STORMY WEATHER to Play MPAC, 2/12

Mary Wilson, one of the founding members of The Supremes, stars in Stormy Weather: The Story of Lena Horne, at Mayo Performing Arts Center on Friday, February 12, 2016 at 8 pm. Tickets are $29-69.

STORMY WEATHER is a "living, breathing, biography" combining story, song and visual images to give us the defining portrait of an American icon and also features another American icon, Mary Wilson. Thrilling arrangements include "Stormy Weather;" "Honeysuckle Rose;" "Yesterday When I Was Young" and many others made popular by Lena Horne. The event is narrated by Horne biographer James Gavin. "To catch Mary Wilson's show is a masterclass and history lesson all in one! Lena Horne's story is so gracefully orated by New York writer, James Gavin and sung by the great Mary Wilson." - Artistic Director of Adelaide Cabaret Festival (Adelaide, Australia)

Lena Horne was a singer, actress, and activist who brought passion and dignity to every aspect of her life at a time when African American women were given no voice or opportunity of expression. Author James Gavin wrote a biography about Lena Horne, entitled Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne, and then decided to turn it into a live show. The performance features storytelling, interviews, rare audio and video, and visual images as well as a live performance of several of Lena Horne's songs, sung by Mary Wilson.

Best known as the founding member of The Supremes, Mary Wilson maintains an active solo career as a concert performer, musicians' rights activist and musical theater performer. In 1988, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with her fellow members of The Supremes.

Ms. Wilson met James Gavin in 2010 a few weeks before Lena Horne died. She met Horne during her days as a Supreme and cited her as one of her role models. She and Gavin hit it off and she said she would love to sing Lena's songs in his show. The show premiered in Los Angeles in 2011.

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