Learn about the history behind 'Marie & Rosetta', starring Beverley Knight

The musical partnership between Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight is brought to life by Beverley Knight and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu in George Brant's play.

Summary

• The play tells the story of gospel and R&B stars Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight
• Tharpe has been dubbed the 'godmother of rock and roll'
• Marie Knight was Tharpe protégée and lifelong friend
• George Brant's play stars Beverley Knight as Rosetta and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu as Marie

First performed at the Rose Theatre, Kingston and Chichester Festival Theatre in summer 2025 and coming at London’s @sohoplace in February 2026, Marie & Rosetta is a play with music by American playwright George Brant (Grounded) that explores the musical collaborations and friendship between two real-life 20th-century gospel and R&B heroines: Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight. When the two meet in 1946, the more experienced Rosetta is delighted by young Marie’s voice but first has to convert her dulcet church choir tones into a more contemporary sound…

Starring soul star and Olivier-winning musical theatre actress Beverley Knight as Sister Rosetta Tharpe and newcomer Ntombizodwa Ndlovu as Marie Knight, the show is filled with heart and killer vocals. Read on to learn more about the history behind this fascinating partnership comprising two women with talent to burn and the courage to defy the establishment as they tour the segregated southern states.

Book Marie & Rosetta tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Who was Sister Rosetta Tharpe?

Known as the “Godmother of Rock and Roll”, Sister Rosetta Tharp (she was no nun, despite her name!) was born Rosetta Nubin in Cotton Plant, Arkansas in 1915 to musical cotton picker parents. She began singing and playing the guitar in church at the age of six and joined her mother as a performer in a troupe of travelling evangelical musicians and they settled in Chicago. The young Rosetta stood out on account of her age and the novelty of being a female guitarist.

She married Thomas Thorpe in 1934 and adopted a version of his surname as her stage name. They separated four years later and Tharpe and her mother moved to New York City where she recorded her first records: "Rock Me", "That's All", "My Man and I", and "The Lonesome Road". “Rock Me” influenced Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis. She was controversial in some quarters due to the way in which she performed in nightclubs and blended gospel-style lyrics with pop music. Her 1944 song "Strange Things Happening Every Day" has been described as the first rock and roll record and she also took part in “guitar battles”, demonstrating that she could “play like a man”.

Tharpe’s B-side “Have a Little Thought with Jesus” with country singer Red Foley is thought to be the first interracial duet recorded in the US. She toured the UK in 1957 and Europe in 1964. Tharpe died in 1973 following a series of strokes at the age of 58. When asked about her influence on rock and roll, she responded: "Oh, these kids and rock and roll — this is just sped up rhythm and blues. I've been doing that forever."

In September 2025, Tharpe was finally selected for induction into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame.

Who was Marie Knight?

Marie Knight was born in 1920 and was raised in Newark, New Jersey. She first toured professionally in 1939 and made her first recordings in 1946. She met Sister Rosetta Tharp the same year when she was singing on a bill with Mahalia Jackson, and was invited to join her tour. Knight’s rich contralto vocals complemented Tharpe’s higher register. They sometimes took the roles of "the Saint and the Sinner", with Tharpe as the saint and Knight as the sinner. Their collaborations included "Beams of Heaven", "Didn't It Rain", and "Up Above My Head", recorded for Decca Records.

Tragically, Knight’s mother and children were killed in a house fire while she and Tharpe were touring together. Knight embarked on a solo career in 1951 but she and Tharpe remained friends and she helped to arrange Tharpe’s funeral in 1973. In 2002, she released a tribute album in honour of Tharpe. Knight died in 2009 at the age of 89. Some biographers have argued that Knight and Tharpe were lovers as well as friends and collaborators.

Other cultural depictions of Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Tharpe was the subject of the musical Shout, Sister, Shout! by Cheryl West, based on the biography of the same name by Gayle Ward. The show premiered at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2017 and was also performed two years later at Seattle Repertory Theatre, and at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC in 2023.

In March 2025, it was announced that Lizzo will play Tharpe in a biopic produced by Amazon MGM Studios.

Who is in the Marie & Rosetta cast and creative team?

Marie & Rosetta is a two-hander starring Beverley Knight as Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu as Marie Knight. Award-winning soul artist Beverley Knight won an Olivier Award for her performance as Emmeline Pankhurst in Sylvia and has also starred in Sister Act, The Drifters Girl, Memphis, The Bodyguard, and Cats.

Ndlovu’s credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Space Between Us, Mixtape, Nothing, and The Mountaintop at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. She was nominated for a UK Theatre Award for her performance as Marie. Marie and Rosetta marks her West End debut.

Marie & Rosetta is written by American playwright George Brant, whose play Grounded ran at London’s Gate Theatre, and then at New York’s Public Theater starring Anne Hathaway in 2014. The show is directed by Monique Touko, who recently directed Wedding Band: A Love Story in Black at White at the Lyric Hammersmith.

The production also features set design by Lily Arnold (Emma), costume design by Jodie-Simone Howe (Mr Loverman), and movement direction by Kloé Dean.

Is Marie & Rosetta a play or a musical?

Marie & Rosetta is a play featuring a wealth of rock and gospel hits - in a play with music, the music tends to provide context and texture, rather than advancing the plot. Both leading ladies will have the opportunity to showcase their outstanding vocals, accompanied by live musicians. They’re sure to raise the roof!

Book Marie & Rosetta tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Beverley Knight and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu in Marie and Rosetta at the Rose Theatre. (Photo by Marc Brenner)