A lot has changed in singer Melba Moore’s life since she last graced the New Horizon Theater stage back in 2009: She recorded and released a duet album of love songs with powerhouse Phil Perry entitled, “Give the Gift of Love,” and the funk and soul album, “Forever Moore,” which includes the songs “Let’s Dance” and “It’s My Time Again.”
Not to mention Moore, the four-time Grammy-nominated singer, had a victorious run in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” where, for three months, she portrayed fellow songstress Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” in Sarasota, Fla. to rave reviews.
So, when she returns to Pittsburgh’s Kelly Strayhorn Theater on May 5 at 7:30 p.m. for New Horizon’s annual black-tie fundraising event, her sprits will be high and her singing—she boasts a five-octave range—will be, too.
“We were welcomed back with open arms,” said Moore, who was born Beatrice Melba Hill in New York City. “We’re looking forward to doing the show, myself and my musical director Levi Barcourt…and since we have been working together for the past three months we will be doing a tribute to Ms. Billie Holiday since that’s who I was playing.”
Moore is excited to be returning to Pittsburgh and working with New Horizon Theater, a freestanding theater company that consistently provides Pittsburgh with the four live stage productions annually and performs its daily operations with an all-volunteer core.
“People loved her performance before. She told her life story—she had a story to tell and people of all ages could understand,” said New Horizon Theater chairperson Joyce Meggerson-Moore. “She told stories and she changed clothes and she portrayed different times of her life in the show. We must have liked what we saw because we had Levi Barcourt and his band back performing in the 2010-2011 season. It’s going to be a combination of things that Melba is going to do so all kinds of people can enjoy the evening. She crosses all genres of TV, music, and stage with her music. Melba Moore started out in the ‘70s and a lot of the younger people may not know who she is. She’s had a tough life, too, in terms of being taken advantage of but she was a Black woman who had a lot of firsts.”
As Melba Moore was starting her career, her stepfather, pianist Clement Moorman, introduced her to several agents which eventually landed her a role on Broadway when she replaced Diane Keaton in the hit Broadway musical “Hair.” Following that, Melba Moore went on to star in the Ossie Davis-penned “Purlie” on Broadway as Luttiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, which earned her a Tony Award. She was also the first African American actress to play the lead role of Fantine in “Les Miserables.”
Melba Moore was also the first female pop/R&B artist to perform a non-operatic solo concert at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House. She has performed for Caesars Palace, Riviera and Sahara Hotels. Internationally, she performed at the legendary L’ Olympia-Olympia Hall, the Cannes Film Festival, Talk of the Town and more recently, she was at the Jazz Café in London.
After theater, Melba Moore decided to focus on her musical career. She made her debut on Mercury with “I Got Love.” That was followed by “Look What You’re Doing to the Man.” She also had her own variety show with actor and pastor Clifton Davis entitled, “The Melba Moore-Clifton Davis Show” on CBS.
She enjoyed great musical success with such chart-topping hits as “Lean On Me,” “Stormy Weather,” “Love’s Comin’ At Ya,” “Keepin’ My Lover Satisfied,” “Living For Your Love” and “Read My Lips,” earning her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal. She had two Billboard # 1 singles for “Falling” and “A Little Bit More,” a duet with Freddie Jackson. Her current single, “It’s My Time Again” from the “Forever Moore” CD debuted on the London music dance charts at #16.
“I had no clue what ‘Hair’ was while I was in it,” said Melba Moore, a born-again Catholic who enjoys watching Christian television and working out when she isn’t performing. “I had a wisdom tooth taken out and it took quite a while to heal, so for a while I was watching the show from the back and that’s when I realized it was a bunch of vignettes that when you string them together it tells a whole story.”
When she went on to play the feisty Luttiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins in “Purlie,” Melba Moore realized her God-given talent at acting.
“The pay wasn’t great because I was not known, but I got great, great, great training. ‘Purlie’ was a comedy and you get paid to be happy and joyful. I came from a broken family earlier in life and that’s when I realized you can choose to be happy. I realized I had been depressed all my life and I said, ‘I don’t want to be depressed, I want to be happy.’”
Barcourt, Melba Moore’s musical director, will join her (and a band) for the New Horizon performance.
“The piano is such an orchestrated instrument. It’s one of the few instruments where you can play a chord baseline and melody simultaneously. There’s a lot of different ways you can go musically. That lends itself to a lot of nuances. Melba and I just finished the Billie Holiday show and we’ll be doing some of that and then Melba’s hits, so it’ll be a nice mixture for the audience,” said Barcourt, who enjoys spending time with his children and playing racquetball and chess. “We’re both perfectionists and when we come together it’s like cooking in the kitchen. That’s an approach that we’re just coming together to make it the best possible experience for the artist, the band and the audience. The audience will hear and feel the intimacy. It’s magic in the room, it’s the magic of God.”
(Ticket prices for the show are as follows: rear balcony, $40; front balcony, $50; orchestra, $100 (includes black-tie reception and brochure listing). For tickets, visit Dorsey’s Digital Imaging on Frankstown Avenue or online at brownpapertickets.com.)
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