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align=center><FONT face=Georgia><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ">Exquisite </SPAN></B><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic'><FONT
color=#333333>‘Lady Day’ takes the Beck Center stage
</FONT></SPAN></B></FONT><SPAN
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align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#333333 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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align=center><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
face=Georgia>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></SPAN><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
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face=Georgia> </FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN
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<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333>Just a few months ago, Nicole
Sumlin was performing her musical revue “Sing It All” – a personal
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: helvetica">journey of her
life as a performer that traces her roots in gospel and jazz, her training in
the classics, and her experience in musical theater. It was just </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333>her, a microphone and some
live musical accompaniment on stage </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: helvetica">at the Bop Stop,
a near west side jazz venue.</SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "></SPAN></P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333>And not long ago she
performed in </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: helvetica">Sheldon Epps’
“Blues in the Night,” a </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT
color=#333333>drama-revue hybrid staged by Karamu House, where her character’s
story was told through the </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: helvetica">songs of blues
luminaries Bessie Smith (“Reckless Blues”) and Ann Ronell (“Willow Weep for
Me”).<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: helvetica"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333>It’s as if
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: helvetica">Sumlin has been
in training for “</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT
color=#333333>Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill.” </FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'>For
more of this article, go to </SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/</FONT></SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>