By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices
Tony Award winning dynamo Lillias White has a new gig -- albeit a limited one.
The 'Once On This Island' and 'Dreamgirls' star has been cast in the Off-Broadway premiere of 'Blind Lemon Blues,' a musical revue celebrating the legacy of blues musician Blind Lemon Jefferson -- credited with having a profound influence on shaping American popular music.
Presented by The York Theatre Company and Documentary Arts in association with Central Track Productions, 'Blind Lemon' was created by Alan Govenar and Akin Babatunde who portrays Jefferson.
Featuring Benita Arterberry, Timothy Parham, guitarist Sam Swank and Calvin Yarbrough, and Alisa Peoples Yarbrough, the show is packed with 60 songs from Jefferson's expansive repertoire.
Jefferson was a blind street musician who played his guitar with a tin cup tied to its neck at the corner of Elm Street and Central Avenue in Dallas, Texas until a Paramount Records scout discovered him. Between 1926 and 1929, Jefferson made more than 80 records and became the biggest selling-down-home blues singer in America.
Set in New York City circa 1948 at the last recording session of the legendary Huddie Ledbetter -- better known as Leadbelly -- 'Blind Lemon' combines elements of traditional blues, gospel, rhythm and blues, soul, doo-wop, and rap to evoke the enduring legacy of Jefferson and his contemporaries, Blind Willie Johnson, Lillian Glinn, Hattie Hudson, Bobbie Cadillac, Lillian Miller and Leadbelly himself.
According to a spokesperson, after seeing a workshop of Blind Lemon Blues, playwright August Wilson said, "I listened to the music of Blind Lemon everyday for five years. Blind Lemon Jefferson was the voice of Black America at that moment."
So if it's good enough for him, it will be good enough for me -- and maybe you.
To be honest, Lillias White can sing me the telephone book on her worst day -- and still bring down the house. She is "just a stone singer" (to quote the late, great clergyman Reverend C.L. Franklin from The Queen of Soul's 'Amazing Grace' landmark recording) and one of the most dynamic performers on The Great White Way.
And if the name Yarborough & Peoples rings a bell, it is because it is indeed the same duo who churned out chart-topping R&B hits in the 1980s, such as 'Don't Stop The Music."
Performances for 'Blind Lemon Blues' will begin Feb 15 and continue through Feb 25 only at The York Theatre at St. Peter's in New York City.
The York Theatre Company, believed to be the only theater in New York dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals, and preserving neglected, notable shows from the past, has for more than three decades garnered critical acclaim and recognition from artists and audiences alike.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of James Morgan's tenure as Artistic Director of the company.
