Mahalia Jackson movie debuts April 3 on Lifetime

Last year, Lifetime scored ratings gold with “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel” about Detroit’s legendary musical family. And now, the TV network is back again with “Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia Jackson” celebrating the gospel icon of all icons. The first-ever film on the music giant’s life, it stars Augusta-born, South Carolina-raised Danielle Brooks, better known as Taystee from “Orange Is the New Black,” and is directed by Atlanta’s own Kenny Leon. “Good Morning America” broadcaster Robin Roberts, an Atlanta TV anchor and radio host early in her career, is the executive producer.

In February, during the TCA (Television Critics Association) Winter Press Tour, Roberts hinted at the personal pressure of doing Jackson’s music and her legacy justice. “That’s somebody that I grew up with. My mother went to Howard University. She was in the choral group. I remember that iconic black and white picture of Mahalia with the big face looking up. I remember we had an old record player, and she was always on it,” she shared.

Prior to receiving the offer to direct “Mahalia,” Leon, who had returned to Atlanta from directing his critically-acclaimed Broadway revival of “A Soldier’s Play,” had turned to Jackson, a favorite of his mother, for solace during the early stages of the pandemic. Brooks, who starred in “The Color Purple,” as Sofia alongside Cynthia Erivo, on Broadway, earning her a Tony nomination, grew up singing Jackson. In fact, her “Color Purple” co-stars Jennifer Hudson and longtime Atlanta-area resident Jennifer Holliday each told her she should one day play the iconic singer. So, the pressure was on for award-winning composer and Marietta native Matthew Head to get the music right.

Credit: Zoa

Credit: Zoa

Like Leon, Roberts and Brooks, Head, whose many credits include “Green Leaf,” “Boomerang,” “P-Valley” and scholar Henry Louis Gates’ PBS documentary “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song,” also grew up with Jackson’s music, which gave him an extra sense of responsibility.

“Mahalia was my mother’s favorite singer, so I would hear Mahalia every weekend in our house growing up,” he said during an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “[Like] a lot of African American families, she was a staple in our house when it comes to gospel music, so I was very familiar, intimidated at first, when I got the call because just to do it justice, just to do it right, but it’s a blessing, and I was grateful to even have the opportunity to do it.”

Jackson, who was born in New Orleans in 1911 and raised by her aunt after her mother died when she was just 5, grew up in struggle. As one of the many migrants from the South to Chicago during the Great Migration, Jackson initially found more success as a businesswoman than as a singer. A woman of tremendous faith, she refused to sing secular music, particularly the blues during a time when Columbus native Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith were particularly successful. Interestingly, Villa Rica native Thomas Dorsey, who once played piano for Rainey and is widely considered “the father of gospel music,” wrote “Peace in the Valley,” and “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” two of Jackson’s many well-known songs. She rose to stardom taking gospel music to the national stage, selling millions of records, appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and even selling out Carnegie Hall.

“I didn’t want Danielle to sound like Mahalia. This movie is a love story to Mahalia. This is a tribute to Mahalia,” Head explained. “I wanted Danielle’s voice because that’s what Mahalia did for everyone. She inspired all of us. So, I didn’t want the music to feel like a karaoke moment.”

Explaining further, Head, who notes that “Danielle has an amazing voice,” shared that his goal was to capture “where these songs come from and why do they make us feel this way and why do we continue to sing them and why was Mahalia such an inspiration. That’s what we wanted to pay homage to.”

Credit: Grant Harder

The film, which airs April 3, on the date before Dr. King was killed in Memphis in 1968, also explores Jackson’s connection and influence on Dr. King (played by Atlanta theatre actor Rob Demery), particularly the role she played in his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

“I wanted to tell this story because I wanted to speak to Americans during our time of COVID, our time of pandemic, our time of racial challenges in our country,” Leon said back in February. “Through the lens of Mahalia Jackson, we get to tell a story that connects to all of us.”