Soul songstress Meli'sa Morgan joins Sybil's all-star cast
The shows put on by female impersonator Sybil Barrington are usually an all-male affair (albeit with the men in drag) but this year, a woman will also take to the stage.
Soul songstress Meli'sa Morgan, who took Prince's 'Do Me Baby' to number one on the charts, will be here for tomorrow's performances of 'Sybil's Dynamic International Female Impersonators'.
Tonight Sybil will also host 'The Celebrity Look-a-like Party' which is being held in conjunction with the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre as a fundraising event in celebration of breast cancer survivors.
Mark Anderson, aka Sybil Barrington, is the brainchild behind the event and will be partying on stage with female impersonators of stars such as Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Celine Dion, Madonna and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Funds raised will go towards establishing a Cancer Information Service in Bermuda to help improve the quality of life for patients diagnosed with cancer.
Meli'sa Morgan said she first discovered her singing gift when she was four-years-old, when her mother got her and her sister to put on shows for family and friends.
She then began singing in the church choir when she was aged eight and then she found success in a high school talent show – and from that moment she knew she wanted to be a singer.
She toured with bands, sang in clubs and attended Julliard, where she studied music theory and chord structure.
She has since sung back vocals with artists such as Chaka Khan and Kashif, but it was through Ms Khan's that she was introduced to Lesette Wilson, Chaka Khan's then musical director.
Ms Wilson worked with her on both her albums with Capitol Records and they wrote and produced 'Fool's Paradise', 'Do You Still Love Me?', 'Good Love' amongst others.
Her list of number one hits include Prince's 'Do Me Baby', which made her a star, 'Fool's Paradise', 'Do You Still Love Me', and 'Love Changes'.
She has been singing a mixture of Gospel and R&B for most of her life and has been asked on numerous occasions to sing Gospel exclusively. "But R&B is in my soul," she said.
"It is a little harder, because the Gospel world wants you to sing it exclusively, but it has been working out for me."
Although she and Mr. Anderson have been friends for a long time, this is the first time she has come to Bermuda. "I am so excited!" she said. "I am trying to bring the best outfits, because I know all of the female impersonators are going to outdo me.
"I'm bring my best shoes and my best hair and I just want to perform for the people of Bermuda and have a wonderful, wonderful time.
"I have a place in Arubu and I go there every year. I have performed in Jamaica and places like that, but this is my first time in Bermuda and to be performing at the City Hall Theatre, I am ecstatic and I can't wait."
Mr. Anderson said: "This will be my sixth annual show, and with Bermuda being conservative, it has been controversy all around the board, but it is mellowing out. I need people to understand that it is professional entertainment and that it all it is."
Mr. Anderson and Ms Morgan became fast friends after they met at her godmother, Clarise Taylor of the Cosby Show's, birthday party in the 1990s. During that time Mr. Anderson was performing on the Harlem Circuit and at Copelands Restaurant with Cathy Sharpton (nee Jordan), who is Rev. Al Sharpton's wife.
Tonight's show is at 8 p.m. and tomorrow's shows are at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tickets in advance from www.bdatix.bm for $65 and at the door for $75.