Ronald "Smokey" Stevens' solo show I Just Want to Tell Somebody has postponed its Off-Broadway return due to acute laryngitis. The previously announced November 2022 limited engagement has been postponed to 2023, with a run set for June 1–18 at the Cabaret Theater at Theater for the New City.
I Just Want to Tell Somebody dramatizes Stevens' career in the entertainment industry and his lifelong struggle with drug addiction. Playing both himself and his doppelgänger nemesis (called D Man) the piece weaves together theatre history and the depths of drug addiction to bring audience members into his journey. Stevens—whose Broadway credits include Bubbling Brown Sugar, Inacent Black, and Dreamgirls—previously published a memoir, I Just Want To Tell Somebody, the Autobiography of Ronald "Smokey" Stevens, from which this piece is adapted. An updated edition of his second book, The First 60 Years, The History of Afro-American Musical Theater and Entertainment 1865-1930, was published this year.
The production will be directed by Stephen Byrd, who also provides the set design. Lighting design will be by Alexander Bartenieff. Multimedia will be by Larry Law.