Sweet Potato Queens Tickets | Schedule for 2024/2025 Events

Sweet Potato Queens

Sweet Potato Queens is a high-voltage musical based on books with the same title written by Jill Conner Browne. There are twelve books in the series, with the first one published in 1999 and the last in 2012.

The musical shows a glimpse of how Jill and her best friends live their life as if it were a parade. The characters are real yet have a larger-than-life appeal that makes them bright, loud, and inspiring. Rupert Holmes, Melissa Manchester, and Sharon Vaughn are the famous trio that worked on the musical by providing a book, music, and lyrics. The musical premiered at the Theater Under the Stars in Houston in March 2016.

Background Information and Other Details

Sweet Potato Queens® is a women's organization in Jackson, Mississippi, with people from many countries. The organization was started after being inspired by a series of books with the title. Jill Conner Browne is a Jackson resident and came up with the book idea in 1982.

The books have also been responsible for the Sweet Potato Queen movement. It refers to the sisterhood between women to help them improve their self-esteem and focus on positive thinking. Middle-aged women from middle-class communities are the target group.

Sweet Potato Queens has more than 6000 chapters, with a different theme and costumes for each. The chapters participate in local parades, fundraisers, and other events. In fact, there is a real-life Sweet Potato Queens parade. The author, also called Boss Queen, gives motivational speeches and is invited to various events, fests, etc.

The musical goes on the same lines where we see the characters use costumes (specially designed only for them) with feathers, sequins, and glitter to feel cheerful and tackle life in their own way.

Funny, hilarious, heartwarming, and loud are some adjectives used to describe the musical. Kiane D. Davis is the director of the musical performed by the Jefferson Performing Arts Society. She is also Vice President for Productions at Bazillionaire Group, a touring entertainment company.

The Sweet Potato Queens musical is performed at different venues to an excited audience. The books and the musical celebrate Southern women and their zeal to achieve their dreams of living happy lives despite obstacles and struggles. Overcoming challenges and considering life a parade to enjoy are the themes of the musical.