Melba Moore's musical life

Jet, May 16, 2005

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Caption: MELBA MOORE'S MUSICAL LIFE: Famed singer-actress Melba Moore recently won rave reviews for her performance in Melba Moore: Sweet Songs of the Soul, an autobiographical play with music, at Woodie King's New Federal Theatre in New York City. The play, which ran in a limited three-week engagement, recalls her childhood to her rise to fame with her 1970 Tony Award-winning performance in Purlie. She also performs her soul hits, including You Stepped Into My Life and Lean On Me. Moore pays tribute to her early musical influences with showstopping renditions of Duke Ellington's Don't Mean A Thing and Lena Horne's signature tune, Stormy Weather. She returns to her gospel roots with a rousing rendition of The Other Side Of the Rainbow from her gospel CD, Nobody But Jesus. Reflecting on her long career, Moore says, "Nobody but Jesus could have made this possible."