A new R&B musical with Broadway aspirations is headed to Chicago’s recently renovated Studebaker Theater next summer. The commercially produced piece is called “Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical” and features the music and life of the Black singer-songwriter, record executive and band leader who became known as “Mr. Personality.”
Price, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, also recorded “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” in 1952 and “Tell Me Pretty Baby” in 1953, as well as such hits as “Stagger Lee” (1958), “Personality” (1959) and “I’m Gonna Get Married” (1959).
The musical, which previously played at the People’s Light theater in Malvern, Pennsylvania, is directed by the highly regarded veteran director Sheldon Epps and features a book by B. Jeffrey Madoff (no relation to the financier) and Price himself.
Madoff spent an extensive amount of time interviewing Price, who died last year at the age of 88.
The Studebaker is located in the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., and Chicago performances are slated to begin May 31, 2023.
No casting or ticket details have yet been announced, although two different actors portrayed Price in the Pennsylvania production.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.