Love, Peace, & SOUL!
World famous drummer of The Legendary Roots Crew, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, is executive producing a Broadway musical based on the iconic music and dance television show Soul Train.
According to Deadline, the musical will chronicle the iconic variety show through the lens of its creator and host, the legend, Don Cornelius. Soul Train first aired in 1971, and served as a global platform for Black artists, music, dance and style for over three decades before its end in 2006. Corneilus maintained control of the brand up until his passing in 2012 and produced several specials, including the annual Soul Train Music Awards.
The musical tells the story of Cornelius’ creation of the popular show and features over 20 hit songs from its golden era. The creative team behind the musical are three of the leading Black women in theater, Tony Award nominated playwright Dominique Morisseau (Ain’t Too Proud), NAACP Image Award winning director Kamilah Forbes (The Apollo, Meet Vera Stark) and Tony Award winning choreographer Camille A. Brown (Choir Boy, Once on This Island).
Questlove made the announcement via his social media saying, “tryna make dreams come true every day of my life. 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.”
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Morisseau is also extremely excited to be apart of the project saying, “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.”
Executive producing alongside Questlove is Tony Cornelius, son of Don Cornelius.
“With many years of experience working directly with my father, I’m forever grateful and deeply humbled by the impact Soul Train has had on the culture at large both here and abroad. For 37 years, and with purpose, through music, dance and style, Soul Train brought Love, Peace & Soul to a national audience,” he said.
The musical is slated to premiere on Broadway in 2021, which also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the television show.
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