Breath and Imagination Wows Audiences

Image: African American Repertory Theatre

Audiences have been mesmerized by the stirring performance of the musical, “Breath and Imagination” recently performed at the El Centro College Performance Hall. The play chronicles the life of Roland Hayes, an African American musical tenor who overcame the racist and discriminatory practices of the Jim Crow South and became a vocal icon of the national and international musical stage. His linguistic skills with songs included lyrical pieces in German, French and Italian.

Hayes was the offspring of former slaves and at the age 11 suffered the loss of his father who was injured at work and denied hospital admittance because he was a Black man.

Hayes was then forced to drop out of school and support his mother, eventually being introduced to his musical mentor, a white man, Mr. Calhoun. He was inspired to move forward by his mother who told him that his voice was a gift from God to be used in praising the “Most High.”

Through years of heartache, rejection and physical and emotional abuse, Hayes went on to become the highest paid tenor in the world during the late 1920s. He sang for European Royalty at prestigious concert halls around the globe including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall in London and Symphony Hall in Boston. Keeping true to his roots, his concerts always included spirituals.