Cleveland Play House production of Marie and Rosetta is a joyful celebration

Somebody Say Amen! First there was Gospel and it begat the Blues (in particular Delta Blues) which in turn begat Rock and Roll but it was one person who was able to fuse all these elaborate elements together and that was Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

The Cleveland Play House production of Marie and Rosetta traces the amazing career of one of the most influential performers of all time and her first day of rehearsal with singing and piano playing protégé Marie Knight as they set out on their first tour together.

Born in 1915 in Cotton Plant, Arkansas as either Rosetta Nubin or Rosether Atkins (depending on your source) to parents Katie Bell Nubin and Willis Atkins who both sang at their church services, Sister Rosetta (as she would later be called) began singing and playing the guitar for the congregation at the tender age of four. By age six she and her mother were touring the South with an evangelical troupe.

In the mid-1920s Tharpe and her mother moved to Chicago where they performed religious concerts at the Church of God in Christ Church on 40th Street. They also traveled to various church conventions across the United States in order to perform. At an early age, Tharpe was considered a musical prodigy. She married COGIC preacher Thomas Thorpe in 1934, or as she puts it her first “Squirrel” (men who squirreled away her money for a rainy day but money she never saw again). They were divorced in 1938 and with her new stage name of Sister Rosetta Tharpe moved to New York City with her mother.

In 1938 she recorded four songs for Decca Records (the first Gospel songs ever recorded by that company) which turned her into an overnight sensation. Her combining gospel based lyrics with a rocking flavor had secular audiences flocking to her night club shows and concerts while churchgoers were shocked. Over her career she performed with a number of big bands at various famous clubs and recorded seventeen albums. In 1946 she saw Marie Knight perform at a Mahalia Jackson concert in New York and immediately invited the 23 year old to tour with her.

The show opens with Marie applying make-up to Rosetta as they get ready to perform in the Deep South. Their lodging is a funeral home (due to the segregation laws of the south at that time) as they make do rehearsing various songs among the collection of caskets on display. Although Marie appears as a squeaky clean teenager, she is in fact 23 years old, married and mother of two (although her husband has left her).

Marie is concerned that in spite of Rosetta’s promise to her mother she may end up being influenced by Sister Tharpe’s wild ways. Tharpe tries to put the young girl at ease as they run through a variety of gospel numbers such as “Were You There”, “Sit Down”, “I Heard My Mother Call My Name” and “Lord, Search My Heart”.

At one point, Sister Tharpe puts her foot down and challenges the young girl to “sway it and rock it” the way she knows the audience wants. The two agree to meet in the middle as they perform a number of rocking numbers including “I Want a Tall Skinny Papa” and “Four or Five Times.” In all, the duo perform over a dozen songs and although it appears that they are playing guitar and piano, musicians Katreese Barnes (piano) and KJ Denhert (guitar) provide the music from behind a large stage screen.

The show ends in a bittersweet vein as along with Marie listing all of Rosetta’s accomplishments that include her influence on some of the greatest guitarist of all time (American and British), her tour of England and her wedding/performance in front of 25,000 fans at Griffin Stadium in Washington DC (one of the first stadium performances) it also covers the sadder parts of her life.

While there are some minor sexual suggestions for the most part this is a safe show for families with older children.

Miche Braden* does an acceptable job as Sister Rosetta in spite of the rather dry writing that seems to hamstring the action. Since the actual guitar music is performed by someone else we miss seeing the “hip swinging action” that was so essential to Tharpe’s live performances. Instead we have Braden with her back to the audience for each guitar number. Chaz Hodges’* and Braden’s performance on piano is a bit more believable as they are able to put more “body Language” while seated behind the upright. With that being said, the quality of singing is quite good and is really what carries the entire show.

*Member of Actors Equity Association

While the instrumental performances fail to totally connect with the audience such as was found in the original Sister Rosetta Tharpe live shows (check out the YouTube film of Rosetta’s 1964 performance at a train station in Manchester, England) it none the less shines a spotlight on an amazing woman who revolutionized Rock and Roll (at long last she is to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year). See this show for a taste of her life then go home and do some research.

The Cleveland Play House production of Marie and Rosetta will be onstage in the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square through February 11, 2018. Tickets are available online by going to www.clevelandplayhouse.com, by phoning (216) 241-6000 or by stopping by the Playhouse Square Ticket Office located in the outer lobby of the State Theatre.