Mama, I Want to Sing!

Mama, I Want to Sing! may refer to:

Mama, I Want to Sing! (musical)

Mama I Want To Sing! is a 1983 musical based on the life and times of African-American singer Doris Troy.

Production

As a tribute to many of the African-American stars' rise to fame in the 1960 and 1970s, Vy Higginsen based her musical on the life of her sister Doris Troy. Troy's 1963 hit "Just One Look" launched her to international fame and a successful career in London, although her roots were in her church choir. This is not unlike the rise of other R&B and jazz singers such as Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle and Donna Summer. Vy Higginsen and Ken Wydro, her husband, conceived the play in January 1979 and subsequently wrote the book and lyrics. The musical, however, was rejected by every major producer in New York. The lack of interest was largely due to the doubtfulness that a large enough audience would be attracted to a gospel-based production. The couple persisted without a producer, and invested their life-savings to hire out the 632-seat Heckscher Theatre in East Harlem, which had previously been closed for 15 years. Vy envisioned her audience as being "senior citizens, church groups, school children, and hard-working black mothers and fathers who had spiritual values and loved soul-stirring music."

Mama, I Want to Sing! (film)

Mama, I Want to Sing! is an American musical film written and directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, produced by Vision Films and CodeBlack Entertainment, and distributed by 20th Century Fox's Fox Faith division. The film is an adaptation of the off-Broadway gospel stage musical of the same name, written and produced by Vy Higginsen and Ken Wydro.

The film is based on the life story of Doris Troy, a preacher's daughter who sang in a church choir before being discovered by James Brown. Doris Troy's niece, Knoelle, who has played the star role in the off-Broadway production, makes her film debut in the movie in a principal role.

One of the executive producers announced via Twitter that the movie was completed in June 2009. The official movie trailer was released and premiered on September 22, 2009. It was set to premiere September 26, 2009 at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York, but due to technical issues it was canceled. The film was also slated to premiere on July 23, 2010, at the Faith Film Festival, but was also cancelled as well. In an October 2010 interview, Jeff Clanagan (CEO of Codeblack Entertainment) announced that the film was set for a January 14, 2011 release. However, it was pulled from the 10-15 theaters it was scheduled for at the last minute. In December 2011, a press release from Fox Home Entertainment states that Mama, I Want to Sing! will become a direct-to-video film. A new promo shot was also released. The film was released straight-to-DVD on February 14, 2012 following years of production hell and numerous delays.