Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds singing, songwriting and producing career has earned him 10 Grammy Awards, 119 Top-10 R&B and Pop hits, nearly 50 #1 R&B hits and 51 Top-10 Pop hits, including sixteen number 1's. As of this month, it has also made him a musical theatre composer.
Love Makes Things Happen, a compilation of Babyface hits set in the midst of an office romance, began its tour of the U.S. at Baltimore's Morris A. Mechanic Theater, where it will play through Feb. 24. Upcoming stops include Chicago (Feb.26-March 3 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts), Los Angeles (April 30-May 5 at the Wiltern Theatre), New York City (June 11-June 16 at the Beacon Theatre) and Washington, DC (June 18-23).
Dawn Robinson of En Vogue stars as Sheila Carter, a tough-talking, well paid executive who finds herself at the end of one romantic relationship and in tight quarters in the office elevator with a new possible beau. He's Chauncy Brown (played by Babyface's brother, Kevon Edmonds) and he works in the mailroom for $6 an hour. Sheila has to make a decision - can she love the perfect man, even if he only makes minimum wage? Some of the show's hits include "It Hurts Like Hell," "Superwoman," "End of the Road," "Ready or Not," "Soon as I Get Home," the title tune and a new song, "I Just Met Heaven."
David Talbert wrote Love Makes Things Happen with Babyface. His credits include His Woman, His Wife, Mr. Right Now and The Fabric of a Man.
Also in the cast are Joe Torry and SWV's Coko. Torry appeared in "Poetic Justice" and on "Def Comedy Jam." Other stops on the Love Makes Things Happen are:
March 5-10: Detroit, Detroit Music Hall
March 19-24: New Orleans, Saenger Perfroming Arts Center
April 2-7: Atlanta, Atlanta Civic Center
April 9-14: Baltimore, Morris A. Mechanic Theater
May 28-June 8: Philadelphia, Merriam Theatre
Dates in Cleveland and Louisville made be added. Tickets to all tour stops are available through Ticketmaster.com. Love Makes Things Happen is on the web at http://urbanbroadway.com/lmth/lmth.html.
— By Christine Ehren
