Millie Jackson stars in new musical comedy 'Young Man, Older Woman.'

Jet, Oct 25, 1993

Nobody can tell a story about the ups and downs of male-female relationships like sassy singer Millie Jackson.

So it's not surprising that a new musical comedy starring the Queen of Raunch is leaving theatergoers in stitches.

During a recent break in her tour, which has been attracting standing-room-only crowds across the country, the entertainer told JET how she came up with the idea for the show.

After going to see a play with her steady beau, Douglas Knyght, she said they realized they could come up with a story just as meaningful and entertaining. Jackson, who said she's "forty-something" and he's "thirty-something," said that's where the similarities between life and art begin and end.

She's quick to say this is not a story about Millie Jackson's life. "It's just the fact that I happen to be dating a fellow younger than me but that's the last thing in the play," she explained.

But she concedes, "There's a lot of me in it, because it's the outspoken me the people know. But as far as being biographical, I never weighed 200 pounds and never been in the nut house, though some people think I should have been," she said with a laugh.

Jackson said the production was "divinely inspired" because "I already had out the album," titled Cast Album on the Ichiban label. "So we just decided to take that album and build a script around it. And some humor, get the right people and do some songs from the album to make it work."

In addition to Jackson the 90-minute musical comedy stars Knyght and a cast of characters that include comic Reynaldo Rey and Jackson's daughter, Keisha. The show tells the saga of a married woman who becomes so complacent in the relationship she lets herself go to pot and is driven to the brink of insanity before regaining control of her life.

After a successful month-long tour of Europe, Jackson and the Young Man, Older Woman ensemble are taking their show on the road across the U.S. with engagements slated for Flint, Mich., Oct. 26; and Detroit, Oct. 28-31.