I started June off by celebrating my favorite queer movie of all time, First Period, and decided to end Pride Month celebrating one of my favorite queer divas, Be Steadwell, and her new album Dear Ex: The Musical. Dear Ex is a musical that Be wrote because she had “never seen a musical about Black queer love” and “wanted to see that musical.” I’m not much of a musical cast recording sort of gay but after hearing this recording, I would want to see this show live.
The cast recording has Be, Talie, Marie Tatti Aqeel, Brendale Carter, Tierra Allen, A.J. Head, Jasmine C. Robinson, Jaz Hall and Bobbi Kindred sharing the evolution of a relationship after a break up. Dear Ex is a mix of a handful of Be’s older songs reworked, some new songs and a few spoken word segments from a live performance of the show. I love the new songs, the classics are a perfect fit and the overall message of the show is sweet, emotional and empowering.
In my gay opinion, Be has a strong voice in her songs and her story telling has always been personal and relatable. Be brings all of that into Dear Ex with a mix of seriousness and humor that I find endearing. I can only hope a Broadway theater takes note or a traveling production of this musical finds it’s way into the world near me.
