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Watch the trailer for ‘Sparkle’ at bottom.
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On a Detroit afternoon in early November, within a church located on a tree-lined street in an upscale suburb of an otherwise dilapidated city, 48-year-old Whitney Houston strolled into a recreation hall; she was mere steps away from the set of Sparkle, the classic 1976 musical film whose remake the singer was executive-producing, starring in and to whose soundtrack she was contributing. A group of reporters had gathered to learn more about the project; no one in attendance, especially after witnessing the effervescent air of beauty that Houston so easily gave off as she made her way into this wood-paneled room, could ever have imagined that this project would be her last. The singer, who died in a Beverly Hills hotel room in February, was flanked by her co-executive producer and close friend Debra Martin Chase for this midday chat. Houston glowed, draped within all-white linen. Those suddenly in her presence couldn’t help but be taken aback by how radiant and effortlessly beautiful the legendary vocalist appeared.
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For Houston, Sparkle was a passion-project; an endeavor over a decade in the making. The original version of the film had been a childhood favorite of Houston’s; she would watch it on repeat at the matinee in her native Newark for “four months straight.” “I just never, ever let go of it,” Houston said of its lasting relevance. In 2001 Sparkle was set to be green-lit, but it was ultimately put on hold when the late-singer Aaliyah, who had been cast as the title character, was killed in a plane crash. “Tragic. Very tragic,” Houston said, unaware how often these words would be repeated at her expense only a few months later.
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But on this day there was only positivity in Houston’s voice as she discussed the film being shot next door; it now had bright-young talent Jordin Sparks cast in the lead role and Houston felt that things had finally panned out to her liking. “It just all fit into place,” she said of the film getting picked up by Sony. “Jordin came, the rest of the cast came, and it worked out perfectly. We’re having a great time!”
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This was also to be Houston’s first time in front of the camera since her role in 1996’s The Preacher’s Wife. But she felt the time away had only helped her craft. “Now I’m older and more seasoned in this particular form of entertainment,” Houston explained. Her role in the film, as the mother of three daughters, she felt coincided with her real-life experience as a mother to her 18-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina. And she was open and honest about her maternal instinct. “I am a on-hands mother. And I am a disciplinarian mother,” Houston explained, adding that taking care of her daughter, who she revealed was starting acting classes and vocal coaching, was her “first priority.” “She’s 18 now, she’s gonna be a woman in a minute,” Houston said of Bobbi Kristina. “Lord, have mercy!”
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Houston also had hopes that Sparkle, directed by Salim Akil, would help breath new air into the family film-genre. “The grand part of this whole movie is that you will be able to go with your children,” she said. “It’s inspiring. It’s encouraging.”
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But the question on many’s minds was whether Houston viewed this film as a “comeback”; after all, she hadn’t acted in over a decade, and her last album, 2009’s I Look To You had largely been deemed a misstep. “I don’t think of it as a comeback,” Houston said boldly. And was there any pressure on her to deliver the goods? “I don’t think of it as pressure,” she added. ” I think of it as a gift that God gave me to contribute to a cast of people who are working as hard, if not harder than I.”
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In a move surely to many fan’s delight, Houston also contributed to the film’s soundtrack: In the film, she performs the song “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” and worked closely with close friend R. Kelly, on the soundtrack as a whole.“He is a kind of musician, the kind of person whom you can stand up and say ‘This is how I feel,’ and he’ll write a song about it in five minutes,” Houston said of Kelly. “And if anybody knows anything about anointing, he has anointing on him that’s powerful. I’ve watched it myself. And we’ve had our share of words… he’s like a brother to me. We talk about life and things that happen in life, and our triumphs and our survival of it. That makes a good song for anybody to sing or anybody to write.”
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For the singer, whose gift was taken from us far too soon, Sparkle, more than anything, was an opportunity to once again convey the topic that so many of her revered songs brought into the world: love. “We’re just trying to give an example of what love can be and how strong it can be,” Houston said of the film.
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With that, Houston walked out the church doors, leaving behind a divine presence and an air of grace that even in death shall never be lost or forgotten.
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