A special tribute to Mahalia Jackson
10/01/2011
Penumbra Theatre Company and Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church announce a special musical tribute to Mahalia Jackson, the Queen of Gospel, marking the 100th anniversary of her birth. For three performances only, Come On Children, Let’s Sing! will be performed Friday, October 21 and Saturday, October 22 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, October 23 at 3 p.m. at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, 3355 North 4th St.
Written by Dominic Taylor, Penumbra Associate Artistic Director, and directed by Lou Bellamy, Penumbra Founder and Artistic Director, Come On Children, Let’s Sing! features Kennadi Hurst, Tonia Hughes and Jearlyn Steele, each representing a different era in Mahalia’s life. Jennifer Whitlock serves as the Narrator.
Under the musical direction of Sanford Moore, the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church Director of Music, Come On Children, Let’s Sing! shares the musical majesty of one of the most influential gospel singers in the world, who was also heralded as a powerful civil rights activist. Over a dozen signature Mahalia Jackson tunes will be performed including the beloved title song Come On Children, Let’s Sing! and the popular Move On Up a Little Higher, which sold eight million copies and was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Other songs include How I Got Over, I’ve Been Buked, and I’ve Been Scorned which Mahalia sang in front of 250,000 people at the 1963 March on Washington where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
General admission tickets for Come On Children, Let’s Sing! are $25 and are available through the Penumbra Theatre Box Office at 651-224-3180 or penumbratheatre.org.