“Slippin’ Through the Cracks,” a new musical about the life of blues musician Bobby Rush, will be presented in an industry reading in New York in March.
A two-time Grammy Award winner, 14-time Blues Music Award winner and Blues Hall of Famer, Rush was a sharecropper growing up before spreading blues music around the world. The musical began and was workshopped in the heart of blues music culture in Jackson, Mississippi.
Rush — who at age 89 has been in the music industry for close to 70 years — is responsible for music and lyrics. He and Stephen Lloyd Helper collaborated on the book. Helper and Arminda Thomas serve as co-directors. Musical direction is by Felton Offard. Arrangements are by Offard and MorganE.
Helper is best known for conceiving the hit musical “Smokey Joe’s Cafe.”
The production is being developed for Broadway by Nathan Gehan and Jamison Scott of ShowTown Productions and Stephen Lloyd Helper. The reading is presented by ShowTown Productions, Helper, Wendall K. Harrington and Dr. Nickie Floyd.
