Amber Iman, Jennifer Damiano, Brenda Braxton, And More Join New Musical BEAPART Reading

Tony-nominees Amber Iman (Lempicka), Jennifer Damiano (Next to Normal), and Brenda Braxton (Smokey Joe's Cafe), alongside Marcus Paul James (Ain't Too Proud), Marcus M. Martin (Aladdin), Jaime Cepero (SMASH) and The Voice finalist Brooke Simpson (1776), are set to lead the cast of BeAPart, a new musical about chosen family, gentrification, returning home, and the sweet, smoky love of barbecue.

The cast also includes Alan Wiggins (The Lion King), Dwayne Clark (The Color Purple), and newcomer Khadija Sankoh (Little Shop of Horrors).

Emmy-nominated composer Christopher Lennertz, known for Amazon Prime's The Boys, Marvel's Agent Carter, films like Horrible Bosses, Bad Moms, and Ride Along, and last year's Disney hit Rogers: The Musical is teaming up with spoken-word poet and performance artist Amena Brown, whose writing interweaves keep-it-real storytelling, rhyme, and comedy (featured in New York Times' bestselling book Rhythm of Prayer) to create the music.

The libretto is written by Cape Verdean-American playwright and TV-writer, Francisca Da Silveira, whose work has been developed with The Public Theater, Colt Coeur, The New Group and who is currently the Tow Playwright-in-Residence with WP Theater.

Drama League Award-winning director Ellie Heyman has been active in the development of the piece and will direct. Issac Hayward (Bad Cinderella) Music Directs.

The private presentation will take place on Monday, September 30th. The presentation is produced by Kelly Kerwin and stage managed by Amanda Lopez. Casting by Linda Lamontagne CSA.