By Darvi Brooks
In Sista’s and Storytellers, we meet six best friends who as little girls, spent their summers traveling as the Heavenly Voices gospel group where they brought down the house at local churches with their magical sound. At a mountain cabin reunion 30 years later, they reminisce, share, support each other, and entertain their Denver Civic Center Theatre audiences, bringing down the house again.
CoCo Brown and Sheryl Renee, divas in their own musical right, step up to the challenge of writing, producing with Hazel Miller, and acting in live theater. Director Khadija Haynes has a proven passion for theater and an aching desire to see Black women actors in leading roles. Instead of waiting for an opportunity that may not come, “two Black women who are not theater professionals wrote this play,” Haynes said. “They wrote it and brought in other black women professionals who are getting paid. I have to say, they made a way and that’s what we do in Black America every day.”
The musical opens with the childhood friends greeting each other and settling in with cocktails, snacks, photos, and the commencement through song, of the expression of the highs and lows of life, particularly in relation to men. These women deliver perfectly harmonized ensembles and breathtaking solos, start to finish. Hazel Miller glows in her relaxed style and sultry voice in “Sixxy,” as she sings her heart out about not having love in her life. Meanwhile, Wona, played by Linda Theus-Lee, counters with her feisty character’s joy in being single. But, she’s got love on her mind and her singing about it throws bible-thumping Twoey, played by Yvonne Brown, into full-on preacher mode, having been married to Jesus since her husband left her 15 years ago. Sounding just like Deniece Williams, Brown makes you want to do some forgiving yourself when singing “I Forgive You.”
Sheryl Renee is remarkable as Fivea with her own set of man problems, because her husband has no interest in her and cell phone suitors who do. Her voice is magnificent, as usual. Threesa, played by Shelly Lindsey, takes the audience to virtual church with her amazing soprano ability. CoCo Brown, plays Fouresha, who tries to hide her dirt but can’t, and belts out a powerful rendition of Stevie Wonder’s song ‘As.’ Brown and the two-man band (a keyboard player and a drummer whose musical aptitude is showcased in this song), left the audience rocking out even after the curtain came down. But, before the final curtain dropped, the divas sang “Total Praise” and sounded more like a mass choir than six individual headliners.
The cast received a standing ovation opening night, but the second performance brought much more. The musical has received criticism for technical difficulties and for what some have said is a weak storyline, but Director Haynes said, “The essence of live theater and what most people in our community don’t understand is [that] it’s not an episode, it’s live. It took some very bold and brave Black women to say ‘I ain’t never done it [but] I think I can do it. It’s a musical workshop- something in progress- aren’t we all that on our journey? Shouldn’t that be rejoiced and sang about?”
“I’m so blessed hearing you,” said Reggie McDaniel, a well-respected movie critic and the first Black man to have a nationally-syndicated television show, during an interview with the cast after the second performance that aired on ION Television last month.
Haynes wants the musical to reach well beyond Denver. Disturbed that there is not more exposure for Black women and young Black children to be involved in musicals like this, she said, “This show needs to go on the road.”
Editor’s note: To see Sista’s And Storytellers in Denver, find tickets and information at www.ticketswest.com or call 303-309-3773.
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