It’s finally time for Maryum Ali to tell the story of growing up Black, Muslim and the daughter of a legend.
“I knew it was something I would do in my 50s,” the eldest offspring of legendary boxer Muhammed Ali says at a reception to introduce her solo play, Float.
The multimedia production is about to premiere at Oak Cliff’s Bishop Arts Theatre Center following test presentations in Chicago and Los Angeles. Ali calls the Dallas run “the real litmus test” for the decades-in-the-making one-woman show.
After spending the first half of her career as a standup comic, TV actress, rapper and children’s book author, Ali turned to social work, promoting youth development and gang prevention out of the L.A. mayor’s office and at nonprofit organizations.
Sparked by solo performers such as Charlayne Woodard, John Leguizamo and Richard Pryor’s daughter Rain, Ali knew she would eventually get back onstage to talk about her life and her original inspiration, her dad.
Like Rain Pryor, Ali becomes her colorful, controversial father and a host of other characters she grew up around, performing 15 vignettes amid projections and a musical score. “I love this genre,” she says.