Many in San Diego say that the Rep’s current production of Three Mo’ Divas is just an extended series of songs, albeit music that spans 400 years of African-American history. Well, I say they are right, and there ain’t a damn thing wrong with that.

This is music with a theatrical bent. Think sophisticated, think sassy, think smooth.

Creator /Director Marion J. Caffey brings two trios of diva talent together, then alternates their vocal talents nightly due to the heavy demands on their vocal chords.

Chaffey says it’s high time that we showcase the rich talent of black opera singers and allow their audience to ingest the magnificent sounds from these truly stunning voices that tackle seven musical styles in an evening of velvet-voiced musicality.

The singers arrive white-gloved and carry an air of delicious diva attitude. They walk, they talk and they strut their fine highbrow selves right into our very souls. “Quando M’en Vo” from Puccini’s La Boheme sets the standard for the evening.

Seeing the first of two world premieres, Hope Briggs, Janinah Burnett and Vivian Reed bring the house down in a torment of emotional, controlled savvy. There is little need of the microphone as these ladies carry their notes to any part of the Lyceum with ease.

There was some serious pouting going on the night I watched – each songbird eyeing up the competition and moving into the challenge of congenially topping the other. Each time you thought they couldn’t take it any higher or make it any better, they brought it up another musical notch. My ears felt embraced by melody, by song pictures, and by vocal mastery.

The band, headed up by conductor Joseph Joubert, played perfect music to accompany everything from Duke Ellington, to Billie Holiday and an upbeat Motown sound.

You’ve got just the right amount of sax, clarinet, percussion and flute.

Vivian Reed didn’t have to tell us again that everyone needs their own voice after she rendered a haunting version of “Strange Fruit”. She made that song – and several others –her very own, just as Briggs musically painted “My Man’s Gone Now” and Burnett delivered a touching “Ride on King Jesus”.

The divas took control with their stage presence and with their vocal presence. It was a musical massage that kept rubbing us deeper and deeper and better and better.

The staging was just as smooth and sophisticated. The easy-on-your-eye, mostly blue-pink light show created subtle shading for the various musical moods presented, and the sliding panels suggested a mood swing with nary a distraction.

Who needs a script when each song sings volumes? Who needs action when each torch song provides the drama? Who needs a scene buildup when each refrain carries you to another emotional high?

Simply put, Three Mo’ Divas is diva-licious, with a capital “D”.

Three Mo’ Divas playsat the Lyceum through April 18. Call (619) 544-1000 for tickets or visit for an online link.