Mahalia

From the Mel Gussow Review, NY Times, June 6, 1978

MAHALIA JACKSON, the legendary gospel singer, who died in 1972, is the subject of “Mahalia,” a musical biography that certainly deserves an exclamation point after its title…

The essence of the show is the exultant music—traditional gospel that makes the stage bounce like a storefront tabernacle and original blues and jazz by John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet (with lyrics by Don Evans). Mr. Lewis’s songs, including two of the best in the show, “Peace (There Will Be Peace)” and “Blues for Minnis (I’d Always Be There),” blend nicely with the rest of the score.

The cast, beginning with Esther Marrow in the title role, enriches the stage with its musicality, and the on‐stage band, featuring Nat Adderly, is an exercise in rhythmic harmony.