THEATER | "Black Pearl Sings!" 

Set in 1935, "Black Pearl Sings!" tells the story of an ambitious song collector for the Library of Congress whose hunt for the fleeting intangibles brings her into a Texas prison, where she meets African American and caged songbird, Pearl. The production, which features more than 20 a cappella renditions of American folk and spiritual songs, is based on the real-life relationship between singer-guitarist Huddie William Ledbetter (better known as Lead Belly) and Harvard folk musicologist John Lomax, who helped achieve Ledbetter's release from prison.

"Black Pearl Sings!" kicks off Geva Theatre Center's 2014 Fielding Studio Series this week, and will be performed at Geva's Nextstage (75 Woodbury Blvd.). The show's previews take place Thursday-Friday, January 23-24, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, January 25, at 2:30 p.m. Opening night is Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and the show continues through February 9 with performances this week on Sunday at 3 p.m. and Tuesday, January 29, at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $30. For more information, call 232-4382, or visit gevatheatre.org.