Kickstarter Campaign Launched to Fund Jubilee Showcase Documentary

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog

From 1963 to 1984, Sunday morning in Chicago meant going to church, listening to church broadcasts on the radio, and watching Jubilee Showcase on WBKB (WLS) TV.

The Emmy Award-winning program, hosted by Sid Ordower, brought the sights and sounds of gospel music into living rooms across Chicago. For many African Americans, it was “church before church,” while it introduced gospel music to people of all races, creeds, and walks of life.

Ordower’s vision was for Jubilee Showcase to present gospel’s top and emerging talents in a dignified fashion. In the process, he created a legacy that today represents some of the only remaining performance filmage of iconic gospel artists, such as Roberta Martin, the Hutchinson Sunbeams (aka the Emotions), Princess Stewart, pre-Say Amen Somebody Thomas A. Dorsey, and Alex Bradford.

Jubilee Showcase also has the distinction of being the longest-running gospel music television program before Bobby Jones Gospel.  Watching the 100 episodes of Jubilee Showcase archived at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago is a exhilarating and historic walk back in time because, like many music genres, gospel is a visual as well as aural experience.

Sid’s son Steven Ordower, a producer in his own right, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of a documentary about Jubilee Showcase.  Through interviews and rare footage, the documentary will tell the story of the program that had such a significant impact that a mention of it evokes smiles of nostalgia, one often accompanied by an extemporaeous singing of the show’s theme, “Jubilee, Jubilee, Jubilee,” from its loyal viewers.

Learn more about the Kickstarter campaign and watch a video about the documentary by clicking here: Jubilee Showcase