All Things Mayfield premiers Saturday, January 31

Curtis Mayfield was born in Chicago, but his fame made him an international superstar. From his early days as a member of The Roosters, with high school friend Jerry “Iceman”Butler to the Impressions to his solo career, his Wikipedia page captures the breadth and depth of his work. What the page can’t do is bring the sound to life. For that you need someone who knows the music as well as Mayfield; in other words you need Reginald Torian, Sr.

Torian became the Impression’s lead singer in 1972. Since then he has lived the songs Mayfield wrote and introduced, always with his own understanding of the words and music. Torian headlines All Things Mayfield, channeling Mayfield’s rise from Chicago’s Cabrini Green housing project to a singer-songwriter to a Civil Rights activist. Cast members from the Black Ensemble Theater complete the cast.

All Things Mayfield is the second time Torian has taken the stage to honor Curtis Mayfield. His first performance in It’s All Right to Have a Good Time: The Story of Curtis Mayfield earned Torian numerous awards including the Black Theater Alliance’s Sammy Davis Jr. Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical and African-American Arts Alliance of Chicago’s Black Excellence Award for Outstanding Theater Actor. His pristine falsetto brings Mayfield’s anthems to life in a way that brings the audience to its feet.

All Things Mayfield is on stage at the Promontory in Hyde Park for one night only -- January 31 -- in association with CIMMfest, the Chicago International Movie and Music Festival. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.cimmfest.org