Whitney White Looks Back on the Life-Changing Experience of Bringing LIBERATION to Broadway

Just months ago, Whitney White was celebrating the opening of her third Broadway project. Liberation was loved by both critics and audiences when it transferred to the James Earl Jones Theatre following its triumphant run off-Broadway last season. 

“When a show opens, you just hope for the best for that moment. You know what I mean? But of course, from the moment I read that text, I was like, ‘I know what this is and it needs to be on Broadway.’ And then it happened… and it happened so fast,” she told BroadwayWorld’s Richard Ridge. “It was like the show closed and then by the time the summer came around, we were already like, ‘Okay, we’re doing this!’ And that was my first experience bringing a play off-Broadway to Broadway with all the original cast, all the original designers and I’ll cherish it very much for the rest of my life.”

“[By the end of the run] we found all of our music, the micro pitches, the changes in notes, the rhythm, the speed. And also I tried to encourage [the cast] to surprise each other. I  think of them as like an NBA team. You all know how you dribble, how you shoot, how you do that, so now mix it up and tell this story with as much presence as possible.”

White has a big season ahead. Not only will she helm the U.S. premiere of The Whoopi Monologues (starring Kerry Washington and Kara Young), but she will return to Broadway with Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, which opens at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in September.

Watch in this interview as she chats more about her Liberation experience and looks ahead to her upcoming projects.