Marie & Rosetta
West End Transfer
God don’t want the Devil to have all the good music right?
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the roof-raising ‘godmother of rock ‘n’ roll’, influenced countless musicians from Elvis to Johnny Cash. This sparkling, intimate portrait of Rosetta and her beloved singing partner, Marie Knight, restores these forgotten musical heroines to the spotlight as one of the most remarkable and revolutionary duos in music history.
Mississippi, 1946. Sister Rosetta has changed the face of gospel music with her exuberant, electric guitar-playing style. Shunned by straitlaced church folk for performing in nightclubs and glorying in rhythm and blues, she’s persuaded the saintly young singer Marie to join her on a tour of the segregated southern States. But first she has to convert Marie’s pure Sunday sound into something that has just a little more swing…
Featuring a wealth of joyous rock and gospel hits including Didn’t It Rain and Peace in the Valley, the show will feature live musicians accompanying Olivier Award-winning West End star Beverley Knight (Memphis, The Drifters Girl, Sylvia, Sister Act) as Rosetta Tharpe. Joining Beverley Knight is Ntombizodwa Ndlovu as Marie Knight. Her recent theatre credits include Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, The Space Between Us, Mixtape, Nothing, and The Mountain Top (Royal Exchange Theatre).
Reviews
★★★★★ “Directed by Stage Debut Award winner Monique Touko (The Boy at the Back of the Class and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding), leading ladies, the phenomenal singer-song writer actor and Marie and Rosetta executive produer Beverley Knight (Memphis, The Drifters Girl, Sylvia, Sister Act) as Rosetta Tharpe and recent graduate from Manchester School of Theatre, Ntombizodwa Ndlovu (Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, The Space Between Us, Mixtape, Nothing, and The Mountain Top) as Marie Knight making her West End debut shine in their roles.”
★★★★ “The play takes place in just one setting, but doesn't lose momentum, thanks to the combination of vibrant musical numbers and the sheer talent at work on stage.”
★★★★ “Director Monique Touko’s production is lightly staged, with barely any props, giving it the intimate, special feeling of an acoustic set from awesome musicians.”
★★★★ “Director Monique Touko has had to create different and distinct staging based on this new configuration, but the bones in her original choices remain and are every bit as inspiring and delightful as they were the first time around. There is a lot of love involved in Marie & Rosetta, with Touko’s direction the perfect example of that, finding the best ways to tell this story and transport the audience back 80 years.”
★★★★ “Marie and Rosetta is a brilliant evening of theatre. It is a loud, proud, and soulful exploration of a pioneer, led by two of the finest voices I’ve ever heard on a London Stage.”
★★★★ “Monique Touko's production, which started life at the Rose Theatre, Kingston last year before transferring to Chichester, adapts well to this still fledgling in-the-round West End space. And it features, in Beverley Knight and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu, two powerhouse vocal performances that amply convey the talents of the two women they portray.”
★★★★ “Monique Touko’s direction leans into the writing. The use of the stool and guitar case as guides into the world of Marie and Rosetta’s individual musical ability was inspired.”
★★★★ “ Tharpe is only half right. Yes, there are plug sockets all over 1940s Mississippi, but Monique Touko’s production of George Brant’s Marie and Rosetta sings with new electricity. After runs at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, and the Chichester Festival Theatre, its arrival in London’s West End brings a fresh, sparky current.”