The White House hosted a screening of The Trip to Bountiful Monday in honor of Black History Month.
The Associated Press via Yahoo! reports that the First Lady told the audience that she had the chance to see the Tony-Award winning play on Broadway and appreciated the moral lesson, along with Cicely Tyson’s “impressive” performance.
“This is so exciting—it is a wonderful movie and I am so thrilled that we have the opportunity to show it here at the White House,” Mrs. Obama said. “I had the pleasure of seeing the Broadway play last summer in New York with my girls and we were blown away by the story of persistence and hope and the ties that bind us all together.”
The story, written by Horton Foote, follows an elderly woman in Jim Crow South that is determined to make her way back her home in Bountiful, Texas before she dies.
The First Lady honored Tyson, who was in the audience alongside cast members Keke Palmer, Vanessa Williams and Blair Underwood.
“Ms. Tyson’s story is so much more than honors and accolades,” Mrs. Obama said. “It is really about character, and determination and it’s breaking barriers, not just for herself but for all of us who are blessed by her legacy.”
Lifetime’s The Trip to Bountiful premieres on March 8 at 8 p.m.