Nas Forms Team for Beat Street Broadway Musical

Nas has formed a creative team from the stage world to adapt Beat Street into a Broadway musical, according to a Deadline report published Sept. 29. The team includes Schele Williams, Kristoffer Diaz and Jason Michael Webb. Williams will direct the musical, Diaz will write the book, and Webb will arrange and orchestrate the music.

The creative team participated in a 29-hour workshop in August to transform the film into a musical. The Broadway adaptation will be produced by Richard Fearn, Arthur Baker, Michael Holman and Peter Bittenbender, in collaboration with Mass Appeal. Baker and Holman were original producers of the 1984 film.

Beat Street starred Rae Dawn Chong, Gus Davis, Saundra Santiago and Jon Chardiet. The film was directed by Stan Lathan and featured music by Harry Belafonte, who also produced the film based on a screenplay by Steven Hager. Guest appearances included DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambataa & The Sonic Force, Doug E. Fresh, Treacherous Three and Melle Mel.