First Look At Singer Ciara In 'Mama, I Want To Sing!'

In her first big screen performance, singer sensation Ciara will team up with Lynn Whitfield as they play daughter-mother in the screen adaptation of the hit play, 'Mama, I Want To Sing!'.

Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright with Jeff Clanagan, Marvet Britto, Holly Davis Carter, and David Pomier serving as producers on the film, the cast also includes Patti LaBelle, Juanita Bynum, Hill Harper, Ben Vereen, Billy Zane, Kim Porter, Ralph Tresvant, Ross Francis, and Shonda Farr.

'Mama, I Want to Sing!' tells the story of a preacher's daughter who rises from the church choir to international pop superstardom.

According to the synopsis on IMDB.com, Amara Winter (Ciara), a strikingly beautiful and charismatic young singer, is on the verge of pop stardom. Raised in the church by her father, Reverend Dr. Kenneth Winter and mother, Lillian Winter (Whitfield), Amara and her younger brother Luke have a very strong bond. After her father's untimely death, her mother is thrown into the limelight in the role as preacher, a daring move that ultimately catapults her to the top of the gospel world. Paralleling her mother's success, Amara soon becomes a huge star in her own right, taking the pop music world by storm. Conflict begins to ensue when her mother is confronted with and unequivocally disapproves of Amara's secular music and videos. Amara must learn to pursue her dreams while both navigating the often treacherous world of celebrity and striving to remain true to herself and family. Amara and her mother must work through their differences, realizing that their journeys are not quite so different after all.

The character is loosely based on Vy Higginsen's sister, Doris Troy, best known for the 1963 pop hit "Just One Look." Higginsen and her husband Ken Wydro wrote, produced, directed, financed, and marketed the play, which was originally rejected by every major producer in New York. None believed that the story was worth telling or that an audience could be found for a gospel based production.

By the end of 1984, the play was named by Time Magazine as one of the 'Ten Best Theatrical Productions of the Year.' Having played more than 2400 performances over eight consecutive years (1983-1991), the show became the longest running Black off-Broadway musical in the history of American theater touring both domestically and internationally.

Ciara made her acting debut in the 2005 MTV Films teen drama All You've Got.

Codeblack Entertainment and FoxFaith will release the film in October 2008.