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Josephine Baker
Nick is an Italian man and alleged gangster who breaks off a relationship with Angel at the start of the play. Nick leaving Angel for another woman leads Angel to lash out at him during her performance at the Cotton Club, which in turn leads to her losing her job. Nick treats Angel like an object: he refers to her as a “lucky charm” whom he keeps at his side when he gambles, and after he ends their relationship, he sends Angel to his friend Tony so that Tony can use Angel for sex the same way Nick has. Reflecting on her relationship with Tony prompts Angel to reassess what she wants out of a romantic relationship, and it is in contrast to Nick that Leland’s strict morals become so appealing to her.
Nick Quotes in Blues for an Alabama Sky
The Blues for an Alabama Sky quotes below are all either spoken by Nick or refer to Nick. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1, Scene 2 Quotes
GUY. Look, even in your current sorry state, you’re better off than most of the Negroes in Harlem. You’ve got a place to stay and I’m not gonna let you starve to death. We’ll figure it out.
ANGEL. I should be figuring things out for myself.
GUY. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. […] Have I ever let you down?
ANGEL. You know you haven’t.
GUY. I know I haven’t, but I’m asking you.
A beat. He waits.
ANGEL. No, you have never let me down.
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Act 1, Scene 3 Quotes
GUY. You can’t make it real just because you want it to be.
ANGEL. Are you really going to Paris?
GUY. It’s not the same thing.
ANGEL. Why isn’t it? Because you’re some kind of genius with a dream and I’m just a colored woman out of a job?
GUY. Is that your dream? Singing for gangsters? And then what?
ANGEL. Then I’ll have to figure out something else. Isn’t that what you always tell me? ‘One step at a time.’
GUY. Okay. One step at a time. Audition. Sing your heart out and if he acts a fool, me and Sam will cut his heart out for him.
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GUY. For prospects, you gotta look past 125th Street. No law says we gotta live and die in Harlem, USA, just ‘cause we happened to wind up here when we finally blew out of Savannah. […] I can look out of this very window and see us walking arm in arm down the Champs Elysées.
ANGEL. Remember how you used to take those old broke-up binoculars whenever we’d go to the beach at home? The only Negro in the world ever tried to see Paris from the coast of Georgia.
GUY. I am not! Langston said he used to… I almost forgot! He’s back! […] [T]he group is gathering at his place later for a welcome home. […] Want to go preen?
ANGEL. Can I wear your tux?
GUY. I’m wearing my tux! Why don’t you go very femme? You’ll probably be the only lady at this affair.
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Nick Character Timeline in Blues for an Alabama Sky
The timeline below shows where the character Nick appears in Blues for an Alabama Sky. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1
...Angel to Guy’s apartment, with help from Guy’s younger neighbor Delia, Angel drunkenly explains that Nick, the Italian man she was dating, has gotten married to another woman. She adds that...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 2
...to his apartment with a few of Angel’s things he was able to retrieve from Nick’s apartment. Guy invites Angel to live with him and comforts her by pointing out that...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 3
Guy confesses that he ran into Nick, and Nick suggested Angel work for a friend of his named Tony. Guy suspects that...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 4
...alongside Delia for moral support. Angel stresses about going out with Leland. She recalls dating Nick, who kept her around him when he gambled as a lucky charm, and reflects that...
(full context)
