Jefferson Performing Arts Society

Jefferson Performing Arts Society

Sistas-website

Sistas: the Musical

JAN. 27 - FEB. 12, 2023

Fri + Sat @ 7:30 pm
Sun @ 2:00 pm

Teatro Wego! (TW)

177 Sala Avenue | Westwego, LA

by Dorothy Marcic

A song-filled journey full of soul and history! 

FEATURING LIVE MUSIC BY ROBERT PATE & THE RASCALS

This joyful musical follows five women as they come together to clean out their matriarch’s home and discover fragments of their past. As they share stories and memories, they honor black women throughout history while performing top hits from the 1930s to the 1990s, from Billie Holiday to Beyonce. Based on real interviews with African American women, this uplifting show contains a range of emotions and sing-a-long soulful tunes for all generations, from “Oh, Happy Day,” “Mr. Big Stuff,” and “I Will Survive” to “Tyrone,” “I am Not My Hair,” and “A Woman’s Worth.”

Season Ticket Info

Don't miss a single act by subscribing to our 45th Season (2022-2023). Enjoy a discount off your ticket price, avoid ticketing fees, and keep your seats next season!

Kiane D. Davis, is a multi-faceted individual with many talents and skills across multiple disciplines. Across her many crafts, she is a producer, director, singer, actor, dancer and stage manager. Kiane directed Sweet Potato Queens The Musical to kick off the 45th JPAS season.  She is currently Vice President for Productions at Bazillionaire Group LLC., a touring entertainment company. She is the founder and President of Quality Control ProManagement LLC., a production organizing company. All things “live stage” is her passion. She is a member of the Moses Hogan Singers and a singer with the Bazillionaire Group. She recently directed Steel Magnolias at New Dawn Theater in Duluth, Ga. She has returned home to New Orleans to spend time with family and found her way back to the theater with a longtime friend, Jefferson Performing Arts Society. Many years ago, Kiane debuted with JPAS as Jewel in Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Last season at JPAS, she was stage Manager for The Addams Family and played the Dragon and Mama Bear in the production of Shrek The Musical. She is an Assistant Stage Manager with New Orleans Opera productions this current season.  She looks forward to what God has planned for her and is grateful to do what she loves.

 “I would like to dedicate this production run to My Sister, My Hero….You are the Best.”

 

Robert L. Pate Jr. "Maestropate" (Music Director), New Orleans raised native, has been the musical director for several Musicals; Mahalia, Dreamgirls, Ain't Misbehavin, Hair The American Tribe Musical, The Jungle Book, The Wiz, just to name a few. Pate earned a Big Easy nomination for Best Musical Director for The Wiz. Pate has been directing choirs and teaching piano since the age of 12. Pate is also a Gospel Artist and songwriter that's traveled the world. He has an album out entitled The Robert Pate Project Freshman Edition.

CAST

Click headshot for bio

Jacquel Cockerham

Roberta

Kiane D. Davis

Simone

Melissa McKenzie

Heather

Nicole Washington

Tamika

Danielle Edinburgh-Wilson

Gloria

Carlie Claire Goodlett

Stage Manager

Press Release

January 27-February 12, 2023, at Teatro Wego in Westwego  

 A Celebration of Black Women & Family, History & Healing Featuring 40 Hit Songs by Black Female Legends Including Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Jill Scott, Whitney Houston, The Supremes, & More!  

(December 28, 2022—Metairie, Louisiana)—Sistas the Musical will be presented by Jefferson Performing Arts Society for three weekends, from January 27 through February 12, 2023, at Teatro Wego at 177 Sala Avenue in Westwego.  

The show opened Off-Broadway in 2011 and makes its New Orleans premiere with this local production, featuring an all-local cast directed by Kiane D. Davis with musical direction by Robert Pate. 

SISTAS! features five women (four Black, one white) coming together after their grandma dies. While sifting through memories and confronting one another, songs from blues singers like Bessie Smith, all the way to modern hip-hop songs by Mary J. Blige, illuminate their own journeys.  The hit tunes performed by the show’s characters trace the history of Black women, from the trials of the 1930s through the girl groups of the ‘60s to the empowerment of the ‘90s. 

The show is filled with both humorous and touching moments about family, death, loss, and love, as well as frank discussions about social and racial injustices. 

SISTAS! The Musical was written by Dr. Dorothy Marcic, a playwright and professor whose musicals have played in over 100 cities. Her musicals include RESPECT/This One’s for the Girls, and SISTAS, which has played on BET-TV and is based on interviews with 100 Black women in Nashville.  She is a professor at Columbia University, a former Fulbright Scholar at the University of Economics-Prague, and the writer/story creator of three award-winning short films.  

Tickets are on sale now. Tickets are $37 (discounts are available for seniors, military, students, and children).  To purchase, visit www.jpas.org or call the JPAS Box Office at 504-885-2000.  Parking is free in the lot adjacent to Teatro Wego at 177 Sala Avenue.