Nina Simone-inspired show celebrates following your heart - Brighton, Crawley and Worthing
Nicholle Cherrie believes there’s an element of “it was meant to be” as she steps into the spotlight in the one-woman show Black Is The Color Of My Voice.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Now, lovely
00:06to speak this afternoon to Nicole Cherie. Now, we had Black is the Colour of My Voice
00:12in Chichester Festival Theatre a few months back, I think it was earlier this year. It's
00:16lovely, it's out on tour again. And Nicole, you stepped into the role, the only role in
00:21this one-woman show, for dates in our area, including Brighton, Southampton and Worthing.
00:27And you're saying such a lovely story, that you saw this show a few years ago, when you
00:31were a little bit of a low ebb, didn't want to go out, but your sister dragged you out.
00:36You saw the show, but you were transfixed. What did it say to you, that show, on that
00:42day?
00:43Oh, I mean, it was just, it was just incredible. I mean, Abbie is an insane performer, but
00:49it was just amazing to see a black woman take up space on the stage. I just felt, I
00:58don't know, I just, I felt, you know, sometimes when you feel like you're, like something
01:07was meant to happen. I feel like I was meant to see that show.
01:10Well, in hindsight, yes, because here you are now doing it. And you, at the time when
01:15you first saw it, amazing, but you didn't do that. And yet here you are.
01:20Yeah, literally, I remember saying to my sister, this is incredible and essential. And I'm
01:24so glad that it's here and that people can come to see it. But wow, I don't, I don't
01:30know how she does that eight times a week.
01:32So what's it now like to view that role from the inside?
01:38Oh, wow. I think I just, I'm still kind of pinching myself. But at the same time, I think
01:50it just, it just sits so much more in me as something being so important to share. And
02:02I just, I know, like, if there's even a couple of people out there that are moved or affected
02:08or can reflect after seeing the performance, it would make me so happy.
02:15It tells the story of an activist, a woman, her relationship with her father, that's kind
02:20of in parallel with Nina Simone without being Nina Simone. But the thrust of the show is
02:26a really important message of being empowered, really, isn't it? Of having the confidence
02:31not to think boundaries.
02:33Exactly. And to not be confined to boxes that other people may put you in, that you may
02:40put yourself in sometimes. I think, yeah, to be able to just, like, follow your heart,
02:46go for the things that are important to you, that you're passionate about, that speak to
02:51you.
02:53Yeah, 100%, 100%. It is a real, it affirms me. Every time I step out on the stage and
03:04I play this character, I'm emboldened in myself to, you know, to make choices, do the things
03:10I want to do, step out into my light. It's, it's so empowering for me. Yeah, so I'm really
03:20thankful for it.
03:21And it's not just the character, it's the music as well, isn't it?
03:26Oh, yeah, the music, to be able to sing. I mean, I grew up singing gospel, R&B, Lovers
03:38Rock, and to just be able to, and I've always, I love jazz music, love, love, love. And so
03:47to be able to take these songs and, like, through the process, I've really had the opportunity
03:52to kind of make things my own. I haven't been made to, like, replicate Nina Simone's sound.
04:00But so I've, I've found a way to express myself, which I don't really get to do in other shows.
04:11I don't get to sing the way I sing.
04:14Yeah, and there's something that's so, it's so rewarding to be able to do that as a performer,
04:23to be able to just release and to give, to really have your heart in something when it
04:31comes to the music.
04:32Oh, that's fantastic. It's black is the colour of my voice, and in our area it's bright and
04:38saturated and worthy. Nicole, really lovely to speak to you. Thank you.
04:42Thank you so much.