Melyssa Ford hit the streets of NYC last night to debut her first off-broadway play, For Vixens Who’ve Considered Homicide When the Video Was Too Much.
Co-produced by famed director and “American Gangster” actor, J. Kyle Manzay and “Love & Hip Hop” star Yandy Smith, the new hip-hop musical comedy uses satire to candidly explore the lives of women in the music industry, countering the stigmas surrounding it and denouncing the all too-common stereotypes of video models.
Ford narrates the story of 16-year old Lil’ Bitt, as she journeys out of the overbearing grip of her religious father to the world of video model stardom. For Vixens portrays the glamour, turmoil and exploitation that reigns supreme over the industry.
On her inspiration for creating a play:
“A particular book came out that kind of defined any woman that ever participated in a music video, and I just found myself at loss with the fact that I seem to be the benchmark or the standard but yet no one had heard my opinion of what I thought happened or what my experiences were…It’s not nearly as t##### as people wanted to believe that it was. Yes there were some bad things that happened but there were also some really great things – there was camaraderie, there’s sisterhood, and I don’t think that’s focused on enough. I wanted to think of an innovative way to get people’s attention…”
For Vixens Who Considered Homicide When the Video Was Too Much is playing at the American Theatre of Actors in New York through August 24, 2014.
Will you be watching?