Mathew Knowles on Beyoncé’s involvement in ‘Survivor: The Destiny’s Child Musical’

By Eileen Reslen, Page Six

Mathew Knowles is moving forward with a musical about his daughter Beyoncé‘s original girl group, Destiny’s Child, but he made sure to reach out to the women who were part of the story first.

“We have directly and indirectly spoken  — not only Beyoncé, Kelly [Rowland] and Michelle [Williams] or their representatives — but also some of the former members of the group,” Knowles, 67, told Page Six. “We’ve given them the opportunity to be as much involved as they’d like, or [have] as little involvement as they’d like.”

On Tuesday, the music executive shared on his website that he and director Je’Caryous Johnson have partnered together to develop “Survivor: The Destiny’s Child Musical.”

Knowles told us the production is still in its early stages, and the script is not finished yet, but he doesn’t expect to receive a lot of pushback from the members of the group once the script is complete.

“Everybody understands this is my perspective, not their perspective,” he said. “The girls were very young when they got into this business, so a lot of this perspective, they didn’t really understand.” Knowles managed the group since its inception in 1990 when Destiny’s Child was first known as Girl’s Tyme.

Knowles said he is working on getting the script to a place where if the original members “want to review it, they can review it,” adding, “I wouldn’t want to put anything out that didn’t have everyone’s support.”

While “Survivor: The Destiny’s Child Musical” will cover the group’s ever-changing line-up over the years and “the reason for some of the changes,” Knowles said the focus is more so on his experience managing a successful group while raising another daughter, Solange Knowles, being married to then-wife Tina Knowles, and their family dynamics.

“[Solange] wasn’t getting attention because Destiny’s Child was, kind of, consuming the family,” he added. “So [the musical] takes you through the ups and downs of a family, as well as Destiny’s Child’s ups and downs. You will be awakened with information that I think possibly surprises you.”

Knowles said both Tina and Solange are aware of the musical, and they are “excited to see what the script is going to look like.”

The musical’s storyline will cover two decades, and although Knowles hasn’t decided exactly which Destiny’s Child songs he will feature, he said it’s “safe to say” that “Survivor” will be one of them since the song’s title is in the musical’s name.

When speaking of music, Knowles said he also plans to share never-before-released songs from their group’s earlier days as an added bonus for fans.

“The first album they made was back in 1992, 1993, so we’ll be simultaneously releasing that album along with the musical,” he said.

Knowles said he really wants the production to be “an experience from the time you walk into the venue to the time you walk out of the venue,” adding that some of Destiny’s Child original wardrobe will be featured in the lobby.

The musical will reportedly start out in Houston, then make it’s way to Broadway in New York, major cities around the country, London’s West End, and even Australia. Knowles said he plans to launch the show on Feb. 1, 2020,  just in time for Black History Month.

However, in the meantime, Knowles and Johnson are working on completing the script so that they can begin casting. Knowles shared that actors looking to audition can send an email to [email protected], and said he has an open mind as to who will be picked — as long as they can sing and act “for real.”

“It could be a former member,” he said. “It could be someone you’ve never seen before, but they can sing extremely well and they can act extremely well. This starts when the girls are 12 years old and ends when they’re in their 30s. Casting is going to be — we’re looking forward to it, but it’s going to be a challenge.”
This article originally appeared in Page Six.

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