After the official premiere of ‘Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story’ we took part in the Q&A with cast and crew.
Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story will premiere on TV One this Sunday, June 12 at 7:00pm EST. After an official premiere of the movie, held in Times Square AMC Theatre, the audience participated in a Q&A panel. We had a chance to hear about the project from Miki Howard herself, as well as director Christine Swanson, and actors Teyonah Parris, Darius McCrary and Indira Khan.
Howard’s story was first featured in TV One’s Unsung series. The success of it left her without a doubt to pursue even bigger project, “TV One approached me and they had a beautiful director and writers [Swanson and Rhonda F. Baraka] and I was ready. I was totally flattered to have Teyonah play me. She did an amazing job and I was really happy about the choice to cast her. I was able to be involved in everything and she knew who I was and who I am and she had a wonderful affinity for me. She got to know me and did a great portrayal.”
Teyonah Parris had big shoes to fill with her role and when asked about what was the best advice Howard gave her she laughed and said “She just told me to be myself. She said: ‘Be yourself and you’ll find me.'”
During her life, the singer struggled with a drug addiction and didn’t fail to mention the importance of touching on that subject. “I really hope that people who have been abused or who have struggled with drugs see this and see themselves,” she says. “If you want to know what happens to a lot of our Black celebrities, watch my movie. It’s the truth and it’s always good to tell the truth.”
Indira Khan, who plays her mother Chaka Khan, added jokingly “I knew Miki my whole life. I didn’t know about the parties though. That was interesting [laughter].”
All of the cast agreed with the fact that participating in telling this story was a huge honor.