*Hey Miki Howard fans, we’ve got good news for you. TV One has reserved 7 p.m. Sunday, June 12 for the premiere of “Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story,” the network’s first scripted film based on an episode of “Unsung.”
The film follows the complicated history of Howard’s romantic relationship with R&B singer Gerald Levert, the tumultuous relationship with her mother, and her battles to overcome spousal abuse and drug addiction.
Teyonah Parris stars in the title role, and Howard makes a special cameo in the film. The ensemble cast also includes Darius McCrary as Gerald Levert; Vanessa Bell Calloway as Miki’s mother Josephine Howard; Gary Dourdan as Augie Johnson; LisaRaye as Sylvia Rhone; and Amari Cheatom as Eddie Phelps.
Directed by Christine Swanson from a screenplay she penned with Rhonda F. Baraka, the film will anchor TV One’s Black Music Month programming.
“Black Music Month is the perfect time to share Miki Howard’s inspiring and courageous journey of resilience with TV One’s audience, said D’Angela Proctor, TV One’s SVP, Original Programming & Production. “We are proud to have such an incredibly talented cast involved in Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story to help us represent with our first feature film from our award-winning Unsung series.”
Watch the trailer below:
“I really wanted to be a part of this story because you watch someone go through so much,” star Teyonah Parris stated. “Literally hit rock bottom not just once, a few times – but pick themselves up and say, ‘that moment does not define who I am now and it won’t define who I am in the future.’”
Howard says she hopes her biopic can spark dialogue about important topics affecting women of color: “We need to have a conversation about many of the things that happened to me as a young woman coming up in show business and being an African-American woman… I don’t think we talk about enough things that are prevalent in our community, such as spousal abuse and trying to live up to expectations that are not our own.”
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