Josephine Baker (1906-1975) is one of the most intriguing yet underappreciated women in American history. After a tumultuous start to her life — crushing poverty, being forced into work as a live-in domestic for white families, living through the 1917 riots in East St. Louis, and being married twice by age fifteen — Baker ran away in her teen years to dance in vaudeville and on Broadway. While she enjoyed some success in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance, it’s only when she moved to Paris in 1925 that she became an international sensation. She starred in the film Zouzou in 1934, which made her the first black woman to star in a major motion picture. Plus her erotic dancing and famous banana dance made
Michael Donald Edwards sees that final musical as an opportunity to test out innovative productions, to be a crucible for fresh work. Edwards explains that “creating and fostering new work — it gets our blood going. It’s also the riskiest financial thing we can do, but every artist wants to be involved in the creation of the new. It’s such an exciting enterprise.” He notes, too, that Sarasota is changing. We have a terrific residential audience — not just snowbirds — who are hungry for all kinds of interesting and new work. And Josephine is just the type of production that will get people excited. Indeed, the presales are already record setting. Friends of Edwards are al-
Let’s be clear — she was the 20th century’s first international black female sex symbol. Famous American expatriate Ernest Hemingway once called her “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw, or ever will.” Add in that Baker adopted 12 children from around the world (her “rainbow tribe,” she said), her work with the Red Cross during WWII, and her efforts in gathering intelligence for the French Resistance, and you can see why her life deserves more attention. her the talk of Paris as well as the world. Let’s be clear — she was the 20th century’s first international black female sex symbol. Famous American expatriate Ernest Hemingway once called her “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw, or ever will.” Add in that Baker adopted 12 children from around the world (her “rainbow tribe,” she said), her work with the Red Cross during WWII, and her efforts in gathering intelligence for the French Resistance, and you can see why her life deserves more attention. Let’s be even more clear — Josephine Baker was Jackie Robinson before Jackie Robinson. She was Dr. Martin Luther King before Dr. Martin Luther King. She was Beyoncé before Beyoncé. And that’s why the world premiere of the musical Josephine at Asolo Rep this April is so noteworthy. The theatre’s season always begins with a tried and true musical (“West Side Story” for this season), then they launch into their standard rep cycle of plays before wrapping up the season with a new, exciting musical. Producing Artistic Director
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ready making plans to fly in from Sydney, Australia and London, England to see Josephine. That’s largely due to the show’s star, Canadian Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum R&B recording artist and Broadway star Deborah Cox who has collaborated with such stars as Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, Cyndi Lauper, and The Isley Brothers. Throughout the world, she’s known as a singing sensation. “Deborah would likely not be coming to Sarasota for an older musical,” notes Edwards. “But she’s been part of the development of Josephine for years now, and she’s one of the reasons I wanted to jump in and produce the show.” Edwards hears pitches for new musicals to fill that end-of-season slot all the time. When the producers of Josephine reached out two years ago, he met with the director and immediately thought, “This is the one.” His team quickly agreed, and now Josephine is set to be a world premiere musical running from April 27 to May 29 before heading off to Broadway. Considering the amazing events of Baker’s life, the creators of Josephine had plenty of noteworthy