Can We Dream? Poetic Justice: The Musical

I know I’m not the only one who watches a movie and thinks, “This is a great idea for a Broadway production!” If you are a theatre-head like me, those thoughts are constantly going in and out of that creative brain of yours. I just did it last weekend thinking about why Disney’s Hercules has yet to make it to the Great White Way (Hello?! The Muses!!!). So in honor of what could be, let me pick your brain and throw an idea to all the readers here at Broadway Black:

Poetic Justice: The Musical based on the 1993 romance/drama film. 

Now, you may sit there and think that it’s far-fetched but hear me out. After theatre, I’d consider myself a huge film enthusiast. This past weekend I had the honor to go to the American Black Film Festival and watch a bunch of old and new films created by Black directors, writers, and actors. One of the screenings was a showing of Boyz in The Hood by John Singleton, one of my all time favorite directors. His movies often tell the stories of young Black men and women growing up in impoverished neighborhoods, trying to make it out and create better opportunities for themselves. Poetic Justice, also written by Singleton, is just that. If you really think about it, the groundwork for a theatre production is already there.

Justice –beautician by day, poet by night–is a young Black girl from South Central LA. She was named Justice by her late mother, who gave birth to her while attending law school. After the death of her boyfriend Markell, Justice falls into a deep depression. That’s where her poetry comes in; it is used to express her inner thoughts. Throughout the movie, Justice’s poems are recited by her to other characters or serve as voice-over narrations. This would be perfect for a musical as those poems can be accompanied by music, reworked, and sung by Justice whenever the script calls for it. Did I mention that the poems were written by the late great Maya Angelou?

The heart of the story is the road trip Justice takes across California with her friends, Iesha, Chicago and future love interest Lucky. The situations they find themselves in can lead to musical interludes, and I can see hilarious and heartfelt duets between Justice/Lucky and Iesha/Chicago.

A pivotal moment from the movie that would be amazing to see come to life on stage is when the friends stop at a beach and each of the four characters contemplates their separate situations in internal monologues. In my mind, I can visualize those four characters singing their own solos before coming together in a harmonious quartet. You can see it too, right?

There so many climactic moments in the film — such as the huge fight that leaves Chicago stranded on the side of the road or Lucky’s cousin being murdered causing him to lash out against Justice– that would be great in a musical setting.

Not quite sold? This should do the trick. In my mind, these actors would be perfect for the four leads;

Justice (originally played by Janet Jackson) – Condola Rashad (Trip To Bountiful)

Lucky (originally played by Tupac Shakur)- Saul Williams (Holler If Ya Hear Me)

Iesha (originally played by Regina King)  – Saycon Sengbloh (Fela!)

Chicago (Originally played by Joe Torry)  – Joshua Henry (The Scottsboro Boys)

Sounds good right? What are your thoughts? Who would you cast? Sound off below!

**This is not in development, it’s merely an idea.