Dear Ex
2024 Festival
Director
Miranda Haymon
Music Director
Nehemiah Luckett
Music Assistant
Xander Browne
For More Information Contact
Bonnie Davis bdavis@bretadamsltd.net 212-765-5630 Ext. 101
Number of Acts: 2
Number of Principals (Female): 1
Number of Principals (Trans / GNC): 1
Preferred Ensemble Size: 5
Total Cast Size: 7
Orchestra Breakdown:
Guitar, drums, bass, keys, cello
Casting Notes:
The ‘little girl’ character can be cast as an actual young person or played by another actor in the cast
Genre & Style:
Pop, Soul, R&B
Synopsis
Dear Ex is all about the big break up. In Dear Ex, the protagonist Be writes letters to her ex as she stumbles through the stages of breakup grief. This Black, queer falling-out-of-love story comes to life through the pop and soul music of musician Be Steadwell. Featuring an all BIPOC, queer and trans cast, Be Steadwell’s musical tells the story of heartbreak in a series of letters, scenes and songs. Dear Ex explores self-love, addiction, twerking, sex, life and death through the lens of a heartbroken, queer Black woman.
Development History
From 2018 to 2019, this musical sold out three workshop runs at Joe’s Movement Emporium in Mount Rainier, MD and Mills College in Oakland, CA.
Fest Fast Facts
- Artistic influences of Dear Ex‘s pop and soul music include Sade, Meshell Ndegeocello and Emily King. Theatrical inspiration from Dear Ex includes for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, Fun Home and A Strange Loop.
- In Dear Ex, our goal is to center Black, queer, trans and POC performers. It means so much to see love stories that center marginalized voices and experiences.
- The album for Dear Ex is currently available on Spotify and Apple music. The album features voices from the 2019 workshops in DC and Oakland.
- A long-term dream for this work is to teach the audience parts of the songs before the show and create a community choir with each show.
- At each performance of the 2019 workshops of Dear Ex, we collected anonymous one-sentence “dear ex” letters from the audience. Many of the audience’s letters made their way into the final drafts script.