Joshua Henry and Julia Harriman Natalie J; Natalie Fong Recent Tony Award winner Joshua Henry and Julia Harriman will star in The Conversation this fall, an original musical the duo co-wrote about long-term relationships.
This marks Henry’s next project, after he completes his run in Ragtime this August. He won a Tony Award Sunday for his lead role in the musical. The production, which features a book by Nick Green and direction by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun), will begin previews on Nov. 17, ahead of a Dec. 7 opening night for a 10-week engagement at the Off-Broadway Astor Place Theatre.
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Harriman and Henry began working on the musical about four years ago, after meeting on the first national tour of Hamilton, with Henry as Aaron Burr and Harriman as Eliza Hamilton. The story follows Elle (Harriman) and Marcus (Henry) through the highs and lows of a seven-year romantic relationship.
For Henry, the project marks a return to his roots in soul music and R&B, with influences from the artists he grew up listening to, including Marvin Gaye, John Legend and Ella Fitzgerald. Additionally, before joining the revival of Ragtime, Henry had starred in a string of other Broadway revivals, Violet, Into the Woods and Carousel, and had expressed a desire to be involved in new work.
This project was planned pre-Tonys win, but Henry notes that the momentum surrounding the win will likely help the project.
“We thought, ‘OK well, should that happen, that would be incredible’, but as an artist, it’s a perfect redefining moment. Soul and R&B is where I live, but coming off of Ragtime, it’s the perfect opportunity to be like, ‘Hey, just remember, like, these are the other things that I can do too,’” Henry said.
The idea for the project evolved out of conversations Harriman and Henry had about relationships, which led the two to begin swapping songs, and then pulling in Green, who penned Casey and Diana, to help shape the story.
“I’m in a great relationship, and have been for 20 years, and this musical is about long-term relationships and how they last and the beauty and the ache of them and keeping things fresh,” Henry said.
For Harriman, writing her own work also gave her an opportunity to pull in her own musical references and to write her own role after facing some pushback in the industry.
“I was never the look that they wanted. I wasn’t Asian enough, I wasn’t white enough,” Harriman said. “So it felt like it was about time to see someone like me on stage and singing the kind of music that I wanted to hear on stage.”
Mandy Hackett and Jenny Steingart are producing the musical.
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