Mary J. Blige Lands Starring Role as Nina Simone in 'Nina'

By Alicia Cruz

The Black Urban Times

When she sang, "No More Drama," she didn't really mean it.... at least not as far as the silver screen was concerned.

The Washington Post has reported that rhythm and blues vocalist, Mary J. Blige has landed the starring role as legendary "black classical music" vocalist Nina Simone in a soon-to-be-made biopic titled "Nina."

Talks about filming the movie have been in the works for some time, but production is set to begin in September with a 2012 finish date, according to IMDB.com.

"Nina" is set to play out the life and times of the sometimes-troubled artist with the tenebrous voice.

The biopic won't be Blige's first time in front of the camera, but it will definitely be a step up for the Bronx native from music promos and TV sitcom cameos. Blige appeared as herself in the comedy '30 Rock' and had a role in one episode of supernatural drama "Ghost Whisperer" as the "mean Ghost.

In 2001 she starred opposite veteran actor Harold Perrineau as Mrs. Butler, the single mother of a son played by former Tribe Called Quest singer, Q-Tip in the movie 'Prison Song,' co written and produced by Q-Tip and Darnell Martin (I Like It Like That). More recently, she starred as "Tanya" in Tyler Perry's 2007 film "I can do bad all by myself."

Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, N.C. recorded almost 60 albums throughout her career, was the first woman to win the Jazz Cultural Award and despite her disinclination to being titled as a jazz singer, she gladly accepted an award for Female Jazz Singer of the Year in 1967 by the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers.

Simone's opposition to the title "Jazz Singer" was best explained during her interview in 1997 with then Contributing Editor of "Details" Magazine, Brantley Bardin:

"To most white people, jazz means black and jazz means dirt and that's not what I play. I play black classical music. That's why I don't like the term "jazz," and Duke Ellington didn't like it either -- it's a term that's simply used to identify black people."

Originally trained as classical music pianist at New York City's Julliard School of Music, Simone's passion for the Civil Rights Movement germinated during her school years where she encountered racism when applying for a scholarship at the Curtis Institute. After giving a stellar audition, she was told that she would not be accepted to the Institute due to her performance. She later learned it based upon her being Black.

Like many of her fellow musicians, Simone used her music as a vessel to advance the cause of the civil rights movement, but Simone was known as one of the most passionate, most outspoken and most gifted. In 1967, she recorded "I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)," written by noted jazz pianist and educator Dr. Billy Taylor along with Dick Dallas in 1967. The song became a catalyst for the movement.

With moods that fluctuated between felicity, melancholy and later aberration, Simone eventually became famous for more than her alto and tenor range capability. According to Nadine Cohodas, Simone's biographer, Simone's mental health disabilities were first diagnosed as that of multiple personality disorder and eventually, schizophrenia.

Simone's onstage persona went from elegant gowns to vibrant Afrocentric garb as she spiraled into the abyss of mental illness. In Cohodas' new book, Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone (March 2010), she speaks of Simone's capricious behavior both on and off stage; they way the singer would "cuss out ticket holders" or simply fail to show for performances to pulling out knives on musicians.

While living in France during the 1990s, Simone found herself in trouble with the law when she fired a rifle at noisy neighbors and then left the scene of an accident in which two motorcyclists were injured.

Aptly titled the High Priestess of Soul, the ebony chanteuse briefly married Don Ross in 1958, and divorced a year later. She married former police detective, Andy Stroud in 1960 and he later became her manager. They had one child, daughter Lisa Celeste now an actress/singer who took on the stage name Simone and has appeared on Broadway in "Aida".

Struggling with breast cancer for several years, Simone died peacefully in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, France on April 21, 2003. Singer Elton John sent a floral tribute to her funeral adorned with the message "We were the greatest and I love you". The singer was cremated with her ashes being scattered over several African countries.

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