Broadway-Bound ‘Beat Street’ Musical From Grammy-Winning Rapper Nas Assembles Creative Team

EXCLUSIVE: Beat Street, the Broadway-bound musical based on the groundbreaking 1984 film, has assembled its principal creative team, with The Wiz‘s Schele Williams, Hell’s Kitchen‘s Kristoffer Diaz and music supervisor Jason Michael Webb joining the previously announced Naz on the project. Naz, the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum rapper, is creating new material for the production and expanding the film’s soundtrack. Beat Street was one of the first films to depict hip-hop culture, including breakdancing, mixing, scratching, and graffiti art. The film has been cited for its influence by such artists as Ice-T, Ice Cube, LL Cool J and Lin-Manuel Miranda, among many others. Williams will direct the musical, with Diaz writing the show’s book, based upon the MGM Motion Picture. Webb (Broadway’s Choir Boy, MJ: The Musical and the upcoming Purple Rain) joins the team as music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator. Watch on Deadline Last month, Nas, Williams, Diaz and Webb collaborated on a 29-hour workshop to develop the stage adaptation. Further details concerning casting and production timeline will be announced in the coming months. Set in the early 1980s, Beat Street revolves around a group of aspiring young talents in the South Bronx, including a graffiti artist, a DJ, and a break-dancer, as they pursue their dreams in the emerging hip-hop scene while facing the challenges of urban life. The film was also notable for appearances by major artists of the era, including Doug E. Fresh, DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambataa & The Sonic Force, Us Girls, The Treacherous Three, Magnificent Force, The New York City Breakers, Rock Steady Crew, and Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five, among others. It was produced by Harry Belafonte and David V. Picker, with music by Belafonte and Arthur Baker, story by Steven Hager, screenplay by Andrew Davis, David Gilbert & Paul Golding, and directed by Stan Lathan, Beat Street starred Rae Dawn Chong, Gus Davis, and Jon Chardiet. Beat Street on Broadway will be produced by Richard Fearn, Arthur Baker, Michael Holman, and Peter Bittenbender, in association with Mass Appeal. Baker and Holman were producers on the original 1984 film. The wildly successful Beat Street soundtrack, released in two volumes, was produced by Baker, with Volume One cited as one of the first rap albums to be certified gold. ShowTown Theatricals will serve as General Managers. Nathan Gehan and Jamison Scott of ShowTown Productions are executive producers of Beat Street.