MARIE AND ROSETTA

Rose Theatre

★★★★★

“soul-stirring, celebratory and foot-tappingly uplifting”

It is sometimes extraordinary how a figure can fade into the back pages of history. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a huge star in the 1930s and 40s, who struck a chord with a white electric guitar slung around her neck, that helped change the face of modern popular music. Yet somehow the gospel superstar ended up forgotten within her lifetime. George Brant’s impressive yet intimate portrayal will surely redress that injustice. Avoiding the epic, Brant focuses on a particular part of her life – her partnership with Gospel and R&B singer Marie Knight – and celebrates the legacy in a glorious play with music. It is a remarkable achievement in that, by pinpointing a moment in time, he still manages to give a concise and precise insight into the culture, history and background that shaped the characters. And then, of course, there is the music!

Set in a funeral parlour, a coffin laid out beneath a large wooden crucifix upstage, we are in Mississippi in 1946. “There’s rules” explains ‘Sister’ Rosetta (Beverley Knight) as she prepares her protégé and singing partner Marie Knight (Ntombizodwa Ndlovu) for their tour of the segregated Southern States (the unusual setting was the only venue that allowed the pair to rehearse). It starts out as a kind of audition for Marie, but her vocal style rapidly wins over the already established Rosetta. What ensues is the rehearsal which this show encompasses. The musical numbers slot beautifully and organically into the dialogue, sometimes stopping and starting again. The show is a conversation, a confession; a heart-to-heart that slickly builds up in momentum and passion. Like a musical ‘soul stew’ – a device coined by the late bandleader King Curtis in which a song will introduce one instrument at a time over a cycle of twelve bars until the full force bubbles into waves of musical bliss. Writer George Brant has followed a similar recipe, introducing rich details and pinches of backstory at crucial points into the dialogue. Knight and Ndlovu give faultless performances with their easy onstage rapport. When they launch into song, however, the production soars – whether the whole band accompanies, or if it is just the bluesy riffs of Liam Godwin’s piano or musical director Shirley Tetteh on guitar.

Rosetta Tharpe was renowned for her guitar playing. Decades ahead of her time she became known as the ‘Godmother of Rock and Roll’ whose influence touched countless stars including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Little Richard. Marie was a formidable piano player as well as a singer. Neither Knight nor Ndlovu play the instruments, but director Monique Touko gets around this with clever stage craft. Ndlovu doesn’t mime but uses her whole body to evoke the inbuilt rhythm and soul of a pianist, while Knight opens a guitar case to let the notes fly out into the air. Through the staging, we get a full sense of the real-life character’s influence as she changed the face of music back in the forties, leading gospel into the world of rhythm and blues and soul. Shunned by the straitlaced church for performing in nightclubs, she persuades the ingénue Marie to follow suit. Her mission was to “put a bit of club into the church, and some church into the club” as she swung between chapel in the morning and New York’s Cotton Club at night.

The writing avoids preaching. The natural dialogue touches on personal tragedy and adversity but is steeped in humour too. Rosetta’s chipping away at Marie’s saintly exterior offers moments of biting comedy as she shapes the latter’s high church voice into the smoky jazz vibe needed for their subversive success. The song list is plucked from Rosetta’s impressive repertoire, and the combination of Knight’s and Ndlovu’s voices is gold dust that rises to the rafters. ‘This Train’, the rocking ‘Rock Me’, ‘Sit Down’, ‘I Want a Tall Skinny Papa’, ‘Strange Things are Happening Everyday’ are highlights among highlights, the glory of which is shared by the two singers. There is no competition (as in the reality), but it is a union borne of generosity and joy – and this love of the music is all too clear in the harmonies.

The poignancy of the setting (designer Lily Arnold’s shrine like funeral parlour) is emphasised in the twilight moments of the show. We slip forward in time in an ingeniously surreal twist in the narrative that derails our cosy expectations and plunges us into a moving epilogue, the emotion matched by haunting a Capella vocals. “Marie and Rosetta” is soul-stirring, celebratory and foot-tappingly uplifting. When asked about her music and its influence, Rosetta Tharpe is reported to have replied “Oh, these kids and rock and roll – this is just sped up rhythm and blues. I’ve been doing that forever”. I’m sure this show will enjoy the same longevity.

