Tag: Robin Roberts

Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia

 

Release Date:  4/3/21; Lifetime
Genre:  Biography
Rating:  Unknown
Director:  Kenny Leon
Studio(s):  Rock’n Robin Productions, Lincoln Square Productions
Running Time:  TBA

Cast:  The TV movie stars Tony Award nominee, SAG, and Grammy Award winning actress Danielle Brooks (Orange is the New Black) as the legend and civil rights trailblazer.  Brooks is joined by an impressive list of Broadway stars including Tony nominee Joaquina Kalukango (Slave Play), Jason Dirden (Fences), Olivia Washington (The Butler) and Rob Demery (Lovecraft Country).  Dirden stars as Russell Roberts, the Reverend who falls for Mahalia when they first meet in the late 1940s while Kalukango takes on the role of Mildred, Mahalia’s talented and opinionated long-time pianist.  Washington portrays Estelle, a piano teacher Mahalia meets at church who goes on to become her life-long friend, and Demery stars as the influential civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Story:  The upcoming biopic Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia Jackson — the first project produced under a partnership between anchor Robin Roberts and Lifetime — is a fictionalized retelling of 40 years in the life of one of the greatest gospel singers of all time, Mahalia Jackson, dubbed the Queen of Gospel.

Born in New Orleans, Mahalia Jackson began singing at an early age and went on to become one of the most revered gospel figures in United States history, merging her music with her work as a civil rights activist. Her recording of the song “Move on Up a Little Higher” sold millions of copies, skyrocketing her to international fame.  She performed in diverse settings, including in front of a racially integrated audience at Carnegie Hall, as well as at John F. Kennedy’s inaugural ball.  An active supporter of the civil rights movement, Jackson sang at numerous rallies, including the March on Washington in 1963 alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in hopes that her music would encourage and inspire racial equality. She took centerstage at the historic march, where she not only performed as the lead-in to King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, but also played a direct role in turning that speech into one of the most memorable and meaningful in American history.

Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia Jackson will premiere Saturday, April 3, 2021, marking the 53rd year since Dr. King’s assassination on April 4, 1968.  Source(s):  yahoo.com.  Photo Sources: preprod.abcnews.go.com.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQfv2QTs4tc

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Stolen By My Mother:  The Kamiyah Mobley Story

a/k/a Kidnapped: The Kamiyah Mobley Story

Release Date:  1/18/20; Lifetime
Genre:   Drama/Based on a true story
Rating:   Unknown
Director:   Jeffrey W. Byrd
Studio(s):   Lincoln Square Productions, Rock’n Robin, Lifetime Network
Running Time:  Unknown
Cast:   Niecy Nash, Rayven Ferrell, Ta’Rhonda Jones

Story:   Stolen by My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley Story, is the first movie greenlit by Lifetime under the Robin Roberts Presents movie and documentary banner, from Rock’n Robin and Lincoln Square Productions.  The film portrays the true story of a young woman who discovers at age 18, she was abducted as a baby and the family she knew to be hers, wasn’t hers at all. The film will be followed by a companion documentary featuring the real-life people depicted in the movie.

In the summer of 1998, Gloria Williams (Nash), reeling from a recent miscarriage, drove from her home in South Carolina and walked into a Jacksonville, Florida hospital posing as a nurse and took newborn Kamiyah Mobley (Ferrell) out of her mother Shanara Mobley’s (Jones) arms. By the time police were alerted, Gloria was long gone. Renaming the baby Alexis, Gloria raised her as her own, providing her with unconditional love and nurturing.  It wasn’t until years later, when Alexis applied for her first job and couldn’t provide a social security card or a birth certificate, that she realized something was wrong.  After confronting Gloria, Alexis learned the truth, that she was really Kamiyah Mobley and abducted as a baby. Despite discovering the mother she knew was really her kidnapper, Alexis kept the secret as long as she could, until an anonymous tip soon led to Gloria’s arrest and their world came tumbling down.   Source:  Black Film.  Photo Source:  Deadline/Lifetime.

Trailer:

 

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