Gospel Truth

January 23, 2006 Issue

Vernell A. Lillie (left), founder and artistic director of Pitt’s Kuntu Repertory Theatre and associate professor of Africana Studies, directs Genna Styles (in the role of the young Mahalia Jackson) during a rehearsal of the Kuntu Rep’s upcoming production of Mahalia Jackson: Standing on Holy Ground.

The show, a musical celebration of the life of the renowned Gospel singer, will be performed from Jan. 26 to Feb. 11 in the 7th-Floor Auditorium of Pitt's Alumni Hall. Written and directed by Lillie, Mahalia Jackson was last performed during Kuntu's 2000-01 season. It’s part of Kuntu's “Revival on 5th Avenue” season, which has been featuring works presented by the theater company during its 30-year history.

Jackson was considered the Queen of Gospel Music. She began singing at age four, in the Plymouth Rock Baptist Church in New Orleans. As a teenager in Chicago, she absorbed the sounds of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, but continued singing Gospel, eventually recording in the 1930s and touring in the 1940s. Her unique contralto voice was heard on radio, television, and in concert halls around the world. An appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956 catapulted Gospel music into America's mainstream. She died of heart failure in 1972 at age 59.

Performances of Mahalia Jackson: Standing on Holy Ground will run at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays. Matinees are scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 4 and 11 a.m. Feb. 9. For ticket and group sales information, call 412-624-7298 or visit www.kuntu.org.

—Sharon S. Blake