Nkrumah Gatling is an actor, who played the roles of Marine and John in "Miss Saigon" on Broadway, as well as the role of Tribe in "Hair" on Broadway (July 5, 2011 - September 10, 2011).
Onyie Nwachukwu is a singer, songwriter, vocal arranger, voice teacher and theatre performer out of New York City. Her previous work includes the national tours of "Rent", and "Cirque Dreams Illumination".
On June 25, 2017, Broadway Sings for Pride held a Broadway-themed concert, as part of "NYC Pride: Pride Fest", at Hudson Street and 13th Street, in New York City. The event was presented T-Mobile. Broadway Sings for Pride is a multiple award-winning, non-for-profit organization that brings together Broadway talent, activists, and celebrities, to educate the public, raise awareness of the needs of LGBTQ+ youth, and support these young people, so that they may reach their full potential.
Gatling and Nwachukwu performed the song "Wheels of a Dream" during the event, where Shefik served as Videographer. "Wheels of a Dream" is a song from "Ragtime", which is a musical with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow.
Set in the early 20th century, "Ragtime" tells the story of three groups in the United States: African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; upper-class suburbanites, represented by Mother, the matriarch of a white upper-class family in New Rochelle, New York; and Eastern European immigrants, represented by Tateh, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia. The show also incorporates historical figures such as Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Booker T. Washington, J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Stanford White, Harry Kendall Thaw, Admiral Peary, Matthew Henson, and Emma Goldman.
The musical had its world premiere in Toronto, where it opened at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts (later renamed the Toronto Centre for the Arts) on December 8, 1996, produced by Canadian impresario Garth Drabinsky and his Livent Inc., the Toronto-production company he headed.
The United States premiere was at the Shubert Theatre, Los Angeles in June 1997.
Credits
- Videographer: Shefik
Last Updated: May 2, 2023
