Last night I had the pleasure of attending a special sneak preview of Born for This - The Bebe Winanas Story. The new musical about Bebe's journey of self-discovery will premiere on the Alliance Theatre stage in April. The event included a conversation between six time Grammy Award winner Bebe Winans, Broadway Director Charles Randolph-Wright, and award winning recording artist and producer Donald Lawrence. The conversation was facilitated by Alliance Theatre Artistic Director Susan Booth.
BEHIND THE MUSICAL
The event included a performance of the title track Born for This by Bebe Winans that was wonderful. He also performed a duet with the character Penny and a song with a choir. The panel also took questions from the audience.
Rehearsals began this week for the musical that details the story of BeBe Winans and his start with his sister CeCe Winans on the Praise The Lord (PTL) show back in 1983. Of course PTL was a Christian television program hosted by evangelist Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Donald Lawrence also worked with the PTL program early in his career so it was only fitting that Bebe Winans asked him to serve as the Musical Supervisor for Born for This. And ironically Director Charles Randolph-Wright grew up in the Pineville, NC area where PTL was filmed.
And in true 'keep it in the family' Winans way, the roles of Cece and Bebe Winans will be played by Bebe's niece and nephew. Donald Lawrence shared that the story is really about never giving up on your dreams. He said some things are just in your DNA. The director encouraged the audience to bring young people to the performance and commented that this type of art can change people which is really needed during the current climate of the nation. The musical will run from April 13 - May 15. Tickets can be purchased here.