Angelica Chéri’s musical "Wanted," opening on Broadway this October, draws inspiration from the family lore surrounding her great-great aunts, Mary and Martha Clarke, two African American women who lived as outlaws in the late 19th century. The project, which traces its origins back over a decade, weaves together elements of country, R&B, gospel, and other musical styles to tell a story rooted in race, identity, and survival in post-Reconstruction America.
Chéri first encountered tales of the Clarke sisters in her childhood, hearing rumors and varied family anecdotes while looking at old photographs with relatives in Bakersfield, California. The sisters, biracial and white-passing, have long been subjects of speculative stories ranging from bank robberies to train heists. Fascinated by the "deliciously incongruent" legends, Chéri and composer Ross Baum developed the concept into a musical while studying at New York University’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program in 2014.
The Clarke sisters’ history offered little documented fact, but enough to frame a narrative of two women challenging societal norms—and the law—while grappling with their racial identities and difficult pasts. Their grandfather was French, and their grandmother was enslaved, adding complexity to their story, which Chéri and Baum fictionalized around themes of justice, family, and belonging.
The musical, originally titled "Gun & Powder," premiered in 2020 at the Signature Theater in Arlington, Virginia, under director Robert O’Hara. It featured a story about twins robbing white settlers to alleviate their mother’s sharecropping debts. While the initial run was moderately successful, the creators considered it only the beginning of the musical’s evolution and spent several years refining the work.
In 2024, a revised production staged at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse with director Stevie Walker-Webb received praise for transforming the American West mythos into a fresh "revenge fantasy" centered on biracial women. However, Chéri and Baum continued to revisit the material, leading to further rewrites and a title change to "Wanted." The new name sought to clarify the show’s themes and avoid complications with advertisers and digital platforms.
Walker-Webb, directing the Broadway production for the second time, focused on emphasizing the emotional intensity and peril facing the Clarke sisters as Black women pursuing the American Dream amid pervasive racial danger in 1893. He highlighted the show's immersive Western atmosphere, aiming to evoke a visceral sense of place and tension.
The principal roles of Mary and Martha Clarke are played by Solea Pfeiffer and Liisi LaFontaine, who both share the sisters’ mixed Black and white heritage. Their casting represents a rare opportunity to explore biracial identity onstage within a historical context. The actresses describe the characters’ relationship as a complex blend of love and conflict, reflecting differing survival strategies and desires for self-preservation.
Additional cast members include R&B artists Ledisi, portraying their mother Tallulah Clarke, and Luke James as Elijah, a formerly enslaved man and Martha’s love interest. The production promises to confront race and identity in a manner described by Pfeiffer as distinctly American and thought-provoking.
After a challenging development process that spanned 12 years, multiple productions, and a global pandemic, Chéri expressed pride in bringing this family story to Broadway. She emphasized the musical’s potential to broaden cultural understandings of American history through a narrative that is both "radically and beautifully" different from traditional tales. The show is set to open October 15 at the James Earl Jones Theatre in New York.