Could blaxploitation meet Broadway? It’s an obvious question that comes up with news that Bill T. Jones, the director and choreographer, will spend three weeks next month developing “Super Fly: The Musical” in New York.
Young Black singers will no doubt be lining up early at Pearl Studios on Monday morning for auditions. The show, which is still in its early stages according to a spokesman, is a theatrical adaptation of the classic 1972 blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, Jr.
Mr. Jones, who has already brought home Tony awards for “Spring Awakening.” and “Fela!,” will direct and choreograph. The Mottola Group and the Dodgers are backing the development of the show, which has a book by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld and music by ’70s-era soul, funk and R&B artists, including Curtis Mayfield, who recorded the original film’s famed soundtrack.
This is the second time the creative team has worked on material from “Super Fly” in New York; Justin Guarini (“Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”) was among those participating in the first.
The casting notice for the new audition says the creators are looking for a woman to play Georgia, a 20-something beauty with a fabulous voice who can match the “sexuality, fearlessness, and heart” of Priest, the college-educated cocaine dealer at the center of the show.
There is no word yet on when or if a customized Cadillac Eldorado, like the classic “pimpmobile” used in the film, might arrive on Broadway.
Source: New York Times – http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/super-fly-musical-struts-a-step-closer-to-the-new-york-stage/
