A Georgia woman intending to enjoy one of Tyler Perry’s last performances as Madea had no idea her angelic vocals would lead to meeting the movie mogul. Her unexpected audition with the superstar would exceed her wildest dreams less than a week after meeting him.
Jamysa Lytes Hutchins happened to be in the audience at the “Madea’s Farewell Play” stop at Columbus Civic Center on Jan. 18. While an actress from the play sung her rendition of SWV’s “Weak,” Hutchins, a lifelong singer, simply joined in from the audience, singing the background vocals.
"Everybody was singing; it wasn't just me, and because I'm a background singer, I started singing background," she told Columbus' ABC news station WTVM.
Credit: Via Facebook
Credit: Via Facebook
In the midst of the serenade, Perry paused in the middle of performing as Madea to respond to her melody, Hutchins said. In the Southern, sassy Madea voice, Perry said, “She is singing right there. Give me a microphone.”
Perry proceeded to give the Georgia mom the floor to sing with amplification. Hutchins, who works as an Olive Garden waitress, said she would’ve been willing to stand on her head upon the writer and actor’s command.
“So, I sang the song again, and he said he really liked it,” said Hutchins. “He said, ‘I don’t know you or your name, but I need you.' He had someone come get my information and here we are.”
The once-in-a-lifetime chance was already more than she could have imagined, but the happenstance led to a surprise opportunity to finally take her amateur career to professional.
The WTVM news team arrived to deliver some exciting news to Hutchins while she was waiting tables at an area Olive Garden. This week, a WTVM anchor told her that Atlanta’s RCA Records wanted to rep her after hearing about her jaw-dropping performance for Perry last week.
“I just got the shock of my life; is this really happening,” she exclaimed to the news crew.
The label represents acts including Gladys Knight, Donnie McClurkin, Mary J. Blige and Boyz II Men.
Here’s a snippet of some of Hutchins’ vocals at a recent performance.
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