Sistas: The Musical revolves around five characters: Simone, Roberta, Heather, Gloria and Tameka. These women are joined together in an attic to prepare for the home-going service for the family matriarch. As they clean out the space, they unlock their history with songs to accompany the overwhelming emotions, whether joy or pain.
Roberta, played by Jennifer Fouche, is the childless, sassy aunt whose strong personality matches her vocal performance.
Gloria played by, Tracey Conyer Lee is the stern and modest widow who has a deeply rooted faith in God.
Lexi Rhoades plays Tamika, the youngest out of the women, who also bears a striking resemblance to Faith Evans, but doesn’t quite meet her vocal ability. What she lacks in vocal range, she makes up for in acting. It would’ve been almost scary to watch her play Evans in Notorious–they share the same features from their oval-shaped faces to the light complexion.
Tameka’s mother (Badia Farha), Simone, plays the single mother who has worked hard to provide for her family but hasn’t let life get in the way of her optimistic outlook.
Though the musical is centered around black woman empowerment incorporated in the progression of music, there is one white character, Heather, who brings a different perspective of looking at life from the “other” side.
The musical manages to squeeze almost a century’s worth of black women’s history into an hour and a half of smiles and song. If nothing else, it is informative and laughter invoking. It merely scratches the surface of issues faced by African American women but overall is an enjoyable experience.
