Deborah Cox to Star as Josephine Baker in New Musical

R&B singer Deborah Cox, who appeared on Broadway in the title role in Aida, has been tapped to play chanteuse Josephine Baker in a new musical, according to The New York Times. Josephine will be directed and choreographed by Joey McKneely (West Side Story). Although the show is said to be Broadway-bound, no information about dates or venues has been announced.

Josephine will feature a score by Grammy nominee Steve Dorff and lyrics by John Bettis (collaborators on the forthcoming Pure Country) and a book by Ellen Weston and Mark Hampton (Full Gallop). 

The St. Louis-born Baker began her career in the 1920s in the Broadway revues Shuffle Along and The Chocolate Dandies, then achieved international fame as a cabaret artist in Paris, performing with the Folies Bergeres, often accompanied by her pet cheetah, Chiquita. Nicknamed the Bronze Venus, she died at age 69 in 1975.

The Canadian-born Cox achieved her greatest success as a recording artist with the 1998 single “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here” and joined Aida in 2004, releasing a dance mix of the Elton John-Tim Rice tune “Easy As Life.” Her songs have appeared in movies such as Dr. Dolittle 2 and Hotel Rwanda.