The Five Heartbeats is a much beloved classic among Black folk. The story about the fictive soul group who go through trials and tribulations trying to make it in the music industry seemed so real that people sing the songs and tell the stories as if the film was a documentary rather than a piece of make believe. The affection for the film has lasted long beyond its 1991 release date. We still quote the lines, sing the songs and most recently, a documentary about the making of the film was released in select theaters in Los Angeles and New York.
And now, fans will get to experience it in a new way.
According to Deadline, The Five Heartbeats is coming to Broadway. Robert Townsend, the man who wrote the film, along with Keenan Ivory Wayans, and directed it said the play will “tell a similar story with music that people know from the movie, but there is a composer, Grammy-Award winner, a guy who has won some big awards who already said he will write an original song for us.”
Townsend told Deadline, that he is in negotiations with a Broadway producer and is currently writing the play with Wayans.
It seems that it might be a while before we see this on stage but people are already excited. See what they had to say on the following pages.
Source: David Becker/BET / Getty