“Genius: Aretha” Honors Late Singer
PC: National Geographic
National Geographic’s third season of “Genius,” an anthology series dedicated to sharing the stories of some of the most impactful innovators in the world, had its online world premiere on Mar. 11. The latest installment focuses on Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul” an iconic Black singer who died 2018.
Previous renditions of “Genius” focused on Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso.
The virtual premiere featured performances from AfroPunk, c-Live, the Detroit Youth All-Star Choir, Bill Moss Jr. and Marquis Hillon. Suzan-Lori Parks, Showrunner for “Genius: Aretha,” also gave a short spoken-word performance.
Antonique Smith, Patrice Covington and Rebecca Naomi Jones, who play Franklin’s mother and sisters, gave performances of songs that their subjects will perform in the show. Cynthia Erivo, who plays Franklin, gave an exclusive performance filmed at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles with Will Wells after the premiere of the first episode.
PC: National Geographic
These performances combined with the premiere made for a stunning tribute to Franklin.
“Genius: Aretha” also features performances from Courtney B. Vance, Malcolm Barrett and David Cross. However, the shining stars of the show appear to be Erivo and Shaian Jordan, who plays a young Franklin. Both of their performances are amazing. Erivo brings power and intensity to the role while Jordan is sweet and precocious. This show is Jordan’s first acting credit, making for a stunning entrance to Hollywood.
To be frank, everything about this first episode was stunning. The costume design, sound and cinematography in combination with the amazing performances from the cast came together to create an amazing introduction to the eight-part series.
I highly recommend checking out “Genius: Aretha” when it premieres. The show overall is kicked off with a bang, making for good television and a powerful story.
The series will premiere on National Geographic Mar. 21- Mar. 25. Two episodes will play per day, with those episodes going onto Hulu the day after they premiere.