Grammy Award-winning R&B, pop, and jazz singer Patti Austin returns to Boston to mentor a young theatre group in a workshop production of “If the Walls Could Talk”, based on the life of Mary Cardwell Dawson (1894-1962) who founded the historic National Negro Opera Company in Pittsburgh in 1941.
The stage project, as well as a just–released CD of songs titled “Songs for Mary”, are being produced under the umbrella of the Over My Shoulder Foundation (OMSF) in Boston. OMSF is a non-profit organization founded by Boston songwriter Dawn Carroll and Patti Austin with the goal of raising awareness of the impact of mentoring. The announcement was made in recognition of the January 21-25 National Thank Your Mentor Week. Details of the stage workshop production will be announced in the coming weeks. Learn more about OMSF at https://overmyshoulderfoundation.org/
Mary Cardwell Dawson was determined to bring opera to African American audiences, and was herself a beloved mentor to hundreds of musicians. The headquarters of the National Negro Opera Company was a grand Victorian home that many called “Mystery Manor”. The mansion became a gathering place and refuge for Black celebrities who could perform in public but were not allowed out in public after sunset including boxer Joe Louis, baseball great Roberto Clemente, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, and so many others. Each song on the 15 song soundtrack is about the legends who stayed at the mansion.