‘Wicked,’ ‘Hamlet,’ ‘Steel Magnolias’ and more on Memphis stages in April
Olivia Valli stars as Elphaba in the National Tour of "Wicked" at The Orpheum. (Joan Marcus/Courtesy Orpheum Theatre)
“Your Arms Too Short to Box with God” at Playhouse on the Square, April 26-May 19
An almost-forgotten Broadway musical will experience a resurrection, so to speak, at Playhouse on the Square in April and May.
”Your Arms Too Short to Box with God” is based on the Gospel of Matthew, with rollicking gospel tunes and spiritual ballads sung by characters representing Jesus, Mary, Pilate, Pilate’s wife, Judas and others.
“We’ve been given the honor and opportunity of bringing this piece back to life,” said Michael Detroit, executive director of Playhouse on the Square.
The musical debuted on Broadway in 1976; actress Delores Hall won a Tony for her performance in the show the next year. After several runs and a national tour, a 1982 Broadway revival starred Patti LaBelle and Memphis’ own Al Green, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his role.
Aside from a few one-off and unlicensed performances, Detroit says that 1982 run was the show’s finale for nearly 40 years. He says that no licensing agency picked up the show, and its creators — Vinnette Carroll, Alex Bradford and Micki Grant — worked on other projects.
POTS board member Tony Horne remembered the show and brought it up to Detroit and the theater team. Detroit had seen commercials for the gospel show when he was a child.
POTS contacted the creators’ estate through an agency and convinced them Memphis was the best place for a revival production.
“We’re the largest minority-majority city in the United States; 65% African American, that’s obviously a gospel town,” Detroit said he told the agency. But there was a catch.
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Alys Drake
Alys Drake is a Memphian born and raised in the Bluff City. A theater-lover, she has worked in a variety of communications roles over the years and is pleased to work in a place where all her Memphis trivia knowledge is put to good use.
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