Sistas! The Musical is a celebration of African American women told through contemporary and classic top-40 songs by fierce females, from Aretha Franklin to Alicia Keys.
Black Theatre Troupe will bring the current off-Broadway hit to the Valley from March 27 to April 12 at the Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center in Downtown Phoenix. It is the final production of Black Theatre Troupe’s 49th season.
Helmed by award-winning director and choreographer, Patdro Harris, the story follows five women after the death of the matriarch of their family. As they clean out their grandmother’s attic, they discover old memories and discuss their family dynamics and outline the history of black women in America through music, which includes songs by Gloria Gaynor, Erykah Badu, The Shirelles, India.Arie and Beyoncé.
Harris calls the play a “jukebox musical,” because it includes a slew of songs that will be familiar to the audience.
“The playwright, Dorothy Marcic, put this together just to honor women, to see the different struggles they have,” he says. “It’s like musical therapy.”
The director says one of the most moving moments of the musical is when the characters do a Motown medley, performing songs by Aretha Franklin, The Chiffons and The Supremes. He hopes the play will inspire a conversation about race and culture in America.
“People need to talk about the things we don’t want to talk about sometimes,” he says.
He believes that music is the perfect way to start that conversation.
“There are some places in your soul that only music can touch,” he says.
Sistas! will be performed with a live band, which Harris says allows the play to “blossom in a beautiful way.” The score is overseen by musical director Brenda Hankins.
The cast, which consists of Christal Roundtree, Kenyata White, Cherylandria Banks, Sarah Shockley and Raven Woessner, also makes the music come to life.
“This is one of the nicest casts I’ve worked with,” Harris says. “They are super talented, but they are good people.”
Harris says the secret to good acting is to be purposed, honest and detailed.
“They have to be really purposed by why they’re there, honest to the moment and to be detailed, to promise themselves to get better every day,” he says.
The director says he loves doing work “that entertains with a message.”
“This piece is definitely that,” he says. “You’ll definitely be entertained, but you’ll come out with more knowledge… That’s a beautiful thing.”
Sistas! The Musical
Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center, 1333 E. Washington St., Phoenix
blacktheatretroupe.org, 602-258-8129
$41
