All-Black Female Army Battalion Will Be the Subject of New Musical 6888 From Blair Underwood

Executive Producer Blair Underwood announces the development of a new Broadway-bound musical, 6888: The Musical (Working Title), inspired by the only all-Black, female Army battalion to serve overseas in World War II.

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion were given the daunting task of sorting and routed an overwhelming backlog of more than 17 million pieces of mail. Led by Major Charity Adams, their motto was "No Mail, Low Morale." Throughout a turbulent deployment to England and France, the unit faced incredible odds, including both racism and sexism, the majority from their own leadership, yet completed the assignment in record time and changed the trajectory of many soldiers' lives as a result. They joined the U.S. Army to make a difference and show that they loved their country, even if their country did not always love them back.

6888 The Musical is being written by Morgan J Smart (book), Ronvé O'Daniel (music and lyrics), and Jevares C. Myrick (composer/orchestrations). It is conceived and produced by Holly Garman and Joe Trentacosta and will be developed and produced by Tony Award nominee Blair Underwood. Ret. U.S. Army Col, Edna Cummings and James Theres will act as the new musical's historical advisor.

Until now, the story of the 6888 has been largely ignored but is very close to receiving the nation's highest award from Congress, the Congressional Gold Medal . When received, the 6888 will be the only female unit serving in a military status to receive the award, the only unit from the Women's Army Corps to receive the award, and of course, the only African American female unit to receive the award.

"The women of the 6888 are true American patriots, who are long overdue to have their story told. I am honored to be part of a team bringing their story to the stage." - Executive Producer, Blair Underwood

"After reading about the 6888 in the N.Y. Times back in September 2020, we immediately knew that the story of these incredible women had to be brought to the stage. It is thrilling that the 6888 are finally being awarded Congressional Gold Medals at the exact moment that our creative team came together this year," said producer and co-creator Holly Garman. " We're truly honored to help bring this piece of hidden U.S. history to life and celebrate the remarkable achievements of these extraordinary women," adds producer, co-creator Joe Trentacosta.

MORGAN J SMART (Book) is a librettist, singer-songwriter, dramaturg, and storyteller. She attended Florida International University studying Communication Arts and Global Black Studies, merging her instinct to write with her interest in telling Black stories on a global scale. She went on to graduate from N.Y.U.'s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, where she found the intersection of storytelling and songwriting, and explored the world of writing for theatre, which has proven more fulfilling than she could have dreamed. Since moving to New York City, Morgan has written three musicals of her own, Our Mother's Mothers, AWAKENED , and SHADOWS. Morgan's work has been presented and workshopped at Goodspeed Opera House, The Lincoln Center, New York Theatre Barn, and N.Y.U. Tisch. She's worked as a dramaturg with Hi-Arts N.Y.C. and with the New Victory Theatre on Broadway. Most recently, Morgan has written a movie musical produced by the New York Film Academy that will be released in the summer of 2022. Discover more of Morgan at MorganJSmart.com.

RONVE O'DANIEL (Composer/ Lyricist) is a songwriter, lyricist, playwright, director, and hip-hop enthusiast. His show Once Upon a Rhyme has been produced at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley New Works Festival, Eugene O'Neill National Music Theater Conference, Johnny Mercer Writers Colony Residency at Goodspeed Theater, and N.Y.U. Tisch School for the Arts. Ronvé collaborated with Virginia Stage Company and Virginia Public Works for the world premiere of The Earth Remembers , an original song cycle that serves as both education and a celebration of the unique history of the Hampton Roads, Virginia community. He is currently partnering with the new licensing all-digital agent Uproar Theatrics to create The Hippest Wizard of O.Z. , with longtime collaborators J Kyle Manzay and Jevares Myrick. Ronvé recently made his directorial debut with City Springs Theatre Company's educational musical short film Beautiful Hair, which he also wrote. He was the recipient of Eugene O'Neill National Music Theater Conference's Georgia Bogardus Holof Lyricist Award - given to only one lyricist every summer who exemplifies a promising career in musical theater writing. Ronvé's other works include Greenwood (Musical Theatre Factory), Letters to the President , BAPS (Music and Lyrics for National Tour), The New Girl (Concord Theatricals), and We Love (N.A.M.T. 15-minute musical). You can keep up with him at ronveodaniel.com .

