New Hope’s Bucks County Playhouse is honoring the “Queen of Soul,” in a production this weekend, according to a report from CBS News Philadelphia. 

Jazz and blues artist CeCe Teneal will star in “Portrait of Aretha,” a show honoring the legacy of Miss Aretha Franklin herself.  

Teneal has been inspired by the music of Aretha Franklin for as long as she can remember.

She grew up listening to her grandmother playing the Queen of Soul’s compilation album 30 Greatest Hits. “That would be our Saturday morning ritual,” Teneal tells CBS News Philadelphia.  

Teneal says she relates to Aretha Franklin’s music trajectory because they both recorded cover songs. Teneal has become an innovator of cover songs, able to make them her own.  

She started in the church and now tours internationally.  

Teneal says that she wants the audience to have “a moment with the music,” as part of the experience.  

“I’m not impersonating Aretha, I’m not pretending to be her, but what I am is just paying homage to a fifty-year musical legacy.”  

“Portrait of Aretha” starring CeCe Teneal will be at the Bucks County Playhouse from Feb 2 at 7:30 PM to Feb. 3 at 1:30 and 7:30 PM. 

Learn more about CeCe Teneal and her performance in “Portrait of Aretha” on CBS News Philadelphia.

Bucks County Playhouse to celebrate “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin this weekend