Announcements were made this week that Fantasia Barrino will star as Mahalia Jackson in a motion picture about the gospel star’s life.
The movie will be based on the book Got To Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel, and will focus on Mahalia’s life as a gospel singer and civil rights activist.
Shooting begins in April of this year, in Pittsburgh and Chicago, with a film release expected in December of 2011.
YEAH!!!!!!!!!
Interesting? For some reason I'm seeing Fantasia as a young Aretha Franklin. Fantasia as The legendary Queen of Gospel? I'm thinking ..... NOT !!!! No disrespect to Fantasia. Everybody know good and well Mahalia Jackson didn't ever have any tatoos! Come on! I see someone like Kelly Price playing Mahalia Jackson. Fantasia please surprise us all and do this biopic justice. I've been waiting for years for Mahalia Jackson's Biopic to hit the big screens! It should be traeted with a reverance, dignity, and respect for an icon of this magnitude nad caliber! Fantasia I know you are aware that this is really big, a serious deal, I know you will treat it as such. Study her life, read her biographies, watch her documentaries, fast and pray while in the ontaking of this major serious production. Remember other than documentaries no one has ever approached portraying her life through the motion picture medium, only musicals, and theater! Listen to all of the recordings of her you can. We know you can sing Fantasia? Study Mahalia's vocals, Mahaliah Jackson was a true annoited singer of God, not a squawler, or an entertainer.
This announcement bothered me as I was wondering how this decision came about;reading the above post by: V Lawrence I agree too some extent with some of his comments...my thoughts were; when did the auditions occur and my second thought was who else could have played this role? I thought of a few persons such as: Jennifer Holliday, Vicki Winans,Shawn Pace or any of the Pace Sisters,Kathy Taylor,Tamela Mann,Karen Clarke Sheard,Sunday Best's Jessica Reedy,Andre Crouch's Sister,Regina Belle, Gladys Knight,Kelly Price just to name a few...Oh! there was this lady in New Orleans, La. that would sing at various programs and functions; she was amazing because she studied Mahalia Jackson's voice and sounded just like her; this was back in the late 70's thru the 80's etc...sigh... I'm not impressed...thinking whom will they make a mistake and chose to play Aretha Franklin...hoping its Sundays Best: Leandria Johnson...it always strikes a nerve in me as the industry will not give the real respect and opportunitys to many of your Gospel Artist who not only are gifted and talented singers, but, I'm sure would be awesome actors and actresses... I'm Done...Praise the Lawddddddddddddddddddddd...smh...
WOW that is a blessing.
DUH...there gonna cover the tats up...
Who are you??? Someone who can't sing and don't have any talent please go do something else with your life besides talking about Fantasia
Black people always complaining about there own kind. You don't see any other race doing this except us. WHY? Are any of you paying for this? Where you even thinking about making a movie for this women before you heard about this? Shut your mouth and let the professionals do what they do. Black folks will believe anything they here about another person before even knowing the full story. Fantasia was love by all in 03 when she won AI. When she told people on Television that she wasn't a strong reader, like most of America, People really let her down with all the name calling and God only knows what else. Forget she's been singing Gospel all her life before being discovered.
People don't want to entertain that at all...just focus on what they are or think they know. Be happy for a Black women who's not on Food Stamps and Depending on someone paying her way. She's working really hard. She touring all overseas and making a Pile of Money to say the least. If some of you can do better, get off your lazy tale and do better or fund a movie yourself and cast who you think it shoud be. Oh, your broke behinds can't do it, huh? Shut up and sit your ass down somewhere. You talk about Crabs in a Barrel...Up your people and stop tearing them down. Idiots!
I think Mahalia Jackson would not approve of Fantasia portraying her in the movie about her life,Mahalia Jackson was a woman of high morals,she refused to sell out and sing R&B. Fantasia is an insult to her with her personal life and low standards.Mahalia Jackson did not give into worldly temptations and lived her life according to the word of GOD. I was excited to hear about this movie but i am very disappointed with the choice of Fantasia, her voice does not sound anything like Mahalia,there are many other gospel artists that sound like her and can really sing.Fantasia screams & puts on a unrealistic show so bad that she makes a spectacle of her self pretending to be caught up in the spirit, just shameful.