Q-Tip, best known as the key voice of A Tribe Called Quest, which popularised a more alternative brand of hip-hop, has spoken for nearly a decade of plans to act as Davis.
Nelson George, a prominent music journalist, wrote on Instagram that his script will finally see the light on Monday – not yet fully staged, but as a reading.
“My Funny Valentine” will focus on a day in the life of Davis in 1981, when the trumpeter and composer was embarking on a career revival.
“By responding to a fan’s letter, the trumpeter ignites a chain of life-altering events,” The Public Theater, a Manhattan venue that showcases contemporary work, said in its description.
The Public Theater is featuring “My Funny Valentine” as part of a series to highlight quality scripts that have not yet been turned into full-fledged plays or movies.
Q-Tip, a frequent actor as well as the artistic advisor on hip-hop culture to the Kennedy Center federal arts complex in Washington, told XXL magazine in 2010 that he was eager to play Davis as he related to him.
In 2015, Davis was also the subject of a biopic film, “Miles Ahead,” directed by actor Don Cheadle.