The critically acclaimed team behind the 2021 Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Merry Wives returns to The Public with the New York premiere of a new musical conceived and directed by Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali, featuring music and lyrics by Michael Thurber and a book by Tony Award nominee Jocelyn Bioh. A mysterious singer arrives at Moto Moto, a steamy Afro-jazz club in Mombasa, Kenya. She casts an entrancing spell on everyone, including a young man who has returned home from studying in America. Will the big plans for his life—stepping into a political legacy and marrying his fiancée—be upended? Inspired by the myth of Marimba, the Goddess who created beautiful songs from her heartbreak, this is a rousing tale of romance, the supernatural, and the quest towards one’s truest self.
It’s no wonder that Omari wants to hang out at Moto Moto: The music is hot (the often-spellbinding Goddess songs—which include elements of R&B, Afrobeat, pop, East African taarab—are by Michael Thurber); the dancing is even hotter (thanks to choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie); there’s a super-sweet budding romance between Ahmed and proprietor Rashida (Arica Jackson); and he, and we, can’t get enough of Nadira’s soulful vocals. Side note: Someone needs to do a jazz album with Amber Iman, and it needs to include the ultra-lush ‘Honeysweet.’
Amber Iman glows as the goddess in hiding. Her richly textured and far-reaching voice envelops the audience and makes it easy for us to imagine her as the goddess who is music. Iman has the numinous gravity of a being not of this world and the vulnerability of a mortal woman longing for love. It’s a sensational performance.
| 2025 | Off-Broadway |
Public Theater New York Premiere Off-Broadway |
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