Raheem DeVaughn will be joining the cast of Love Jones the Musical, which is set to embark on a national tour this fall. He will be in great company too as the star-studded musical boasts an all-star cast of R&B music’s biggest names, including Chrisette Michele, Musiq Soulchild, Marsha Ambrosius, Dave Hollister and MC Lyte.
The musical will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the popular romantic comedy. The stage adaptation of the film takes the essence of the film and tells its story through music. According to DeVaughn, who portrays the character Hollywood in the musical, there will be a lot of new music that we can look forward to, as well as at least one original hit song from his repertoire.
Check out what else DeVaughn had to say in his exclusive interview with rolling out below. He discusses his character in the play, what we can expect tin terms of music and his future plans for acting. Let us know what you think in the comments section. Will you be in the house once the musical comes to your city?
Tell us about your role in the musical. Which character do you play?
I play Hollywood, which is a character that was originally played by Bill Bellamy in the film. And without spoiling the musical, it’s a more modern, up-to-date version of the film. It’s very funny, and it touches on love and the same topics. But I figured if we had approached it the same way the film [did], it would be no point. We’ve been able to update the music, of course, with artists like myself, and Musiq, and Dave Hollister, and then there’s a surprise performer that is coming out every night, and I don’t want to say who that is, but they’re definitely legendary. It’s real dope to share the stage with all these different cats.
You mentioned that we will be hearing some of your music in the musical as well. Is it new music or old music? Is it a combination of both?
It’s both. It’s new music, and it’s definitely a big song from my catalog. I also have the title track to the play, thanks to MC Lyte, who spearheaded us doing the soundtrack, all original, new music soundtrack for the play. We’re wrapping that up and it includes one full song that I wrote for Dave Hollister.
Is acting something new for you? Can we plan to see more of this type of work from you?
I definitely see myself doing a lot more of these type of projects and acting in plays as they become available. I’ve acted in the past. I’ve done plays locally as well. But something of this magnitude, it’s definitely a first. There’s a first time for everything. I can definitely say that it’s something that I want to pursue going forward. It’s crazy because I had certain people reach out to me that I haven’t heard from in a while, and say “yo, I’m proud of you.” I talked to LisaRaye yesterday and I didn’t know that that’s the world that she had become a part of after she did her first film. She kind of went the theater route, and it turned out to be a fruitful thing for her. So, it’s definitely something that I’m going to be doing.
That’s great to hear, we’ll definitely be supporting you. But tell us, how did you get involved in this musical?
The producer and director reached out. And once I had a conversation with them both and they told me who was involved and what we were doing: Love Jones‘ 20th anniversary, I signed on pretty much immediately. They were flexible about my other shows on the books, they really didn’t care about any of that, they said, “that can be worked out, but we want you.” In this business, after all these years, when you have people that make serious inquiries, that’s a blessing.
