Simone was a natural subject to
whom Simone had always been at-
tracted: “We’re very different. She
was outspoken, brazen, brave, sen-
sitive. She had cracks and flaws,
too. Those are things that make a
character satisfying to play.”
“Little Girl Blue” is performed in
two acts—inspired by Simone ap-
pearances at the Westbury Music
Fair in 1968 and at the Montreux
Jazz Festival in Switzerland in
1976.
The radicalism, idealism, cour-
age, and turmoil of Simone’s life
is revealed in her songs, in her
banter with her musicians and her
remarks to the audience, and in
flashbacks in which Michelle por-
trays both Simone and personali-
ties from her past.
“This is like a dream experience
for me,” Michelle said. “I was able
to write a piece that really used all
my skills, all my talent. I’ll be play-
ing the piano, speaking different
dialects, singing. It’s thrilling, it’s
fun, it’s exhausting, but the in the
end it’s satisfying.”
w
Little Girl Blue:
The Nina Simone Musical
January 29 - February 24
George Street Playhouse
103 College Farm Road
New Brunswick, NJ
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 55
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