Bessie Smith was influenced by Ma Rainey and eventually auditioned for the show but was hired as a “chorine,” or a chorus girl, because the show already had its blues singer in Ma Rainey. New Orleans ...

Like a perfectly timed high note in a torch song, Bessie doesn't tiptoe into queerness as filmmaker Dee Rees gives us a love letter to Black, bisexual brilliance. After all, when history forgets our ...

Not only can ladies sing the blues, but sometimes one lady can hold within her many types of them. The Black Academy of Arts and Letters proves this as Sandra Reaves Phillips channels the lives and ...

Smith was barnstorming the South, performing her act under a canvas tent for Black audiences or in segregated theaters. One sweltering night in July, it took her to the heart of Concord’s Black ...

The four-time Emmy-award winning HBO film Bessie, directed by Dee Rees, depicts the life and times of songstress Bessie Smith, a.k.a., the Empress of the Blues. Starring Queen Latifah as the openly ...

Detroit Repertory Theatre's production of August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" delivers a mostly solid performance with a talented cast. Audience etiquette was an issue, particularly during a ...