Watch Mama, I Want to Sing!

A musical that is both directed and written by Charles Randolph-Wright and is an adaptation of the same-titled gospel stage musical. After more than three years of development issues and hiccups, the film went from being completed in the summer of 2009 to releasing straight to video in the first quarter of 2012. Inspired by the real life story of one Doris Troy, the daughter of a preacher who simply sang for her church's choir until being discovered by James Brown. Troy's niece, Knoelle makes her silver screen debut as the star role. A role she also portrayed in the theatre production. Amara Winter is a charismatic and cloying young singer, at the very cusp of stardom and major success. Raised in the church by her parents, Reverend Dr. Kenneth and Lillian Winter, she and her little brother, Luke, have a very close bond. Kenneth has an untimely death, shoving Lillian into the role of preacher, with much controversy. Lillian's substitution ignites a veritable firestorm of attention from the gospel world, leading to a rise in popularity. As if in parallel to her own mother's success, Amara's own star of fame has also been given a meteoric rise, albeit in the world in rhythm & blues music. Strife, bickering, and disapproval begins to grow between Lillian's prowess in religious musical circles and Amara's secular music and videos. Amara is forced to temper her exposure to the world of celebrity stardom with her sense of self, as well as her sense of family. Eventually, Amara and her mother are able to hammer our their differences, leading them to see that there are more than enough similarities between their two musical careers to bury the hatchet and accept each other's paths in life.