Video: Meet the Company Bringing WANTED to Broadway

Wanted is getting ready to make its mark on Broadway. The new musical by Angelica Chéri and Ross Baum begins previews October 15 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, and BroadwayWorld recently stopped by the Baryshnikov Arts Center to catch a sneak peek and chat with the cast and creative team.

For the company, bringing a brand-new musical to Broadway comes with the special opportunity to help shape it from the ground up.

“Especially when you're originating a role, you just get to put your handprints all over the piece,” shared Liisi LaFontaine, who is making her Broadway debut as Martha Clarke. “And knowing what Broadway means and how it's the biggest stage in the world, we're gonna be stitched into the fabric of the city in this really beautiful way... To be the people that get to usher that into the world is such an honor.”

Wanted tells the true story of twin outlaws Mary and Martha Clark, a story with a deeply personal connection for book writer and lyricist Angelica Chéri. The twins were the aunts of Chéri’s paternal grandmother, who first passed their story down to her.

Wanted will star Solea Pfeiffer as Mary Clarke, Liisi LaFontaine as Martha Clarke, Grammy Award-winning and 16 time-nominated R&B legend Ledisi as Tallulah Clarke, Grammy Award-nominated R&B singer, songwriter, and actor Luke James as Elijah, West End and London star Bradley Jaden as Jesse, Aurelia Williams as Sissy, and Awa Sal Secka as Flo. The production will also feature Ximone Rose as the standby for Mary and Martha Clarke, Melody A. Betts, Aaron Arnell Harrington, Jennie Harney-Fleming, Rayshun LaMarr, Hailey Thomas and Harris Matthew Turner as the Kinfolk, a vibrant chorus of ancestors who help guide the Clarke sisters on their epic journey. Rounding out the company will be Wesley J. Barnes, Kailey Boyle, Meghan Olivia Corbett, Timothy Hughes, Crystal Joy, Mary Claire King, Brad Sharp, Danielle J. Summons, Nathan Quay Thomas, Katie Thompson, and Brent Thiessen.

“This feels like a gift because I'm such an ancestral baby,” Chéri explained. “My paternal grandmother is the person who gave me the story of Mary and Martha Clark. These are her aunts. For me, it's about showing that this American story—it's an African American story, but it's an American story. This is part of the American theater canon.”