TLC Bio-Musical ‘CrazySexyCool’ Premieres at Arena Stage

Holli' Gabrielle Conway, Stoney B. Woods, and Jade Milan in ‘CrazySexyCool–The TLC Musical’ at Arena Stage. (Photo by Sergio Villarini for Broadway Across America)

Front and Center | Summer 2026

June 11, 2026 Daniella Ignacio Leave a comment

Life After Left Eye In ‘CrazySexyCool’

A new bio-musical at Arena Stage throws it back to the ’90s with the groundbreaking girl group TLC.

By Daniella Ignacio

The groundbreaking 1990s girl group TLC asked writer-director Kwame Kwei-Armah to write their musical—several times. First approached while he was running London’s Young Vic Theatre , Kwei-Armah was happy to join the producing team but turned down the writing offer at first, believing a woman should take the job. Then one day, while on a walk with TLC’s manager, Bill Diggins, Diggins reminded the director, “You care about these women.” Kwei-Armah had a eureka moment, realizing he did crave the answer to a burning question: How did the group survive without Left Eye?

In CrazySexyCool – The TLC Musical , at Arena Stage June 12-Aug. 9, the story begins with the death of singer-songwriter-rapper Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, then loops back to follow the trio’s journey through the music industry, culminating with the story of how Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas moved forward after the loss of their fellow band member.

Kwei-Armah has tackled at least one bio-musical, 2015’s One Love , about the life of Bob Marley. Indeed, he’s incorporating some Marley, alongside a song by MC Hammer and a new track by Babyface, into the new TLC show.

“Whenever I’m writing a musical like this, I try to structure the story around the songs, not try to make the songs fit the story,” Kwei-Armah said. “I can’t do any of these musicals if I don’t love the artist.” What does he love about TLC? Their “boldness and originality,” he said, and that “they could be themselves and be political.” Also, if he’s being honest, “their fashion brand, which I was addicted to for 10 years.”

Flown to Atlanta to read his script to the members of TLC, in the very hotel where Diggins first pitched himself to be the band’s manager, Kwei-Armah was plenty nervous. “I got to the end, and they hugged me and said, ‘Thank you.’ I think I slept for two days after that,” Kwei-Armah recalled.

In CrazySexyCool , which takes its title from the band’s breakthrough 1994 album, the writer-director has tried to capture Left Eye’s “ability to feel a little bit not of this world, a little bit born before her time,” while also getting to the essence of TLC both as artists and as people who challenged the status quo.

“I want it to feel like a Baptist reunion,” Kwei-Armah said. “I want audiences to be baptized all over again in the music of TLC.”

Daniella Ignacio, a writer, theatre artist, and musician based in Washington, D.C., is a contributing editor of this magazine. She also reviews for  Washington City Paper  and  DC Theater Arts .

Further Reading

Molly Smith Is Ready to Leave the Arena

_Originally reported by [American Theatre](https://www.americantheatre.org/2026/06/11/life-after-left-eye-in-crazysexycool/)._