The Aretha Franklin movie “Respect” opened at No. 4 over the weekend according to the North American box office receipts, earning an estimated $8.8 million, which was on track with the pre-release box office projections.
Jennifer Hudson plays the Queen of Soul and was hand-picked by the Detroit’s songstress and claim-to-fame icon, prior to her 2018 death.
Charlie Blum, who spent more than a quarter of a century at Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, much of it as president, CEO and talent buyer working for the entertainment venue owned and operated by White Family, has an interesting side-story connected with Franklin and this new biopic on the big screen.
For Franklin’s June 2002 concert at Star Plaza Theatre, it was Blum who booked a 21-year-old Hudson as the opening act performer for what was just a $500 contract fee.
“I have read where Jennifer Hudson has commented in press interviews for her new film that first she met Aretha at a theater outside of Chicago, back when she was given the opportunity to open for her,” Blum said.
“I was the guy that put her on that show and introduced them. I approached Aretha’s management in advance, and they gave me permission to put Jennifer in the show line-up. It was an amazing night. It is so cool, that one night, at Star Plaza set the stage, so to speak, for this major film release.”
In addition to Hudson as Franklin, other notables portrayed in this feature film glimpse into the song icon’s life include Martin Luther King Jr., Smokey Robinson, Sam Cooke and Ella Fitzgerald.
Missing from the film is Ed Sullivan, and with good reason.
When Franklin stopped by to chat with David Letterman for an appearance and performance in September 2014 on CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman,” she explained about her only time crossing paths with the famously stone-faced Sullivan.
Letterman asked Franklin about what was her first time performing on the same stage where his talk show was taped at The Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City, which originally housed Sullivan’s legendary Sunday night variety show.
“It was right in this theater … I came to sing and we had rehearsals, with me doing (the song) ‘Skylark’,” she told Letterman.
“My gown was a little low-cut while we were rehearsing, so I heard this voice from somewhere overhead saying: ‘Her gown is too low. Get her another gown. So they brought me another gown, something with a real high neckline, which they said would be fine. I go to the dressing room, and then a man comes in and says, ‘I’m sorry, we’ve overbooked the show; Miss Franklin won’t be on.’ I went out the door crying, and I was about 17 years old.”
Letterman then asked if she ever had come back and appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
“I never did,” Franklin said.
“It (the TV show) wasn’t on that long after that.”
Sullivan — a newspaper gossip columnist who famously feuded with everyone from Arthur Godfrey, Hedda Hopper and Walter Winchell — often would ban entertainers like comedian Jackie Mason from his show, and censor others like hip-swiveling Elvis Presley and Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones.
When Franklin died at age 76 on Aug. 16, 2018, former President Bill Clinton, Smokey Robinson, record mogul Clive Davis and the Rev. Jesse Jackson were among those to speak at Franklin’s funeral in Detroit, along with song tributes from Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill, and yes, Jennifer Hudson.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org.
