The River's Cush Jumbo to Take Solo Show Josephine and I Off-Broadway

The River’s Cush Jumbo will be sticking around in New York after the Hugh Jackman-led play ends its limited run on February 8, 2015. The Olivier nominee is to take her self-penned solo show Josephine and I off-Broadway. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd, the production will have a five-week limited engagement at the Public’s Joe’s Pub from February 27 through April 5. Opening night is set for March 10.

Josephine and I interweaves a modern day story of an ambitious young woman with the life of the peerless, fearless, Josephine Baker. Born into poverty in the slums of St. Louis, Baker became the first African-American performer to rise to international prominence. A French Resistance spy and civil rights activist who was married twice by age 16 and served as muse to Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, Baker’s life inspires a young woman to face up to the sacrifices required to follow one’s dreams.

Jumbo received the 2013 Emerging Talent Award at the Evening Standard Awards for Josephine and I. Her additional stage credits include the Lloyd-helmed Julius Caesar, for which she received an Olivier nomination, A Doll's House and& As You Like It. On screen, Jumbo has starred in the TV series Vera and the film Remainder.