Dominique Morisseau has authored over nine plays, including The Detroit Project (A 3-Play Cycle), which includes the following plays: Skeleton Crew, Paradise Blue, and Detroit '67. Additional plays include Pipeline, Sunset Baby, Blood at the Roo, and Follow Me To Nellie's. She most recently served as co-producer on the Showtime series Shameless. She wrote the book for the jukebox musical Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations. This marked Morisseau's Broadway debut, and she received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical nomination, the first Black woman to do so. She is a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" for 2018.
Dominique and I have been trying to have this podcast convo for a while now, and boy was it worth the wait. In a quick thirty minutes, we talked about:
- How getting a great quantity of her work out in the world as she was coming up helped her improve her skills and get noticed.
- Why not understanding the word “No” was an essential part of her becoming a writer in the first place.
- Why she’s cautiously optimistic about where we are right now and where we’re headed with diversity in the arts. . . and what still makes her nervous.
- She doesn’t read reviews. Ever. Listen why.
- How long she had to be an “emerging artist” and whether or not emerging = young.
This episode of The Producer’s Perspective Podcast is sponsored by Magnolia Bakery. Visit Magnolia Bakery for freshly-baked, classic American desserts, including cupcakes, banana pudding, cakes, cheesecakes, icebox bars, and cookies. For more information, visit magnoliabakery.com or follow them @magnoliabakery.
Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway