canon has spent six months searching for the actress to play Dessi Blue in his next film. Canon recalls how he first discovered the life of Dessi Blue from a road sign. He subsequently talked with her family and gained their permission to make a film about Dessi’s life as a Black artist during the Harlem Renaissance. Canon warns Monk that he has hired Monk’s ex-girlfriend, Verity Hill, to write the script. Monk invites Canon to see Neevah (now going by Neevah Saint) perform in the Broadway play Splendor, where she is an understudy stepping in for the lead.

As she prepares to go onstage, Neevah reflects on her disappointment that her mother isn’t coming to her first big show. In the decade since she left home, Neevah has found it uncomfortable to return. As a result, she has seen little of her mother and has never met her niece, Quianna. Her relationship with her sister is an unhealed wound that still festers.

Neevah’s roommate and hairstylist helps bolster her spirits. Takira is a loyal friend in addition to knowing how to take care of Neevah’s hair. Neevah has worked hard and occasionally struggled to get roles, but she loves performing.

The moment he sees Neevah, Canon feels like he’s discovered something. She is beautiful, but she also glows; he thinks that “her spirit gallops like a horse given its head” (26). When she performs, Canon feels like she is speaking directly to him. He thinks, “In a story that is pretend, she makes it feel true” (27).

Neevah feels exhilarated at the applause that follows her performance. She changes out of her costume and talks with the audience members who want to meet her. Many are girls or the mothers of Black or Brown daughters who tell Neevah what it means to see someone who looks like them onstage. Neevah is glad to see Wright again and invites him to join the cast for dinner. He asks if he can bring a friend. Neevah thinks that Wright is good-looking, but she hasn’t been with someone in a long time. She thinks, “I’m cautious not only about who I share my heart and body with, but I’m also protective of my dreams; of my ambition” (34).

Neevah is startled to realize that Wright’s friend is Canon Holt. Neevah thinks he is “fine as hell, but a jerk” (35). When Wright asks, Neevah describes how she decided that she wanted to be a performer when she first saw a production of Aida. Neevan thinks that Canon is unlikeable, but he pays the bill for dinner, and when they are leaving the restaurant, they exchange a few words and share a moment of amusement. Canon tells her that she was exceptional on stage and that she should keep her belief about what she wants to make people feel when she performs.

Canon tells Monk that he has asked his casting director to fly out to New York to have Neevah audition. Canon feels that Neevah has a light to her and a conviction to her performance that he wants for Dessi. Monk notes that the studio, Galaxy, and Canon’s partner, Evan Bancroft, will be wary of casting an unknown as their lead, but Canon is convinced.

Canon reflects on the documentary he made, The Magic Hour, which contained footage of his interviews with his mother and which launched his career making movies. He says that he didn’t mention any of this to Neevah, explaining, “I didn’t want her to know I noticed her. She would have started auditioning. She would have started acting again. I wanted to see her being” (43).

At their apartment, Takira teases Neevah about her lack of a sex life. Canon calls, and Neevah initially thinks he is going to ask her out on a date. He asks if she will audition for his movie and wants to put her agent in touch with his casting director. Neevah wonders if this is the beginning of something.

Neevah runs late to her audition and is disappointed that Canon isn’t there. Mallory, the casting director, says that he’ll watch the tape. Then, Canon enters and sits down to read the scripts with Neevah. He tells her that he wants to see who she is as an artist and a person.

This chapter presents a piece from the movie’s screenplay. Odessa “Dessi” Johnson stands among the crowd outside the Lafayette theater in Harlem, trying to get tickets to a production of Macbeth. She meets Matilda “Tilda” Hargrove, who is waiting for her boyfriend to arrive. Tilda learns that Dessi is from Alabama and works at the Cotton Club. When Tilda says that Dessi isn’t “yellow enough to work at the Cotton Club” (55), Dessi reveals that she washes dishes. Tilda invites Dessi to work at the Savoy giving dance lessons. The two women share a moment of attraction, and Tilda gives Dessi a ticket to Macbeth.

Canon is glad to return to his house in Los Angeles. He goes to his office at his company, Scripps Productions, which was named after his mother’s favorite pier for watching sunsets. Evan, his partner in the company, is worried that Canon’s interest in Neevah will turn out like his involvement with Camille on Primal. Evan thinks that Canon should have let Camille audition for the part of Dessi, but Canon knows she wasn’t a fit. He insists that Neevah is, even though Evan warns him that Galaxy, the studio financing the movie, will want a big-name actress.

Canon reminds Evan of his investment in this story and of drawing attention to Dessi’s life as one of many Black artists who made significant cultural contributions that have since been forgotten. Canon reminds Evan, “Black artists getting their due is personal for me. All my life I’ve seen their talents mined and appropriated, even while being told they weren’t as good” (61).

Neevah meets with her physician, Dr. Ansford, to discuss managing her discoid lupus. Her doctor approves of how Neevah has managed her stress and diet without the use of drugs. Neevah was diagnosed several months earlier, and while her form of lupus is not life-threatening, like the kind her aunt had, she tries to be careful.

Canon and Evan travel to the home of Lawson Stone, a Galaxy studio executive, and meet his wife, Linh, who is strikingly beautiful. When Lawson expresses reservations about casting an unknown actress, Canon gives him an ultimatum. He reminds Lawson that when his studio tried to pressure Spike Lee while he was making Malcolm X, Lee went to Black entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, and other leaders to find financing.

Canon calls to offer Neevah a role in his movie. Neevah thanks her patron saint, Audra McDonald. She thinks of how she’s struggled to make ends meet and feels like this is a miraculous new beginning. Canon tells her a bit about Dessi Blue and says, “I like to tell stories that excavate the facts and expose the truth” (72). He invites her to visit Dessi’s family and see the area where Dessi grew up. Canon warns Neevah that he’ll make her work hard but says that she’s a star who was waiting for him to find her. He says that she has Dessi’s spirit and her light, telling her, “There is so much inside you, Neevah, and I’m warning you now that I want it all” (74).

Verity Hill, their screenwriter, comes along on the visit with Canon and Neevah. Canon reflects on Camille and how she seemed to be someone else when they first got involved. Canon questions whether Verity has feelings for Monk that will get in the way of making the movie. Verity observes that Canon is attracted to Neevah.

Dessi’s daughter, Katherine, allows Canon and Neevah to look through Dessi’s personal effects. They see a picture of Dessi’s wedding to Cal Hampton, a famous trumpet player. Canon notes the prejudice that the couple confronted in the US. Neevah recalls a scene from a movie in which Halle Berry played Dorothy Dandridge. One scene shows Dorothy dipping her toe in the pool at a hotel in Las Vegas where she is performing, and the white managers drain the pool.

Digging further, Neevah discovers a photo of Tilda’s wedding to Hezekiah Moore and a note on the back that says, “I had to. Forgive me” (80). The box holds letters between Dessi and Tilda, including a playbill from a performance of Macbeth. Canon reflects that the production was called “Voodoo Macbeth” because all the cast were Black performers (81).

Neevah realizes that she is intensely attracted to Canon but knows she shouldn’t act on that attraction because he’s her boss. He notices the tattoo with a line from Our Town on her hand and asks about her upbringing. Neevah doesn’t want to tell him about Terry and Brandon.

This chapter is a letter dated May 8, 1936, that Dessi writes to her mother. She talks about meeting Tilda and starting work at the Savoy, which she says is honest work. She notes that even though New York isn’t perfect for Black people, “they ain’t hanging [them] from trees” (85). She sends money.

Canon has discovered that Dessi was in love with Tilda, and he wants to include that story in his movie. Neevah approaches Dessi’s daughter and gets her permission. Canon appreciates Neevah’s sensitivity and emotional astuteness with people. He thinks, “There’s a sincerity to her—a humility and a realness” (87).

Evan tells Canon that the studio insists on casting Cal Hampton and has chosen a young musician, Trey Scott. Canon isn’t impressed that Trey worked for Disney or Nick at Nite, but the studio is insisting. Trey’s schedule means that they have to do most of their shooting in Los Angeles.

Evan believes that they can turn Galaxy’s back lot into Harlem and recreate “that old Hollywood vibe” (90). Lawston Stone wants his wife, Linh, to be their costume designer. Canon calls Neevah to ask her to fly to Los Angeles to do a screen test with Trey. He finds himself staying on the phone longer than he believes is wise.