Soul Train musical makes funky pre-Broadway debut in San Francisco

Halfway through the premiere of “Hippest Trip – The Soul Train Musical,” the audience jumped to their feet for a standing ovation, after a riotous dance number to Bobby Brown’s 1988 hit “My Prerogative.” Meanwhile, “Soul Train” host Don Cornelius, played by Quentin Earl Darrington, looked on — fuming that his beloved ’70s funk and soul bands were being replaced by upstart hip-hop and New Jack Swing acts.

“Hippest Trip” tells the story of the iconic TV show that broadcast Black music and dance into American households from 1970 through the mid-2000s. The musical’s creative engine consists of three women: playwright Dominique Morisseau and choreographer Camille A. Brown, both of whom have been nominated for Tony Awards, with Kamilah Forbes, who is the executive producer of New York’s legendary Apollo Theater, directing. Producer and musician Questlove, who wrote a book on the TV show in 2013 and boasts an executive producing credit on the musical, could be spotted at the San Francisco premiere alongside other notable guests like Mayor London Breed and W. Kamau Bell. The show will run in San Francisco at the American Conservatory Theater through Oct. 8, after which it will head to Broadway, making it a rare instance of SF scoring the first run of such a highly anticipated production.

Host Don Cornelius, who died in 2012, is a hero to many. But the musical digs deeper into his complicated legacy, which includes a spousal battery charge that is referenced in the play, albeit in passing. Cornelius has been heralded as a self-made businessman who owned the rights to the show in full, but he reportedly refused to fairly compensate the dancers who served as the true locomotion behind “Soul Train.” And despite introducing millions of viewers to cutting-edge Black music in the ’70s, he grew to disdain the way funk and soul music evolved in the ’80s and ’90s. One of the most memorable moments in the musical happens when Cornelius dares to slight Kurtis Blow, the first rapper to appear on the program.

Any attempt to transform a beloved cultural institution into a Broadway-bound musical is a risky proposition filled with cheesy pitfalls, but “Hippest Trip” manages to dodge them all to deliver a joyous celebration of all things funky. The impressive production design transforms A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater into a gigantic television with the stage serving as the screen, and lo-fi projections sprawl out onto the side walls of the theater. Musically, it’s everything you could want, with musical director Kenny Seymour staying faithful to tunes from the likes of James Brown and Stevie Wonder, while experimenting with extended arrangements of Isaac Hayes’ “Shaft.” 

As would be expected of a musical with this pedigree, the actors’ vocal chops don’t disappoint, but as in the TV show, the dancers are the real stars. Their mesmerizing moves span generations of dance trends and are executed with an undeniable looseness and joy. That pure enthusiasm was also on display at the premiere afterparty on the top floor of the Westin St. Francis hotel, as the cast demolished the dance floor to Beyoncé’s “Cuff It” alongside some of the TV show’s original dance squad — proof that although the “Soul Train” may no longer be on the air, its funky legacy will live forever.