Based on an original idea by Gasman, the show explores the underbelly of Times Square 's 42nd Street , inhabited by pimps and prostitutes , druggies and dealers , and runaways and street people in the era prior to its Disneyfication. It got me thinking about this show. Newman stated that, "Whatever it was back when they did the workshop, it's totally different now The Broadway production, directed by Michael Blakemore, opened on April 26, , at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre , where it closed on June 7, , after performances and 21 previews.
White and Cooper both won Tony awards for their performances in this production as Featured Actress in a Musical and Featured Actor in a Musical, respectively. This production was again directed by Michael Blakemore, and starred Sharon D. Clarke as Sonja and Cornell S. Clarke and Supporting Male for S. This production significantly adapted the script and structure, changing the musical into a flashback narrated by an older Jojo, and rearranging several of the numbers, and providing more backstory to several characters.
The Life depicts the pulsating life on the Times Square streets in the s, where everything had a price, especially sexβthe garish topless bars, the transvestite joints, the hookers who worked the side walks at the bidding of their pimps "Check It Out! Jojo, an opportunistic, conniving white hustler in the thick of the action, has a bare knuckled plan for feeding his ambition "Use What You Got". But among these unsavoury characters there are appealing people who have been caught in the web of these sordid surroundings.
Sonja, a veteran hooker who has seen better days, befriends Queen who is on the street because her man, Fleetwood, a displaced Vietnam veteran, needs her support.
She has saved her money and on this day plans to get away with Fleetwood and leave the life for good, enjoying, with Sonja "A Lovely Day to Be Out of Jail". Returning to her hotel room, Queen discovers that Fleetwood has spent half of her savings to pay off his drug debts and feed his habit. Fleetwood has an unrealistic dream of attaining power and money "A Piece of the Action". Jojo tells him he'll never amount to anything as a pimp as long as he's romantically involved with the woman he's selling.
