A Night in the Life of this Legendary Songstress and "Ambassador of Love" Returns to MetroStage for the Holidays
Producing Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin is pleased to announce that Pearl Bailey...By Request, the smash hit that premiered last year at MetroStage, is returning for the holidays and will be in performance November 19-December 20. It will star Roz White, who conceived of the show and co-wrote it with Thomas W. Jones II. Ms. White, who shares a birthday with Pearl Bailey, is a Washington DC native and is a graduate of Duke Ellington School for the Arts and Howard University. She has appeared at MetroStage in Three Sistahs, Bricktop, Two Queens One Castle and Cool Papa's Party, all written and directed by her collaborator and MetroStage Associate Artistic Director, Thomas W. Jones II. She won a Helen Hayes Award for her role in Mr. Jones' Bessie's Blues (Studio Theatre). William Hubbard, who played Fats Waller in MetroStage's Bricktop, and won a Helen Hayes Award for Crowns (Arena Stage), will join Ms. White as a special guest playing Hot Lips Page, a singer heard on many of Pearl Bailey's albums. Mr. Hubbard has composed, music directed and performed in many MetroStage productions, including Harlem Rose, Three Sistahs, All Night Strut, Bricktop, Two Queens One Castle and Cool Papa's Party. Mr. Hubbard most recently music directed Black Pearl Singing at Ford's Theatre and Three Sistahs in Phoenix. Music arrangements and music direction for Pearl Bailey...By Request are by William Knowles, who has music directed and performed in many of MetroStage's musical productions including Bricktop, Cookin' at the Cookery and Cool Papa's Party. He will be performing with MetroStage regulars Yusef Chisholm on bass, Gregory Holloway on drums and David Cole on guitar. Pearl Bailey...By Request was most recently performed in Atlanta and will travel to Milwaukee Rep's Stackner Cabaret in January for an extended run. 
William Hubbard and Roz White (Photo by Colin Hovde)
Pearl Bailey recorded "16 Most Requested Songs" for Columbia Records and was paired with many musical luminaries of the day, including Frank Sinatra. Ms. White has chosen many of these numbers ("St. Louis Blues", "Baby It's Cold Outside", and "The Hucklebuck" to name just a few) and built an evening of marvelous music and memorable stories in her new tribute to Pearl. Although a star of stage and screen, Pearl's gifts were best savored in the nightclub, where she was able to establish a marked degree of intimacy with her audiences.
In Pearl Bailey...By Request, Ms. White is accompanied by a four piece band, recreating Pearl's musical magic as the audience is transported to a late1940's nightspot.
Born Pearl Mae Bailey, March 29, 1918, in Newport News, VA, Pearl Bailey grew up in Virginia, Washington, DC and Philadelphia becoming an acclaimed vocalist, actress, and irrepressible show business personality. She began her career as a dancer, but in 1938 she won a singing contest at Harlem's Apollo Theatre and was subsequently featured with big bands led by Noble Sissle, Edgar Hayes, Cab Calloway and Cootie Williams. She made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman (1946), and in 1952 married drummer/bandleader Louis Bellson, with whom she performed thereafter. She appeared in many films including Carmen Jones (1954) and St. Louis Blues (1959, with Eartha Kitt, Mahalia Jackson and Nat King Cole). She won a Tony Award for the all-black production of Hello Dolly! (1967-69, 1975) and hosted her own television variety show (1970-71). She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1971, was named the "Ambassador of Love" by Richard Nixon and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 from Ronald Reagan. She earned a B.A. in theology from Georgetown University in 1985. The autobiographies chronicling her remarkable life are The Raw Pearl, Between You and Me and Talking to Myself.
With twenty-three years of professional experience Roz White has performed with such nationally acclaimed artists as a Yolanda Adams and spent three years as lead vocalist at clubs on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Returning to DC after Hurricane Katrina, she has been appearing on DC stages and around the country ever since. As an actor, Ms. White has made versatility and adaptability her trademark. In addition to her work at MetroStage her resume includes roles she created, such as Alberta Hunter in MetroStage's Bricktop, Hannah in the hit musical Rejoice by Cheryl West (Jar the Floor), and other noted roles that include Effie White in Dreamgirls (national tour), Mahalia Jackson in Mahalia, and "Miss Adelaide" in the classic musical Guys and Dolls. In her new tribute, Pearl Bailey...By Request, Ms. White merges anecdotes, monologues, and Pearlie Mae's infectious, sultry tone with ballads, standards, and swing numbers.
Labels: Pearl
