The Jubilee Singers

The Fisk singers hit the road at last - and the road hits back. Choirmaster George White wants them to perform the old spirituals of their parents' slave days, but Ella and the others refuse to share songs a white audience could never understand. Then, outside a failed Memphis concert, a man demands music at knifepoint, and Thomas chooses to sing - as a free man - a song so powerful the stranger apologizes and begs for more. When the bank threatens to take Fisk itself, Principal Spence sends the choir north with forty dollars, thin coats, and winter coming. Conductors shove them into the caboose, hotels turn them away, and a Cincinnati newspaper mocks them... yet when fire devastates Chicago, the hungry singers give away the very collection they need to survive. They press on, trusting God to provide - knowing the hardest miles still lie ahead.

Found on Take It from the Top Album 51 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0659 Target of the Week When Matthew becomes the school bully's designated victim for a week, he decides to stop being afraid and get even - with consequences he never saw coming.

0660 For the Birds When Camilla rescues an orphaned baby blue jay to prove she's ready for a pet of her own, she discovers responsibility demands far more than she imagined - while Eugene wages a baffling battle with the park's suddenly hostile birds.

0661 When You're Right, You're Right Certain she knows best, Emily takes charge of her brother's romantic gesture - whether he wants her help or not.

0662 Grandma's Visit When Grandma Lucia arrives in Odyssey with news that Aunt Rosalita's wedding will happen at the Parker home that very week, the family's frantic hospitality is stretched to its breaking point.

0663 Finish What You... When Olivia takes up guitar lessons, a preschool play, and a birthday promise all at once, she discovers that good intentions alone can't stretch her time far enough.

1 of 3 0664 The Jubilee Singers When Olivia dismisses school as pointless, a portrait of Frederick Douglass introduces her to the students of a struggling university whose only hope may be the songs they carry.

2 of 3 0665 The Jubilee Singers A Fisk choir and their determined director set out on a perilous tour to sing their school out of debt, facing hostility and hardship at every stop.

3 of 3 0666 The Jubilee Singers With Fisk University on the brink of collapse, a weary group of student singers must decide whether to keep performing on a grueling tour that has cost them their health, their dignity, and nearly all hope.

1 of 2 0667 The Mystery of the Clock Tower When City Hall's computerized clock mysteriously keeps resetting itself to 11:45, Eugene's investigation uncovers black roses, a warning note, and a twenty-year-old secret someone in Odyssey has kept hidden.

2 of 2 0668 The Mystery of the Clock Tower When a mysterious countdown on Odyssey's clock tower grips the whole town, Whit and Eugene must untangle black roses, a buried family secret, and a trail of clues that all point somewhere a little too neatly.

0669 Wooton's Broken Pencil Show When Connie steps away from her Kids' Radio show to deal with a blaring car alarm, Wooton takes the microphone and improvises his way toward answering whether entertainment really needs a point.

0670 Stage Fright When an eerie voice haunts the theater during rehearsals for their middle school musical, Emily and Matthew must unmask the phantom before fear shuts down the show.

0671 Fast As I Can When Whit explains the spiritual discipline of fasting, the Whit's End gang each give up something they love for a week - and discover their sacrifices are far harder, and stranger, than expected.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 14 more roles

14 supporting roles

Phoebe Anderson Debra Skelton Train Conductor Pete Reneday Frederick Douglass Scott Lawrence Benjamin Holmes Ogie Banks Thomas Rutling Gary Leroi Gray Ella Sheppard Niko Posey George Leonard White Michael Gough Pastor (d) Bob Smithouser Mr. Billings Steve Franken Maggie Porter Actor Unknown Principal Spence Phil Proctor Dr. Wolcott Fred Tatasciore Matthews Jack Angel Stevens Steve Franken

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Dave Arnold Writer · Executive Producer Paul McCusker Director Jonathan Crowe Sound Designer Nathan Jones Sound Designer Bob Hoose Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

George White continues preparing Fisk's choir with exacting care. He teaches the singers to enunciate clearly, blend their voices, and sing as if they believe every word. Then he announces a concert at the Memphis Greenlaw Opera House, paying the travel costs himself.

White wants the program to include the spirituals he has learned from the students. Ella and the others refuse. These songs belong to their parents and grandparents and are tied to painful days of slavery. They do not believe a white audience will understand. White accepts their decision but warns that hiding such powerful music is a mistake.

The Memphis concert draws few people and does not cover its expenses. Outside, two racist men threaten and insult the group. When one demands a song at knifepoint, Thomas decides they will sing - but as free people, not frightened captives. Their performance of a spiritual affects one of the men so deeply that he apologizes and asks to hear another. The singers begin to see that their own songs can reach listeners in a way the formal cantatas cannot.

The choir performs in nearby cities for several months, usually earning little. Then Principal Spence learns that Fisk's bank will demand payment of its mortgage within six months. With every other source of money exhausted, he finally authorizes White to take the singers north as musical evangelists and tell people about the school.

White chooses a route through towns connected with the Underground Railroad. On October 4, 1871, the company begins with only forty dollars and thin clothing for the approaching winter. White buys first-class train tickets as a sign of confidence, but a conductor refuses to let the Black singers use the empty seats and forces them into the caboose.

Their first major performance in Cincinnati earns a cruel newspaper review and barely enough money for food, lodging, or the journey onward. White chooses to keep traveling, trusting God to provide at the next stop.

At a later concert, the singers learn of the devastating fire in Chicago. Although they desperately need the evening's collection, they donate it to the victims. Their generosity leaves them hungry again. A hotel with nearly every room empty still refuses to admit the Black members of the group.

Such treatment becomes common. Hotels either turn them away or hide them in basements and back rooms, and railroad workers repeatedly humiliate them. Yet the singers continue, trusting the God who has sent them. Their hardships are severe, and the hardest part of the journey still lies ahead.