A&E

Oh, brothers! ‘In His Grace' takes over Cité

by Walter Pierce

Making a command return run at Cité des Arts through the last weekend in May, the musical comedy follows three melodious cousins with decidedly different approaches to life.

It takes but a few minutes to figure out what In His Grace is about. Making a command return run at Cité des Arts through the last weekend in May, the musical comedy follows three melodious cousins with decidedly different approaches to life: one is a preacher, one is a rock 'n' roll pioneer and the third is a country-and-western crooner and impresario. Their common denominator: Ferriday, La. That's where real-life cousins Jimmy Swaggert, Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley came into this world, and the loosely based story of their convergent and divergent paths makes for some hilarious theater.

The musical was a hit, due in no small part to the 16 finely crafted tunes that punctuate it, each written by Jane Martin Billeaudeaux, who co-wrote In His Grace with John Verly Richard. Billeaudeaux recently gathered some of the Acadiana's best musicians together, along with the original cast members, and recorded the music for In His Grace. It's available locally on a fine new CD.

To find out more, check out Cité's website.