How DC Black Broadway Gives Musicals a Go-Go Spin

If You wanted to put on Broadway-­style theatrical productions with a serious DC twist, what better way than to use the District’s homegrown go-go music as the soundtrack? EnterLovail Long Sr., founder and CEO of DC Black Broadway, a theater production company focused on telling classic stories with some added local flavor. Projects so far have included The Giz, a go-go take on The Wiz, and Grease With a Side of Mumbo Sauce, based on the “Summer Nights” musical. Recently, the company staged auditions for its upcoming production Annie Costia: Beat Ya Feet, a version of Annie set in, yes, Anacostia.

Long’s path to theatrical impresario has been pretty indirect. Born and raised in Southeast DC, he grew up in an era defined by the crack epidemic and started hustling as a teen, he says, to support himself and his mother. By the mid-’80s, he was running his own crew. “I was going to be a drug dealer for the rest of my life,” he says, speaking in the back of an auditorium in Southeast where the Annie Costia auditions were held. His longer-than-typical run on the wrong side of the law ended in 2007, when he was arrested and later sentenced to six years in prison. One day while Long was watching TV in his cellblock, The Wiz came on, and right there he hatched the idea for The Giz. But he struggled initially with his pivot to playwright: “Gangsters don’t write plays,” he says.

After getting out of prison, Long reached out to Anwan “Big G” Glover, the frontman of go-go greats Backyard Band, who became an early sounding board and supporter. Long launched DC Black Broadway in 2018, and The Giz was its first production, put on at the MGM Grand in National Harbor. Featuring a cast of local stars like E.U.’s Gregory “Sugar Bear” Elliott, it was a big success, and the show was re-staged at the Lincoln Theatre on U Street last spring. Today, DC Black Broadway has a whole team—including Long’s wife, Angelique, a cofounder and key collaborator—and a string of productions to its credit.

Annie Costia will premier at the Lincoln Theatre on December 20, with a cast partly selected from local actors. Long says he’s been taking meetings with TV and film production companies in the hopes of bringing his work to a larger audience. He’s also mulling over future productions and thinking about expanding to other cities. He even mentions the idea of a Black Broadway on ice. “A lot of people are scared to try,” Long says. “I don’t fear no one but God. I always think I can win.”

This article appears in the October 2025 issue of Washingtonian.

Alex Mack