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By George Brant | Directed by Sandra L. Holloway

 

About


Bringing fierce guitar playing and swing to gospel music that would become a rhythmic precursor to rock and roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a pioneer of mid-20th-century music with a huge influence on Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, and Ray Charles. Set in the showroom of a funeral home, in Mississippi, 1946, this musical celebration of two extraordinary Black Women chronicles the unlikely first rehearsal between Rosetta and the prim young, Marie Knight, to see if the potential protégée could summon the stuff to allow for a professional partnership that might topple the male stranglehold suppressing Rosetta's career. They would embark on a tour to establish them as one of the great duos in musical history.

 

AUG 22–SEPT 30, 2018

Runtime: 100 minutes with no intermission. 

 

Creative Team


 

Press


“White and Reed … brought goosebumps to my goosebumps”

MD Theatre Guide

“This play with music featuring phenomenal performances by four black women is so enrapturing and overwhelming in soul sisterhood and singing power, it leaves one speechless.”

DC Metro Theater Arts

“These ladies can sing. Like the women they are embodying, White and Reed’s voices seem to defy easy categorization, crossing belt-y gospel with rhythmic rock with more wandering blues.”

DCist

 
 

Media