The iconic TV series “Soul Train,“ which aired from 1971 to 2006, is now coming to Broadway as a musical. It also has a black female creative team behind it, and The Roots’ Questlove serves as an executive producer.
Deadline reports the play will follow the life of “Soul Train” creator and host Don Cornelius as he’s inventing the show. Cornelius committed suicide in 2012. His son Tony will also be an executive producer.
Meanwhile, the Tony-nominated playwright Dominique Morisseau will pen the musical, Kamilah Forbes will direct it and Camille A. Brown is the choreographer. The show will have over 20 hit songs in it as well, all from the “Soul Train” era.
“I am so excited to help bring the narrative of one of our culture’s most influential and legend-making endeavors to the stage,” Morisseau said in a statement. “Having grown up on this series and being immersed in the culture around it, I never knew what it took to make it the iconic staple that it is.”
“Through the socio-political challenges both internally and externally, Don Cornelius’ uncompromised vision, and the revolutionary dance culture that the show made visible to the mainstream, there are a million handprints on what we know as ‘Soul Train,'” she added.
Of course, the legendary TV series was a staple in Black households all across the United States when it ran, and people tuned in to learn the latest dance steps, witness the day’s fashion trends and catch their favorite musical acts in funk, soul, R&B, hip-hop and other forms of Black music.
Cornelius stopped hosting the show in 1993, and it was later hosted by actor Mystro Clark, then Shemar Moore, then Dorian Gregory. The musical’s opening is slated for 2021, which will also be the 50th anniversary of “Soul Train’s” first episode.
Questlove shared the news about his involvement Tuesday on Instagram.
“Tryna make dreams come true every day of my life,” he wrote next to a clip of the show’s famous opening. “Y’all know I bleed @soultrain so this move should surprise none of y’all. Extremely proud to be part of this awesome team and a part of hisherstory.”
