attended, was the lucky man. Isaac knew he wanted to marry Mahalia and was convinced that she could get her voice trained so she could become a concert artist. In 1938, the two were married and lived happily together for a few years to come. Mahalia opened her own business as a hairdresser and soon expanded to sell cosmetics. (1) Next, she added a floral shop to her list and they were doing very well financially. Ike was still convinced that Mahalia needed to take her vocal talents one step further and convinced her to meet with Madame Anita Patty Brown, who had once been an opera singer and was a celebrated voice of the South Side. Although the lesson went well, Mahalia had her mind set on singing gospel and she disregarded Ikes input if it suggested anything different. While taking voice lessons from Madame Brown, Mahalia was also working with Thomas Dorsey, the choirmaster for many of the Baptist churches in Chicago and the leading gospel composer. Ike presented Mahalia with another opportunity. He had heard that the Federal Theater project was in the area and they were casting a production called ?The Hot Mikado?. Mahalia auditioned and won a leading role but refused the job. Things between Ike and Mahalia began to worsen and they were beginning to come apart over gospel singing. Ike had a gambling problem, which didn?t help their relationship, and they separated and eventually got a divorce, continuing to remain friends. (4) In 1933, ...
