Event

Waiting for Bessie Smith

Written and directed by Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, Waiting for Bessie Smith is a fictional account of what happens on one winter night in Providence, after the June 1933 death of Sissieretta Jones, a prominent Black singer from Providence who enjoyed international fame between 1915 and 1928.

Prohibition has ended, but The Great Depression has engulfed all of America and there is little to look forward to, especially in the nation's Black communities. In Providence, Black people's despair has been compounded by the loss of their shining star.

A speak-easy owner, who has recently moved to Providence from Tennessee, decides to take action. He sends an invitation to his childhood friend, Bessie Smith, to come to Providence to help sing its blues away.

STARRING: Lydia Cooper, Kim Trusty, Paul Williams, Paul Bisch, Jason Quinn and Greg Johnson.