I went to one of these performances once (something about a man cheating on a woman and God or something with Stephanie Mills, "Tommy" from Martin, and Tony Terry) and I was really surprised at the audience's attitude. Seems like people thought it was a movie or something. My row was empty at the musical's start, but filled up during the first 10-15 minutes of the performance.
.
Cell phones rang out, people chatted on phones, and most disturbingly, talked back to the stage like they were in a movie theater!
It was horrible.
These "quasi gospel humor musicals" are the live theater equivalent of ghetto lit, to me. I'm sure they serve a purpose and entertain those interested in the subject matter, but they cannot be the only game in town. Many folks think that it IS repreprentative of all black theater, and that's the problem from my perspective.