Thu 9/14-Sun 10/8
Nina Simone (1933-2003) was one of the towering figures of 20th-century music.
Proficient in soul, blues, gospel, jazz, classical, folk and pop, the vocalist/pianist/ composer was also a passionate civil rights/human rights activist whose profile — personal and professional — grew during the Civil Rights Era of the 60s, when she wrote and released her powerful song “Mississippi Goddam” in response to the 1963 murders of voting rights advocate Medger Evers and deaths of four little girls in a Birmingham, Alabama church bombing. It was only the best known of many tunes she wrote addressing that tumultuous time. She was also known for her volatile, even violent personality, and was diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder.
Now Karamu is presenting a new musical titled Simply Simone that will tell the dramatic story of her life in songs associated with her such as “Here Comes The Sun,” “Strange Fruit,” and “Young, Gifted, and Black.”
Tickets are $15-$37.
Cleveland, OH 44106