SOULFUL COMFORT IN TROUBLED TIME
Lillias White is among the Broadway powerhouses and theater talent who are bringing the house down in a concert special that will be livestreamed to people’s homes.
Because their scheduled Kings and Queens of Soul tribute concert at the Upper West Side’s Triad Theater in May was jettisoned due to the coronavirus crisis, independent theater producers Kendrell Bowman and Anthony Wayne are making it up to their fans by livestreaming archived performances on their company’s official website, AnthonyKen.com, and the Facebook Live platforms Friday at 7 p.m.
Some of the acts joining White on the lineup are fellow Broadway actresses Jacqueline B. Arnold, Angela Birchett, DeAnne Stewart and Rashidra Scott, and singers Monifah, Annette Taylor, Durrell Wells, Lady Pepper, Vincent Hale, Kareema Khouri and Burgandy Williams.
Cover renditions of classic songs by soul music luminaries such as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle, Luther Vandross, Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, Mary J. Blige and Etta James are featured throughout the program, which will run for a little more than an hour.
“I’m so happy to be a part of this because it’s great because we’re making use of technology that we did not have 20 years ago,” White told the Daily News on Tuesday. “This show will give people some joy in these gloomy times.”
On March 12, Gov. Cuomo called for the shutdown of all performances at Broadway theaters and venues where more than 500 people would assemble.
That was the end of the normalcy many knew, as mass gathering restrictions went into effect, and as the weeks have gone by, social distance and selfquarantine measures have been instituted.
“The live performance community is suffering greatly from this pandemic,” Arnold, who is starring in “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” said. “And not just financially. We thrive for the immediate response of the audience.”
“It has stopped our daily routine of living and preparing to greet our audiences,” White added. “We live for that. Everything we do in a day prepares us and propels us to want to make people in the audience happy and satisfied; that’s what gives us life.”
With a career spanning five decades, White has starred on “Sesame Street” and numerous Broadway productions, including “Barnum,” “Dreamgirls,” “Cats,” “The Life,” “Fela!” and “Chicago.” The Brooklyn native was scheduled to be honored during the AMAS Musical Theatre gala next Monday at the Baruch Performing Arts Center.
Bowman and Wayne said they wanted to stream the performance event because of the importance of keeping spirits up in this time of crisis. What other way to uplift others than with music for the soul, they said.
The partners previously produced Off-Broadway biomusicals based on the life of late disco icon Sylvester and late R&B chanteuse Phyllis Hyman.