Halifax filmmaker Thom Fitzgerald’s urban tragedy premieres June 1 on VisionTV

“Everyone fighting some kind of devil for their soul.” – Momma-Lou Steele

Momma-Lou Steele has lived her whole life in the North End of Halifax – but she barely recognizes the neighbourhood anymore. Drugs and violence have robbed the community of its soul. When these evils find their way into her home, Momma-Lou decides she has no choice but to take matters into her own hands.

On Tuesday, June 1 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, VisionTV presents the world television premiere of The Gospel According to the Blues, an hour-long drama special by Genie Award-winning Halifax writer-director Thom Fitzgerald (The Hanging Garden, The Event).

This stark urban tragedy is based on Halifax-born playwright George Boyd’s drama Gideon’s Blues. Jackie Richardson, Canada’s premier jazz, blues and gospel performer, stars as Momma-Lou Steele.

A widow in her sixties, Momma-Lou is a pillar of her community and her church, where she sings gospel in the choir on Sundays, lifting her joyous voice to the Lord. But each day, she must watch the neighbourhood around her slipping deeper into poverty and despair.

Momma-Lou’s son Gideon (Richard Chevolleau) has the blues, too. A college graduate, he struggles without success to find a job that will provide properly for his wife Cherlene (Karen Robinson) and their two young children. Frustrated and angry, he turns to the one line of work that seems to promise an easy path out of poverty.

The knowledge that her son profits from the very drug trade that has ripped the community apart is more than Momma-Lou can bear. When Gideon’s criminal activities endanger her grandchildren, she faces a terrible choice. What price is Momma-Lou willing to pay to remove Gideon and his drugs from her life – for good?

The Gospel According to the Blues was filmed in Halifax and Windsor, Nova Scotia. Tara Baxter, Garry James and Cory Bowles also star.

Thom Fitzgerald and Doug Pettigrew are the Producers. Joan Jenkinson is the Executive Producer for VisionTV.

The hour-long film premiered at the Atlantic Film Festival in 2009.

The Gospel According to the Blues: Bios

JACKIE RICHARDSON

Jackie Richardson is Canada’s first lady of gospel, jazz and blues. Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Richmond Hill, Ontario, she was introduced by her grandmother to the gospel music of Mahalia Jackson, and began singing in her church choir at the age of seven. By her teens, she was singing Motown covers with a local girl group called the Tiaras.

In her three-plus decades as a performer, Richardson has made many film and TV appearances, and recorded with the likes of Anne Murray, Alannah Myles, Joe Sealy and the Montreal Jubilation Choir. She has also starred in numerous stage productions, including CanStage’s presentations of Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Cookin’ at the Cookery (for which she earned a Dora Award).

“Jackie Richardson … gives her heart to the audience every time she’s onstage …” – NOW Magazine

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THOM FITZGERALD

Halifax-based filmmaker Thom Fitzgerald made his feature debut in 1997 with The Hanging Garden. This critically acclaimed production earned five Genie Awards, and took both the People’s Choice Award and the prize for Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. His follow-up, the whimsical docu-comedy Beefcake, made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.

Fitzgerald’s subsequent projects have included the TV movie Wolf Girl and the award-winning feature films The Event and 3 Needles. A fixture on the Halifax artistic scene, he recently established the city’s new Plutonium Playhouse, where his play Cloudburst – slated for a feature film adaptation later this year – made its premiere in April.

For more on Thom Fitzgerald and Plutonium Playhouse, check out: http://plutoniumplayhouse.wordpress.com/