Local Atlanta playwright Towanda Kilpatrick who brought the gospel touring productions, Can a Hoochie Become First Lady, that featured Keith Sweat and Mama! I’m Your Child, which starred BernNadette Stanis (Thelma from “Good Times”) to the stage , returns to the 14th St. Playhouse Labor Day weekend with the adult musical comedy Cheezecake Boiz and the Diva. –candy shields
How did you develop the concept behind the title, Cheezecake Boiz and the Diva?
My daughter, Brooke, came home one day and said, “Ma, my friend is acting like a cheesecake boy.” I’m like “What is that?” She said, “I don’t know, he’s just acting too sweet.” I thought, wow, she just came up with that. It made me think of how every diva has a man in her life that supports her, [making him a] cheezecake boi. In the show, these boiz teach the diva how to bake a cake, symbolizing how to love, and even pleasure a man, using special ingredients that you can pick up from the grocery store.
Is there a target audience for this piece and what do they have to gain from watching?
I wanted to reach women, married and single, [and] also the alternative lifestyle market. The diva in the story had never really experienced love and her housekeeper, a beautiful, yet ordinary woman, gives her the gift of these cheezecake boiz to make her look on the inside as she does on the outside, turning something ugly into something beautiful. It’s really funny and there’s a message throughout; and it is an adult show. Grocery shopping after seeing this play will be hilarious.
What can we expect from your company, Twelve53 Productions, in the future?
We currently have a Tony-Award winning director and choreographer interested in signing on who believes Cheezecake Boiz and the Diva can make it to Broadway. I’m also working on a full feature length film, Yellow Cry, an action-drama that addresses human trafficking, financial burden and greed. It poses the question, would you kidnap your neighbor’s child to save your own?
