Latest news with #MarieAndRosetta
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Beverley Knight's 'heart full' after hometown Wolverhampton shows
Acclaimed soul singer Beverley Knight has said her "heart is full" after a week of shows in her starred in Marie & Rosetta at Wolverhampton Grand last month, 40 years after performing on the same stage with the city's youth theatre at 12 years said the singer "gave back to the community in bucket-loads" by inviting students who had never visited a theatre before and singing for visitors with visiting a mural of herself in the city for the first time, Knight wrote on Instagram: "I don't know if I will ever find the words to explain how much being at home in Wolverhampton meant to me." Knight invited 20 students from her old school, Highfields, while 20 others came from Star King Solomon Academy in Birmingham, 90% of whom had never been to a Bird, the theatre's head of marketing, said the singer performed at the Grand's Memory Café for people living with dementia, and assisted blind and partially-sighted audience members on to the stage to get closer to props and costumes. "Wolverhampton is so blessed to have Beverley Knight, a proud Wulfrunian, so visibly championing the city," he added."The audience response to her Grand Theatre debut in Marie & Rosetta was proof of the appreciation the local community have for her." The singer's mural, on Victoria Passage just off Skinner Street, was painted on the side of a shop last September by Wolverhampton-based creator Jack Sankson, also known as paid for the artwork out of his own pocket and said he appreciated Knight taking the time to look at it."It is also great to be recognised by her," he added. Knight said being recognised with the mural and a plaque at the theatre was "just beautiful".She added: "More than anything, [to] the audiences that just kept coming and coming and coming, I can't thank you all enough."My heart's full, it's full." Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Beverley Knight recording again after return to Wolverhampton
Beverley Knight has said she is planning to record more music after performing in her hometown the first time in 40 years, the artist is treading the boards in Wolverhampton this week for a production of Marie & work features music celebrating the legacy of gospel and blues singer Rosetta Tharpe in the development of rock 'n' said "expect to hear some really bluesy vocals going down, some really earthy sounding stuff" in the music she would record. The singer told BBC Radio WM this would take place "in the short period" after finishing in Wolverhampton and before doing her first show with Take That's Gary Barlow. Asked what kind of material would be recorded, she said for her "it's always a hybrid" before mentioning the "blues and that kind of sound" in her current show and the film Sinners "and that proper fusion of modern blues and that"."I've just been living for it," added Knight, who said she did not know when it would be last performed on stage at the Grand four decades ago in a theatrical production of West Side Story, the singer previously stated. Knight, widely regarded as one of Britain's greatest soul singers, has said to be cast as Sister Rosetta in this week's production was a "great honour".Marie & Rosetta tells the story of Tharpe and her protege, Marie Knight, played by Ntombizodwa Ndlovu. It is on at the Grand Theatre until Saturday. It is set in 1946 in Mississippi and Beverley Knight said it was "right up my street... the gospel, of course, I was born into that whole tradition myself".She added: "I'm so happy I'm home. I'm gonna be in my old bedroom."More or less it looks the same as it was. [The] bed's in the same place... [the] fitted wardrobe's in the same place."Knight said her favourite place in the city "just to zone out and just chill out" was Bantock Park."I love Bantock Park. You've got the lovely cafe there and they do a really good tea and cake and... I go for lovely runs around there in the morning." Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Woman's Hour Beverley Knight, ADHD and menopause, Barrister Robin Moira White
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was known as the 'godmother of rock and roll' and influenced countless musicians from Elvis to Johnny Cash. Now Olivier Award-winning performer Beverley Knight is playing Sister Rosetta in a new production, Marie and Rosetta, which has just opened at the Rose Theatre in London. It tells the story of Rosetta and her singing partner, Marie Knight, described as one of the most remarkable and revolutionary duos in music history. Beverley joins Nuala McGovern in the Woman's Hour studio to discuss how the show hopes to restore these forgotten musical heroines to the spotlight. A new programme, Inside our ADHD Minds, is exploring the link between ADHD and the menopause. It's thought that around 3 to 4% of people in the UK, that's 1 in 20, have ADHD - Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. However many women still remain undiagnosed for decades of their lives, with those in their 40s, 50s and 60s only now discovering they have it for the first time. Jo Beazley was diagnosed with ADHD just two years ago at the age of 49, after her symptoms worsened during the menopause. She joins Nuala along with Amanda Kirby, the former chair of the ADHD Foundation and a professor in the field of neurodiversity. This week we'll be hearing different perspectives on the recent Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman under the Equality Act, and how it could and should be interpreted on the ground. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has issued interim guidance that, in places open to the public, trans women shouldn't use women's facilities such as toilets. Today Nuala speaks to Robin Moira White, a barrister who specialises in taking discrimination cases, and who is also a trans woman. Robin transitioned in 2011 and is co-author of A Practical Guide to Transgender Law. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths
