Grammy nominated, multi-talented, multi-platinum selling recording artist Deborah Cox will star in the world premiere of JOSEPHINE, a brand new musical, that will debut in April 2016.
Broadway World reports that previews for JOSEPHINE begin April 27, press night is Friday, May 6 at 8pm, and the musical runs through Sunday, May 29.
Inspired by Stephen Papich's book "Remembering Josephine," the musical revolves around Baker's stint as the star of the Folies Bergere in Paris between 1939-45, her scandalous affair with Swedish Crown Prince Gustav VI, and her heroic service in the French Resistance during World War II. She was hailed as the "Black Pearl." Picasso dubbed her the "Nefertiti of Now." Ernest Hemingway called her "the most sensational woman anyone ever saw." The entrancing Josephine Baker was beautiful, ambitious, and the toast of Europe at the height of her fame in the 1920s-30s. Born into poverty in St. Louis, she rose to become an icon of the Jazz Age, captivating Paris audiences as a dancer, singer, actress and the twentieth-century's first international black female sex symbol.
JOSEPHINE will be directed and choreographed by two-time Tony Award-nominee Joey McKneely, who recently did the musical staging for the celebrated Broadway revival of West Side Story.
Most recently, Cox won rave reviews for voicing the iconic catalogue of Whitney Houston in the Lifetime biopic.
Photo: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Kimberly Foster is the founder and editor of For Harriet. Email or Follow @KimberlyNFoster
