Photo by Courtesy of Disney – © Disney
Halle Bailey will be co-starring in an upcoming musical being created by Pharrell Williams and Michael Gondry for Universal.
According to Variety, the 24-year-old singer-actress will appear opposite Kelvin Harrison Jr. in the show, set in Virginia Beach in the summer of 1977. Other principal cast members will include Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Kelvin Harrison Jr.
The yet-untitled musical is being directed by Gondry from a script by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson. Gondry had earlier directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep. Hynes’s previous credits include Toy Story 4 and The Magician’s Elephant, while Levenson is known for Tick, Tick…Boom! and Fosse/Verdon.
Halle Bailey appeared in Disney’s live-action production of The Little Mermaid in 2023, starring with Melissa McCarthy. Her performance as the eponymous mermaid was lauded by reviewer Peter Debruge, who wrote in Variety that the actress was “all the reason that any audience should need to justify Disney revisiting this classic. Director Rob Marshall found his Ariel, and together, they’ve made a keeper … A star is born.”\
Bailey’s other performing credits include the role of Blitz Bazawole in the film version of The Color Purple. On television, she had the starring role in Grown-ish for four seasons. She also earned a Grammy nomination last year for her debut solo single “Angel” in the best R&B category. Bailey performs with her sister in the Chloe x Halle singing duo, which released the albums The Kids Are Alright and Ungodly Hour. The two sisters had launched a YouTube channel when Chloe was 13 and Halle was 11. They won Season 5 of Radio Disney’s The Next Big Thing in 2013. They were eventually signed for a five-year contract with Parkwood Entertainment, founded by Beyoncé.
Producers for the upcoming musical will be Pharrell Williams, Mimi Valdés, and Gil Netter. Overseeing the production for Universal will be Ryan Jones and Christine Sun of Universal’s production development team.
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