Back in 2010, Q-Tip first mentioned that he would be playing Miles Davis in a play written by Nelson George. Now, eight years later, it looks like that play is finally coming to fruition.
In an Instagram post, George announced that a staged reading of his My Funny Valentine play about "a day in the life of the jazz giant" will take place on March 26. Fans can attend the one-off reading for $20 in New York City.
In a 2010 interview with XXL, Q-Tip said he wasn't nervous about the role: "Nah, not really, because I relate to him. But I was a lil nervous at first. But we’ve already done some table readings and Miles’ nephew, and some of his really close friends that he knew for many years—a girlfriend of two—and some of his old band mates have checked out the table reading like, 'Oh, shit, they nailed it.' So that made it easier for me. It let me know my instincts are right."
The play follows the Don Cheadle-directed film about the jazz legend called Miles Ahead, which hit theaters in 2016. That movie followed Davis in the late '70s during his reclusive period when he stopped performing for five years. "He was standing on that knife’s edge at that point, and I don’t think he even know which way it was gonna go," Cheadle said at the time. "So for us, when we got to the period in all the research about how Miles didn’t play for five years, we were like, 'What?'[Laughs] That was the part that was the most interesting from a human being standpoint to me."
It has yet to be revealed which part of Davis' career will be highlighted in Nelson George and Q-Tip's play, but we'll find out soon. The reading of My Funny Valentine will take place at Joe's Pub in New York City next Monday. You can purchase tickets here.