JEVARES C. MYRICK (Composer/Orchestrator) has been featured in BroadwayWorld.com and

Playbill.com . He has worked with longtime friend and collaborator Ronvé on their musical Once Upon a Rhyme (f/k/a I.L.L.A.! A Hip Hop Musical), which not only had three sold-out development runs in Toledo, Atlanta, and New York, but was also named one of the Top 10 Musicals Not To Miss At Nymf 2015 by Playbill. iLLA also won N.Y.M.F.'s 2016 Show-Score Best Of Fest Award and N.Y.M.F.'s 2015 Developmental Reading Award For Excellence. Jevares' work has been featured by Virginia Stage Company and Virginia Public Works in the new Musical The Earth Remembers , an original song-cycle that served as both education and a celebration of the unique history of the Hampton Roads, Virginia community. He also worked with Theatreworks U.S.A. for their series Who Tells Your Story, a tribute to Robert Smalls, a man born into slavery who became a Civil War Naval Hero and South Carolina Congressman. Recently, Jevares was commissioned by City Springs Theatre Company in Atlanta, GA, to write a fun and educational short musical film called BEAUTIFUL HAIR. As an actor, Jevares can be seen currently on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical, The Book of Mormon, as he is currently a swing, understudy, and dance captain. He is a five-time Suzi Bass Award Nominee as well as an Ovation Award recipient for Best Male Vocalist. Other works include Greenwood (Musical Theatre Factory), Letters To The President, Bap S (Music for National Tour), The New Girl (Concord Theatricals), and We Love (N.A.M.T. 15-minute musical).

Blair Underwood (Executive Producer) Underwood was nominated for a 2021 Tony Award for his performance in the Roundabout Theatre's Tony Award winning revival of A Soldier's Play at the American Airlines Theater. He was also nominated for a Drama League Distinguished Performance Award. He made his Broadway debut in the iconic role of "Stanley" in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire , for which he earned a Drama League Distinguished Performance Award nomination. As a theatrical producer, he was recently represented on Broadway with the acclaimed production of Pass Over. He will soon Exec Produce and reprise his role of Jonathan Rollins as the lead for the upcoming reboot of "L.A. Law" for A.B.C. Before that, he will be featured in the upcoming Showtime series, "Three Women," alongside Shailene Woodley, DeWanda Wise and Betty Gilpin. Underwood recently directed Viral, a feature in which he will also play the lead, opposite Sarah Silverman and Alfre Woodard. He can currently be seen playing Vernon Jordan, opposite Clive Owen, Edie Falco and Beanie Feldstein, in megaproducer Ryan Murphy's "Impeachment" for F.X.. Underwood co-starred in the Netflix limited series, "Self-Made ," opposite Octavia Spencer, earning his eighth N.A.A.C.P. Image Award. In 2019 he recurred on the Netflix comedy series, "Dear White People ," and in Clark Johnson's Juanita , opposite Alfred Woodard, also for Netflix. He spent two years as a series regular on the A.B.C. drama series, "Quantico," while also recurring on another hit A.B.C. drama, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D . He also had a co-starring role in The After Party , from writer/director Ian Edelman, which Netflix released late in 2018. He can be seen co-starring in Justin Simien's horror comedy, Bad Hair , which premiered on Hulu in October 2020. Past television credits include series regular roles on "Dirty Sexy Money," "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "In Treatment," "L.A. Law" and "The Event". Film credits include Just Cause, Set It Off, Rules of Engagement , Madea's Family Reunion and Full Frontal , for director Steven Soderbergh. Underwood co-starred opposite the late Cicely Tyson in the national tour and in the Lifetime telefilm, A Trip To Bountiful , based on the Tony Award-winning play.

HOLLY GARMAN (Producer) has a diverse background in theater, music, non-profit and entertainment. She is currently the press representative for Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, and the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick among others . Recent work includes: American Dreams Off Broadway (Working Theater ), Border People Off Broadway (Working Theater), Between the Bars Off Broadway , National Alliance of Musical Theatre Festival of New Musicals, The Eliza Project (Graham Windham/Hamilton), Broadway Brews Project (collaboration w/The Happy Hour Guys, Hamilton, Waitress & Come From Away casts ), and Arts in the Armed Forces ( w/ co-founder Adam Driver ). With leading press agent Sam Rudy, Holly worked on multiple productions and events including Dear Jack, Dear Louise by Ken Ludwig at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., Fiercely Independent Off Broadway (Soho Rep) and Miracle in Rwanda (Theater Row).

Joe Trentacosta (Producer) has represented productions On and Off-Broadway as well as many non-profit organizations for more than 20 years. He is president of J.T. Public Relations; upcoming projects include Pat Benatar and Neil Geraldo's musical Invincible. Additionally, he is the C.O.O. and Director of Communications of Lillypops. He sits on the Board of Royal Family Productions and is Executive Producer of Katsura Sunshine's Rakugo (New World Stages, West End) and is in development for the limited streaming series "Madam Tsubaki" written by Clayton Hamilton and Jeff Klein.