Play the Spotlight Theatre presents Nina Simone: Soul Sessions
A dazzling new show called Nina Simone: Soul Sessions will be performed at Assembly Checkpoint from Thursday 6 – Sunday 30 August, 20.50. The concert is devised and performed by Apphia Campbell, creator and star of 2014’s Fringe hit Black Is The Color Of My Voice.
Featuring full-length songs of Simone, Soul Sessions will explore the parallels between the lives of Campbell and Simone, tracking the tales of both women lives and how each developed personally and artistically in the country of birth – United States, followed by their travels around the world.
In this 60-minute show, Campbell will sing Nina Simone favourites including Sinner Man, Feeling Good and My Baby Just Cares For Me and promises to take the audience on a trip through time, presenting the unique voices and similar stories of both women.
Apphia Campbell is originally from Florida, USA and after several years living in Shanghai she moved to Edinburgh earlier this year. She was one of the founding members of West Coast Black Theatre Troupe, which won the Curtain Call People’s Choice Award for 2011’s best musical, Marvin Gaye: The Man and his Music, and the 2011 Handy Award by Herald-Tribune’s drama critic Jay Handleman for Five Guys Named Moe.
After performing in regional theatres and off-Broadway in New York, Campbell moved to Shanghai, China in 2009, where she sang blues, jazz, and pop at venues including Cotton Club, Park Hyatt, Brick and Le Meridian Hotel. Apphia also wrote and produced two modern-day Christmas musicals, Josephina’s Holiday and Holiday Hitch, and starred in Sartre’s No Exit for Shanghai’s Blue Lane Theatre.
Last year she premiered Black Is the Color of My Voice at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe after selling out in Shanghai in May and October 2013. Following the success of the fringe festival in 2014 Black Is the Color of My Voice, Campbell has performed the show multinationally, including runs in the US, Caribbean and Asia. By popular demand the show returns to Gilded Balloon this year.
Listings Information: Nina Simone: Soul Sessions will be performed at Assembly Checkpoint Teviot Row House, 3 Bristo Place, Edinburgh, EH11, Venue 322.
From Thursday 6 – Sunday 30 August (except 12,17,24 August) 20.50 (ends 21.50).
Box office – 0131 623 3030. Tickets are £10, £12, £13.50 http://www.assemblyfestival.com
Website: http://www.apphiacampbell.com
Submitted by Scott Weddell