MARIE AND ROSETTA

Rose Theatre

Reviewed on 9th May 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Marc Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

ANIMAL FARM | ★★★ | February 2025

NEVER LET ME GO | ★★★ | September 2024

SHOOTING HEDDA GABLER | ★★★★ | October 2023

MARIE AND ROSETTA

★★★★★

“The unique quality of this musical is that each number comes with its own ever-increasing ‘wow factor’.”

The atmosphere in the bar is electric. The only thing missing is the fog of cigarette smoke, otherwise we’ve walked into an old brownstone building on the corner of 52nd Street. It is the early 1940s. Was that Charlie Parker over there by the bar? I’m sure I just saw Dizzy Gillespie. Through the crowds clutching their Daiquiris and Manhattans, I think I can hear Duke Ellington strike a few opening chords on the grand piano. But then the chime of the intercom – with its five-minute call – brings us back into the twenty-first century, as we file into the auditorium for Sheldon Epps’ musical “Play On!”

The title comes from the Duke’s famous opening line from “Twelfth Night” on which this musical is based. Epps’ concept, with the book by Cheryl L. West, takes brazen liberties with Shakespeare while still convincing us of its faithfulness. The result is a revelation – as we are transported from Illyria to the Cotton Club in Harlem in nineteen-forty-something. The music of Duke Ellington slots into the narrative as though he were commissioned to write the songs specifically for this show. This is hardcore jazz, steeped in tradition, but sharing the stage with its modern sister ‘hip-hop’ thanks to the stunning choreography of Kenrick H2O Sandy MBE.

The opening routine sets the tone – a burst of precision and emotion, the ensemble moving as one, led by Llewellyn Jamal. Breaking free from the song and from his magnetic dance moves, Jamal coaxes us into the action, playing Jester – a chancing, two-timing yet loveable rogue. Into the club wanders his niece, Viola (Tsemaye Bob-Egbe), an aspiring songwriter looking to make it big in the Big Apple, and hoping to join the ranks of the club’s band leader ‘Duke’. She hasn’t bargained for the reception she receives though. “Ain’t no woman can do songwriting” her uncle Jester tells her. To be taken seriously she dresses as a man and becomes Vyman. Meanwhile ‘Duke’ (Earl Gregory) is suffering from writer’s block, unable to complete his melodies. With his Mojo gone, so too has the affections of Lady Liv (KoKo Alexandra) the nightclub’s diva. Vyman is tasked with trying to put things right and, with the help and hindrance of Rev (Cameron Bernard Jones), Miss Mary (Tanya Edwards) and Sweets (Lifford Shillingford) we embark on a very Shakespearean comedy of errors. With all that jazz.

The unique quality of this musical is that each number comes with its own ever-increasing ‘wow factor’. And each performer matches the demands of the material with equal virtuosity. Gregory’s plaintive ‘I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart’ is followed by Alexandra’s ‘Mood Indigo’ (what an entrance Alexandra makes!). Bob-Egbe’s ‘Don’t Get Around Much Anymore’ rightly betrays the fact that she does get around a lot on the musical theatre scene. Smoky, bluesy ballads interlock with Bebop, big band syncopation. ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing’, but “Play On!” swings over the edge, and we cling on in ecstasy as it sways to the rhythm. An infectious and irresistible rhythm courtesy of the onstage five-piece band, led by musical director Ashton Moore at the grand piano.

Each number is a highlight – the solos, duets, quartets and more. Jamal and Shillingford deliver a brilliantly hilarious ‘Rocks in My Bed’ while the first act closes with a rousing ‘Solitude’, each singer overlapping before coming together into a rousing, show-stopping ensemble. The vocal dexterity is matched by their handling of West’s text. Bob-Egbe’s fluidity and Jamal’s flexibility are a master class in acting and timing, while Gregory’s cool smoky tones evoke the period with echoes of a young Leslie ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson in his Harlem days.

The ending of the story plays fast and loose with the original plot. Rev, who represents Malvolio, has a very different fate. The reconciliations are not wholly expected by those familiar with Shakespeare’s text. In fact, in some ways, this has a more satisfactory conclusion. The feelgood factor is one that the Bard may not have sanctioned, but we endorse it, and love it. And we leave the auditorium with more than a dance in our step. “If music be the food of love, play on… Give me excess of it”. That sums it up really.

Tag Archives: Liam Godwin

MARIE AND ROSETTA

★★★★★

Rose Theatre

MARIE AND ROSETTA

Rose Theatre

★★★★★

“soul-stirring, celebratory and foot-tappingly uplifting”