GMC TV Presents “Sugar Mommas” Starring Vanessa Williams & Terri J. Vaughn

GMC TV, America’s favorite channel for uplifting music and family entertainment, presents the World Television Premiere of the original gospel play “Sugar Mommas,” starring Daytime Emmy© nominee Vanessa Williams (“Lincoln Heights,” “Soul Food”) and NAACP Image Award© winner Terri J. Vaughn (“Meet the Browns,” Daddy’s Little Girls). “Sugar Mommas” premieres on GMC Saturday, January 21st at 7:00 p.m. ET with encore broadcasts at 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. ET.

“Sugar Mommas” features a stellar cast including Daytime Emmy nominee Vanessa Williams (“Lincoln Heights,” “Soul Food”), NAACP Image Award winner Terri J. Vaughn (“Meet the Browns,” Daddy’s Little Girls), Rachel True (“Half & Half”), Lamman Rucker (“Meet the Browns,” Why Did I Get Married Too?), Tommy Ford (“Martin”) and the Grammy-nominated Gospel music sensation VaShawn Mitchell. “Sugar Mommas” is directed by Roger Melvin (“The Love You Save,” “She’s Still Not Our Sister”), and written by Cas Sigers (A Cross To Bear).

Inspiring, heart-warming and hilarious, “Sugar Mommas” centers on three 40-something women who start a bakery together to fulfill their own sweet desires to be independent women after motherhood, failed marriages and the loss of loved ones have left indelible marks on their lives. Together, their story is a celebration of womanhood, the good and the bad, as each learns new lessons about maturing, love and romance, and opportunity.

“Sugar Mommas” follows sisters Sheila (Vaughn) and Lynn (Williams), who have lived very different lives. Sheila is widowed and Lynn recently divorced with a daughter in college. With time on their hands and longing for something different, they decide to start a business together and, having always loved sweets, a bakery seems a natural choice for them. When they invite close friend Tommi (Rachel True) to join them as their specialty pie maker, their recipe for success is complete. But these three women’s personalities are as distinct as the cupcake flavors they invent: Lynn is sassy and bold; Sheila is sweet and enduring, often to her own detriment; and Tommi is extremely practical, and the day to day at “Sugar Mommas” becomes an often spicy mix. As old challenges, new loves and opportunities surface, these women embark on a journey of self-awareness, affirmation, and hope as they write the next chapter in their sweet lives.

“’Sugar Mommas’ is an exceptionally entertaining stage play that provides interesting character roles not only for female actors of color, but for female actors in an age bracket that the entertainment industry as a whole tends to under-represent,” said Leslie Chesloff, executive vice president of programming at GMC. “It’s a life stage that’s rich with possibilities for growth and learning, which this production celebrates—as do we at GMC.”

The GMC broadcast of “Sugar Mommas” is produced by Swirl Films’ Eric Tomosunas, who has produced and taped numerous stage plays and feature-length films for television and DVD including, “Love Me or Leave Me,” “The Ideal Husband,” Love for Sale, A Mother’s Prayer, and There’s a Stranger in My House.

“Sugar Mommas” is the sixth original gospel stage play to air in GMC’s hit series following the success of GMC productions “Love Me or Leave Me”, “The Ideal Husband”, “She’s Not Our Sister,” “The Love You Save,” and “She’s Still Not Our Sister.” GMC, which has more installments planned for 2012, is the only network producing the popular medium and bringing it to a broad television audience.

“We could not be more thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response we’ve received for our gospel plays, which have become a cornerstone of our programming,” said GMC Vice Chairman Brad Siegel. “These heartwarming, funny and uplifting stories feature characters that are vibrant and real, and who face challenges many of us can identify with. It’s that ‘relatability factor’ that has made this stage play series so successful, and “Sugar Mommas” is no exception.”