Video: CRAZYSEXYCOOL – THE TLC MUSICAL Cast Begins Rehearsals at Arena Stage
Arena Stage Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif recently welcomed the company of the world premiere musical to begin the show's journey.
Arena Stage Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif recently welcomed the company of the world premiere of CRAZYSEXYCOOL – THE TLC MUSICAL to DC for the start of the show's journey. Check out footage from the rehearsal room here!
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will present CrazySexyCool – The TLC Musical in June. Written and directed by Olivier Award nominee Kwame Kwei-Armah (One Love: The Bob Marley Musical) and choreographed by Chloe O. Davis (Broadway’s Gypsy), CrazySexyCool – The TLC Musical puts the rise, resilience, and rhythm of the four-time Grammy Award winning best-selling female group of all time center stage just in time for summer. The world premiere will run June 12 - August 9, 2026, in Arena Stage’s Kreeger Theater.
The cast includes Bryan Archibald (Signature Theatre’s Play On!), Trenton McKenzie Beavers (Ford’s Theatre’s Sister Act), Aaron Bliden (Ford’s Theatre’s The American Five), Josh A. Dawson (MJ National Tour), Nichole Forde (Signature Theatre’s In the Heights), Deon’te Goodman (Broadway’s Hamilton), Ciara Alyse Harris (Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen), Bethany Hemmans (Orlando Shakes’s Ain’t Misbehavin’), Justin Raynard Hicks (Theatre Memphis’s Grease), Lindsey Jolyn Jackson (Broadway’s Hell's Kitchen), Malik Kitchen (Broadway’s Hamilton), Darius Jordan Lee (Broadway’s Ain’t Too Proud), Madison McBride (New World Stages’s Teeth), Kalen Robinson (Arena’s Chez Joey), Mikari Tarpley (The Lion King National Tour), and Christopher Henry Young (Broadway’s A Bronx Tale).
They join Holli' Gabrielle Conway (Broadway’s Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) as Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins, Jade Milan (Broadway’s Hell’s Kitchen) as Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes, Stoney B. Woods (Broadway’s The Book of Mormon) as Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas, Felicia Curry (Broadway’s Into the Woods) as Dr. Nzinga/Christina, and Kennedy Holmes (NBC’s The Voice) as Ensemble.
CrazySexyCool features music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations by Tony Award nominee David Holcenberg (MJ), music direction and associate music supervision by Jaret Landon (The Muny’s Smokey Joe's Café), and vocal arrangements by Holcenberg and Landon. The musical’s design team boasts three-time Tony-winning set designer David Zinn (Stereophonic), Tony-winning Costume Designer Dede Ayite (Jaja's African Hair Braiding), five-time Tony-nominated lighting designer Japhy Weideman (Dear Evan Hansen), Tony-winning sound designer Gareth Owen (MJ), five-time Tony-nominated projection designer Peter Nigrini (Hell’s Kitchen), and Tony-winning hair and wig designer Nikiya Mathis (Jaja's African Hair Braiding). The associate director is Jerrica D. White and the associate music director is Quinton 'Q' Robinson. Dramaturgy is by Hana S. Sharif. NYC Casting is by The Telsey Office/Rachel Hoffman, CSA and Rashad Naylor, CSA and DC Casting is by Raiyon Hunter, CSA. The stage manager is Jereme Kyle Lewis and the assistant stage managers are Danielle Teague-Daniels and Stefania Giron Zuluaga.
For more than 30 years, TLC has pushed artistic boundaries and inspired millions with music that remains as urgent and relevant today as ever. From the generation shaping anthem “Waterfalls” and bold confidence of “No Scrubs” to the empowering, Grammy-winning “Creep” and the self-love movement of “Unpretty,” their songs are a rallying cry for self-worth and solidarity. Now, their extraordinary legacy explodes onto the stage. Go beyond the headlines, the fiery scandals, explosive creative clashes, and heartbreaking tragedies to experience the powerful story of unbreakable sisterhood. CrazySexyCool celebrates the women who dared to be bold, courageous, and wholly themselves—and in doing so, became truly iconic.
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