FORT LAUDERDALE – The Broward Center for the Performing Arts will present the soaring energy and powerful voices of The Blind Boys of Alabama and Mavis Staples in a soul-stirring concert on Wednesday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Au-Rene Theater.
Multiple Grammy Award-winners, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and Gospel Hall of Fame inductees, The Blind Boys of Alabama cross multiple musical boundaries with their remarkable interpretations of everything from traditional gospel favorites to contemporary spiritual songs by Ben Harper, Eric Clapton, Prince and Tom Waits. Singer Jimmy Carter, who was there when the group was first formed, leads the band today with firm conviction and joyous commitment. The band’s audience, once rigidly segregated and confined to traditional gospel venues, now reflects the group’s eclectic, global following.
Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the legendary Staple Singers, Staples continues to make vital music with a new documentary about her life airing on HBO and the recent release One True Vine. With the warm embrace of her voice the only constant, she helped create the delta-inflected gospel sound in the 1950s ("Uncloudy Day"), then contributed to the engaged protest of the civil rights era ("Freedom Highway") and made pop radio hits (“I’ll Take You There,” “Respect Yourself,” "Let’s Do It Again.”) Existing outside any genre, she has become a part of the fabric of soul, R&B, jazz, gospel, rock and blues.
Tickets are $50–$75 with $125 LAN & TAM Airlines Club Level seats available. Ticketmaster is the only official ticketing service of the Broward Center, Parker Playhouse and affiliated venues. Buy tickets online at BrowardCenter.org or Ticketmaster.com; by phone at 954-462-0222; in person at Ticketmaster outlets or the Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office. Know who you are buying from when you purchase tickets. We CANNOT PROVIDE REFUNDS OR CUSTOMER SERVICE for tickets purchased from unauthorized sites, brokers or secondary ticket sellers.
The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is located in the Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District at 201 SW Fifth Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.
AutoNation, Bank of America, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Latam Airlines Group, MasterCard, Paramount Refreshment Solutions, Rick Case Automotive Group and Sun Sentinel are proud sponsors of the Broward Center.
All dates, programs and artists are subject to change.
