In fall 2021, A.C.T. will present the world premiere of the pre-Broadway musical, Soul Train, based on the iconic television show that brought Black music, dance, and style into every living room in America. In 1971, at a time of revolutionary cultural change, Black entrepreneur and visionary Don Cornelius created Soul Train. For the next four decades, he wrote, hosted, produced, and owned the series—turning it into a cultural institution, and the longest-running show on US television. Inspired by the series and Cornelius’s personal journey, Soul Train is the brand new, Broadway-bound musical featuring an acclaimed creative team, including 2019 Tony Award–nominated and MacArthur Genius Grant–winning playwright Dominique Morisseau (Ain’t Too Proud; The Detroit Project), 2019 Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown (A.C.T.’s Toni Stone; Tony Award–winning revival of Once on This Island) as choreographer, and the Apollo Theater’s Kamilah Forbes (upcoming HBO adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me; Meet Vera Stark) as director.  

Elegant, determined, and complicated, Cornelius set trends for 40 years, and launched the careers of artists who created the soundtracks for generations — from Tina Turner, to Whitney Houston, to the Jackson 5. He also introduced dancers such as Rosie Perez and Jody Watley, whose attitude, steps, and style continue to influence the world today. The musical is produced by Tony Award-nominee Matthew Weaver (Rock of Ages), Jeffrey Tick (former owner of Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theater), and Richard Gay (5Pack Entertainment founder, and former EVP of Viacom’s Music Networks & BET Networks). Serving as executive producers are: four-time Grammy Award-winning artist and author of Soul Train: The Music, Dance and Style of a Generation Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson; Don Cornelius’s son Tony Cornelius; Emmy Award nominated CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker; Live Nation Urban president Shawn Gee, and Broadway veteran Devin Keudell (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical).