James Brown is among the most iconic figures in music historical past, whose work has impressed a number of the trade’s icons like Michael Jackson and Prince, simply to call a couple of.
Now, as Broadway musicals have discovered latest success documenting the lives of legendary Black artists, Brown’s story is lastly hitting the stage to introduce him to a brand new era.
“James Brown The Musical,” a brand new Broadway-bound manufacturing, will formally chronicle the Godfather of Soul, monitoring James Brown’s epic journey from childhood strife to his legacy as one of many biggest artists of all time.
Atlanta Black Star spoke with the present’s lead producer, playwright and director, Jeremy E. Cormier, who gave us perception into what followers can anticipate to see, how Brown’s musical will differ from others, the troublesome casting course of for the lead position, and extra.
Cormier, a Morehouse graduate, has an extended record of regional theater producing credit by means of Dominion Leisure Group — corresponding to serving as firm supervisor and affiliate producer on productions together with “Dreamgirls,” “A Raisin within the Solar,” “Black Nativity,” “Mahalia,” “Crowns,” and “Hen & Biscuits.”
Since founding Jeremy Cormier Presents LLC in 2015, he has directed and produced authentic musicals corresponding to “It’s A New Day” and “Even A Good Man Is Tempted” as CEO and govt producer.
He’s additionally on the board of the James Brown Household Basis.
When requested why now’s the right time to carry Brown’s story to life on the Broadway stage, Cormier defined the way it ties right into a somber anniversary.
“Mr. Brown has been gone for 20 years and his story has but to be advised on any aspect on a stage. We’ve seen a whole lot of documentaries, we’ve seen the film ‘Get On Up,’ however now we have but to see it acted out and portrayed on stage,” Cormier mentioned.
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“The wonder about why now’s we get to inform the story free, we get to inform the story from the daughter’s perspective,” Cormier explains, referencing Deanna Brown-Thomas, Brown’s daughter and a associate within the manufacturing.
“She was on tour along with her dad, she did his hair. So, you get an opportunity to see a narrative that’s not sanitized,” he continues.
Cormier additionally shares that the musical will chronicle Brown’s whole life, together with his loss of life on Christmas Day 2006.
“We take individuals on a rollercoaster of how [Deanna] felt. How she by no means actually understood what he meant to the world till she obtained older as a result of to her, he was ‘simply my dad,’” he tells ABS.
Trying to chronicle Brown’s larger-than-life existence is not any small feat, however Cormier reveals that tackling the manufacturing chronologically permits him to inform Brown’s most defining moments.
”We get all the pieces. We get the second that he’s profitable the [music] contest to him shining footwear on the steps of the radio station {that a} white proprietor advised him to get off the steps of,” he shares.
Cormier continues, including, “ We get to inform the story about how him and Elvis Presley had a brotherhood, of how he saved Boston after the loss of life of Dr. King — we get to inform the story of the toughest working man in showbiz.”
Longtime followers know that Brown confronted darker moments all through his life, and Cormier guarantees he gained’t sweep them below the rug—as a substitute, the manufacturing will actively discover “the demons of his life.”
”Having an understanding of how home violence performed in his life from him rising up seeing that from his father, and the way his mother left him because of home violence,” he explains. “And the way he handled girls in his life [due to domestic violence.]”
Maybe the largest problem of the James Brown musical is deciding who’s worthy sufficient to deal with the lead position of the soul legend — a course of that Cormier admits wasn’t a simple activity.
“Casting wasn’t simple, but it surely was simple due to who performs Mr. Brown in our present,” he shares with ABS, whereas revealing that he finally discovered “his James Brown” in an area Atlanta manufacturing of “Dreamgirls.”
Cormier’s intestine feeling was proper, as Brown-Thomas, whom he calls the musical’s “secret sauce,” co-signed his alternative after seeing the lead actor carry out.
”That’s my Daddy,” she advised Cormier after the present. “He’s the entire bundle,” he says confidently.
When questioned about whether or not a newcomer or a longtime star will play the lead, Cormier saved the identify secret however confirmed that the general public already is aware of the actor.
”He’s carried out a whole lot of exhibits within the Atlanta space. He’s a Billboard gospel artist, so you’ll know him whenever you see him and also you’ll be like ‘Wow!” he teases.
”James Brown The Musical” marks the primary Broadway enterprise for each Cormier and Brown-Thomas; but, as a substitute of worry, Cormier feels immense pleasure for the ultimate end result, even when it comes with “loads of sleepless nights.”
”I can placed on a musical, however to take it to a different degree of touring and Broadway, we gotta guess the individuals who know the issues,” he says.
Though Cormier admits that award recognition and wholesome field workplace receipts can be a welcomed results of the musical’s success, he says that connecting Brown with a youthful era and new audiences means simply as a lot.
Brown-Thomas shares Cormier’s sentiments about what the musical hopes to realize and the way essential it’s for his legacy to be advised on a brand new platform.
“I’m grateful for this blessed alternative to inform the story about my father Mr. James Brown,” she tells ABS. “In ‘James Brown The Musical,’ all these teachings from my father are laid out and expressed in a significant method.”
“There are thrilling moments, unhappy moments, moments of disgrace and greatness, but in addition him simply being Daddy. The highs, the lows, the blows and the blessings, it’s all in ‘James Brown The Musical,’” she says.
My Complete Household Loves James Brown🥹💪🏽🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/HEezVAZsAL
— Jackson Harlem (@JacksonHarlem) April 24, 2026
Brown-Thomas additionally at the moment runs the James Brown Academy of Musik Pupils, the place she “pours into the scholars what dad poured into me.”
As followers await the official announcement for the present to make its formal Broadway debut, Cormier leaves them with a message of what they may encounter after they absorb Brown’s charming legacy on the New York stage.
”It’s about artwork, music, enjoyable, creativity, and all of the issues we hope resonate with the viewers,” he says.
“We hope that it brings peace and pleasure to the instances we live in now, and that we are able to unfold somewhat little bit of peace and happiness into the lives of anyone who witnesses the historic presentation of this lovely musical.”
