Pittsburgh Magazine August 2003

Pittsburgh Magazine, August 2003

personal space
BY MIKE MAY
Photograph by Jim Judkis

Spellbound
Cabaret diva Sharon "Mama" Spell brings some Mississippi magic to the South Hills

One of the reasons you remember "Mama" is her gracious Southern Hospitality. After inviting guests into her home, Sharon "Mama" Spell--attired for this photo shoot in a vintage cherry-blossom-pink evening gown--is quick to offer refreshment (this morning, it's coffee). At some point, she mentions she's a native of the Hospitality State. Uhhh...and that would be...? "Mississippi!" she cries--Hattiesburg, specifically, and speaking of coffee, her father hails from the nearby whistle stop of Hot Coffee, Miss. Can't you almost smell the fried green tomatoes? Traces of a way-below-the-Mason-Dixon-line lilt linger in Mama's speech, but it's been significantly de-Dixiefied: "I blame television," she says.

To pursue her creative dreams, Sharon Spell decided to leave home and move north to the Mountain Laurel State in 1995. In Pittsburgh (where she would later acquire the "Mama" moniker) she knew almost no one. "No one would care if I failed," she says. Now her strategy has shown success, attested to by boxes of new CDs in the dining room of her brick Victorian in Knoxville, in the South Hills. Stories With No Morals offers highlights of her live show, the Mama Spell Comedy Cabaret, with singing, storytelling and Mama just being Mama. She's also an actress, writer, member of the rock bank The Mofones and a charter member of the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails. And a spring exhibit at Blue Ruin Gallery featured nine artists' interpretations of Mama Spell as well as her own self-interpretation.

Her dining room is filled with art--some of it her own, as she's a cum laude graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi in painting and drawing--as well as some funky tschotchkes. The focal point of this personal space is a circa-1950s blond dining room suite she bought at Zenith Tea Room and Antiques, where her hospitality genes were once put to good use as a waitress in its tearoom. This space is special for another reason: It was here, in front of the bay window, surrounded by friends (her family watched via Webcam), that she and her husband, Rich Henderson, exchanged wedding vows. Mama and this quality-assurance analyst and aficionado of the American tiki bar from Scotland met "the old-fashioned way," she says: "On the Internet." The pair were married in a Quaker ceremony, although neither is of that faith. They just appreciated the Quaker approach: "We united ourselves in marriage."

Future plans: "I'm hoping to make Mama a household word," she says. From Hattiesburg to this 'Burgh.

1. Painting of Barbra Steisand by Bern Ludwig; bought at Arts for AIDS event.
2. "Goddess Cop": Painting by Mama Spell.
3. Lamp with Mofones logo.
4. Casio CTK-631 electric keyboard: Used when Mama plays and sings.
5. "Is That All There Is?": Pastel and alkyd oil painting on board by Mama from her one-woman exhibit at View From Zenith Gallery.
6. Family photos, including striking sepiatone of her father, Joe Spell, and his grandfather, Fredrick Spell, in a family sweet-potato field near Hot Coffee, Miss.
7. Pony: Rescued stuffed-animal roadkill now serving as Mama's press agent and used in her cabaret. "He works for hayseed," she says.
8. Talking Pee-wee Herman doll (now mute).
9. Sock monkey: Made by Mama's mother, Ruth Wood Spell; used in cabaret.
10. Vintage hats.
11. CDs. Available for $11.99 at several locations; see website, www.mamaspell.com, where they're also available for purchase.
12. Painting by Mama Spell: "Hurry Furry."
13. Box from Ikea, turned into a glass holder.
14. Giant martini glass.
15. Old TV cabinet, converted by Mama and her husband into a bar.
16. Advertising art: Gift from former boyfriend.
17. Last Supper plaque.
18. Portrait of Spaz, a singer in local punk-rock group Paul Lynde 451.
19. Photo-booth pictures of Mama and Julie Albright, "best maid" at Mama's wedding and founder of The Writing Studio in Regent Square.
20. Mama and Rich's wedding photo by photographer Joanna Michaelides.

Taking a cat nap on Mama Spell's lap is Grass, one of the three felines in Mama's pride, which also includes Ass and Pants. Her next Comedy Cabaret will be Sat., Sept. 13, at The Quiet Storm, 5430 Penn Ave., Garfield, 412/661-9355. To learn more about Mama, visit her very hospitable website: www.mamaspell.com. news index, mamaspell index