#ledisi

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, actress, author, and producer Ledisi will head to Broadway this fall in the new musical WANTED. Ledisi will star as Tallulah Clarke, mother of the sisters Clarke, alongside Solea Pfeiffer (Hadestown, Gatsby: An American Myth) as Mary Clarke and Liisi LaFontaine (West End: Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Dreamgirls) as Martha Clarke. WANTED will begin previews at The James Earl Jones Theatre on October 15, 2026, with an opening night set for November 8, 2026.

The news of Ledisi’s casting was first announced last night at “WANTED Unplugged,” an exclusive one-night-only concert experience hosted at Artist House in Soho. The special evening featured intimate performances of songs from the new musical.

Ledisi shared, "I am beyond thrilled to join the cast of Wanted. My first Broadway principal role, and I still can't believe it. I keep thinking about the journey, God's timing, and the importance of legacy. I'm grateful to Angelica Chéri, Ross Baum, Stevie Walker-Webb, and our producers for trusting me with the role of Tallulah, and to my family, friends, and team for giving me the courage to say ‘yes.’ I love being a recording artist, and that will never change. Theatre has always been part of my vision as a storyteller. This isn't a pivot... It's another expansion of me. And I'm just getting started."

Ledisi has built a career defined by vocal excellence, emotional storytelling, and fearless creativity, seamlessly blending R&B, soul, jazz, gospel, and blues into a sound that is uniquely her own. A classically trained vocalist with a commanding stage presence, Ledisi has earned critical acclaim for both her recordings and live performances.

Over the course of her career, Ledisi has received multiple Grammy nominations, including “Best New Artist” for her breakthrough album Lost & Found, and won the Grammy Award for “Best Traditional R&B Performance” for her song “Anything For You.” In 2025, she earned two additional Grammy nominations for “Best R&B Album” for her sixteenth studio album, The Crown, and “Best Traditional R&B Performance” for the album’s standout single, “Love You Too.” Ledisi’s film and television credits include Selma (2014) and Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story (2022), as well as appearances in “American Soul,” “Pose,” and Spinning Gold. Her Broadway credits include Caroline, or Change (2004) and Hair (2004).

Texas, 1893 — Twin sisters Mary and Martha Clarke are on the run. The sisters, Black women who pass for white and hide in plain sight, straddle a dangerous line between two Americas. But as powerful forces close in to keep their family from claiming a future of their own, Mary and Martha are driven to desperate measures to save their mother and their family’s legacy. When survival demands they do the unthinkable, the sisters nevertheless fight for self-determination, dignity, and the inheritance they have long been denied. A soulful and dangerous new Broadway musical, WANTED is the mostly true story of Mary and Martha Clarke: sisters, outlaws, legends. This New York Times Critic’s Pick has been hailed as “thrillingly original” with an “audacious and rollicking story.” The production stars Solea Pfeiffer as Mary, Liisi LaFontaine as Martha, and Grammy® Award winner Ledisi as Tallulah. The Kinfolk, a vibrant chorus of ancestors, guide them forward on an odyssey of sisterhood, rebellion, and freedom.   WANTED features book and lyrics by Variety “Star to Watch” Angelica Chéri, a descendant of the Sisters Clarke, and music by Richard Rodgers Award–winning composer Ross Baum. The production is directed by Tony Award® nominee and Obie Award® winner Stevie Walker-Webb, with choreography by Chelsey Arce.   Angelica Chéri and Ross Baum’s work on WANTED has earned major recognition: Chéri was named to Variety’s list of “10 Broadway Stars to Watch for 2025,” and both Chéri and Baum were honored on The Washington Post’s “POST NEXT” list, which highlights 50 people shaping our society in 2026.   Tickets for the new musical will go on sale to the public at 10:00 AM ET on Tuesday, June 23. Fans can register now to join the presale, beginning at 10:00 AM ET on Tuesday, June 16. Sign up online at https://wantedmusical.com/. Tickets on sale starting at 2 PM today to groups of 10 or more through March 31, 2027, can be purchased here.   Additional creative team and casting will be announced at a later date.   WANTED is produced by P3 Productions (Ben Holtzman, Sammy Lopez, Fiona Rudin).   WANTED was originally produced at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, in February 2020 (Eric Schaeffer served as Artistic Director and Maggie Boland as Managing Director) and was subsequently produced by Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, on April 14, 2024 (Mark S. Hoebee served as Producing Artistic Director and Michael Stotts as Executive Director).   WANTED: The Studio EP is available in digital and streaming formats. The five-song EP features “Wide Open Plains,” “The Train,” “Gun & Powder,” “The Way I Am,” and “Freedom,” performed by Solea Pfeiffer, Liisi LaFontaine, and the WANTED Studio Cast.   To get WANTED news delivered straight to your inbox, including exclusive, never-before-seen content and the latest ticket updates, sign up for The Vault newsletter at wantedmusical.com.

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Terri Lyne Carrington and the Social Science collective have a new anthem for a woman's independence called "Autonomy Song" with vocalist Ledisi, harpist Brandee Younger, and poets J. Ivy and Tarriona "Tank" Ball. The slinky, sensual groove is emboldened with a serious message about the self-possession of womanhood. It's in your face but tempered by Ledisi's soft refrain about literally owning her body. Her vocals work like a soft subliminal while Ball riffs on what it means to live inside a freely expressed physical form. J. Ivy shares his words and gives life and representation for men who are anti-patriarchal. Carrington explained "Autonomy Song" in a press release.

“Women have been oppressed for centuries – physically and otherwise. A woman has the right and capacity to make her own decisions about her life, her body, her future – including reproductive rights, sexual freedom, and all forms of self-determination and liberation. Nor should a woman be subjected to violence or any kind of abuse. Ledisi, Tank, and J. Ivy (a dream team) nailed these points home in their own remarkably singular ways.”

"Autonomy Song" is included on Carrington's next album, Trip the Night Fantastic, the title being inspired by the phrase "trip the light fantastic" from John Milton's 1645 poem, L'Allegro. The album is focused on making people dance at a political time when it seems like there isn't much reason to step onto the dance floor. Carrington dismisses that idea because, as she says, “If we thought things would never get better, there’d be no hope or reason to work toward anything. Hopefully, people choose to do their part however they can, but what’s important is being empathetic and authentic. We set out to make something that can offer windows to imagining a future where the concern for society and humanity is prioritized." Miki Howard, Kokayi, and Lizz Wright are some of the other featured guests. Trip the Night Fantastic comes out on July 31st. Carrington will perform at the Saratoga Jazz Festival on June 27th and the Newport Jazz Festival on August 1st.