Kenny Leon Archives - NYC FlavrReport

By Rocco Delfino — 1 year ago

Leslie Odom, JR Returns to Broadway in Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch.

The first Broadway revival of the American comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch by legendary Ossie Davis is now in performances and will officially open on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at The Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th St.).

Leslie Odom, Jr Returns to Broadway in Purlie Victorious

Tony & Grammy Award winner and Academy & Emmy Award nominee Leslie Odom, Jr. stars in the production as “Purlie Victorious Judson”, alongside Vanessa Bell Calloway (Dreamgirls) as “Idella Landy”

Billy Eugene Jones (Fat Ham) as “Gitlow Judson”, Noah Pyzik (Addy & Uno) as “Deputy”, Noah Robbins (To Kill a Mockingbird) as “Charlie Cotchipee”, Jay O. Sanders(Primary Trust) as “Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee”

Heather Alicia Simms (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) as “Missy Judson”, Bill Timoney (Network) as “Sheriff” and Tony Award nominee Kara Young (Cost of Living, Clyde’s) as “Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins”.

The company also includes Melvin Abston (u/s Gitlow Judson), Willa Bost (u/s Missy Judson/Idella Landy), Brandi Porter (u/s Luttiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins) and Donald Webber Jr. (u/s Purlie Victorious Judson). Direction is by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (Topdog/Underdog, A Soldier’s Play, A Raisin in the Sun).

Tickets are now on sale to the public at Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200. For more info, visit www.purlievictorious.com

Leslie Odom, Jr. returns to Broadway for the first time since his Tony Award-winning performance in Hamilton. Exuberant and outrageous, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch is the joyous comedy that finds inspiration and laughs in the story of a man with a mission.

Alive with love and hope, this timeless story by American Playwright laureate Ossie Davis is directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Fences, Topdog/Underdog). Have an evening in the theatre that will lift you up and “won’t let you wipe that grin off your face.” — The New York Times

Purlie Victorious is produced by: Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Leslie Odom Jr., Louise Gund, Bob Boyett, Willette and Manny Klausner, Salman Moudy Al-Rashid, Creative Partners Productions, Glenn Davis, Irene Gandy, Kayla Greenspan, Mark and David Golub Productions, Ken Greiner, John Gore Organization, Patrick W. Jones, Kenny Leon, Van Kaplan, Nicolette Robinson, National Black Theatre, Alan Alda, Nnamdi Asomugha, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, Kerry Washington.

Tickets are on sale at Telecharge.com, 212-239-6200 or in person at The Music Theatre box office, which is now open Monday through Saturday from 10 am – 6 pm. For more info, visit www.purlievictorious.com.

www.purlievictorious.com

Follow Purlie Victorious on social media @purliebway

Broadway's 'Ohio State Murders' - Starring Audra McDonald

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Broadway’s ‘Ohio State Murders’ – Starring Audra McDonald – Casting Complete, Tix on Sale

By Joe Wehinger — 2 years ago

Broadway‘s ‘Ohio State Murders’ – Starring Audra McDonald now has casting completed, with the Jones Theatre Box Office open for ticket sales for this very limited engagement.

Emmy®, Grammy®, and Six-time Tony® Award Winner

AUDRA McDONALD in

OHIO STATE MURDERS

By ADRIENNE KENNEDY. Directed by Tony Award Winner KENNY LEON With Tony® Award Nominee BRYCE PINKHAM

MISTER FITZGERALD, LIZAN MITCHELL, ABIGAIL STEPHENSON,

BRETT DIGGS, BROOKE GARDNER, CHRISTINA PEDERSEN,

GAYLE SAMUELS

The complete cast for the Broadway premiere of Ohio State Murders by Adrienne Kennedy is now announced. Joining Emmy, Grammy, and Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Tony Award nominee Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder), and Drama Desk nominee Lizan Mitchell (On Sugarland, Trojan Women),

The cast also includes: Mister Fitzgerald, Abigail Stephenson, Brett Diggs, Brooke Gardner, Christina Pedersen and Gayle Samuels.

Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, A Soldier’s Play) directs. Ohio State Murders will be the first show to play at the newly renamed James Earl Jones Theatre beginning Friday, November 11, 2022 and opening on Thursday, December 8, 2022 for a strictly limited engagement.

Rehearsals for Ohio State Murders begin October 17.

Additionally, the James Earl Jones Theatre box office (138 West 48^th St.) is now open Mon-Sat, 10 am-6 pm and tickets can be purchased in person there, through Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200.

The creative team for Ohio State Murders includes set design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Allen Lee Hughes, sound design by Justin Ellington, projection design by Jeff Sugg, wig/hair/make-up design by J. Jared Janas, original music by Dwight Andrews and casting by Caparelliotis Casting.

“One of the finest living American playwrights…” (The New York Times), Obie Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, and a member of the Theater Hall of Fame, Adrienne Kennedy will make her Broadway debut with this production at age 91. Earlier this year, Kennedy was awarded the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy of Arts and Letters, which is awarded to those who have achieved eminence in an entire body of work. Only four other dramatists have been awarded the Gold Medal: Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller. Ms. Kennedy has been contributing to American theater for over six decades, and is best known for her plays such as Funnyhouse of a Negro (Obie Award), June and Jean in Concert (Obie Award), and Sleep Deprivation Chamber which she co-authored with her son Adam Kennedy (Obie Award) as well as numerous other plays and books.

“I am so thrilled. It’s only taken me 65 years to make it to Broadway!” said Kennedy.

“I’m honored and humbled to be part of Adrienne Kennedy’s long-overdue Broadway debut in the newly dedicated James Earl Jones Theatre with Kenny Leon,” said McDonald. “This timeless play has a powerful resonance and relevance today, and we can’t wait to share it with the world.”

When writer Suzanne Alexander (Audra McDonald) returns to her alma mater as a guest speaker, in which she explores the violence in her works, a dark mystery unravels. Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders is an intriguing and unusual suspense play, as well as a social pertinent look at the destructiveness of racism in our society.

Ohio State Murders is presented by Jeffrey Richards, Lincoln Center Theater, Rebecca Gold, Jayne Baron Sherman, Hunter Arnold, Kevin Ryan/Lisa Alexander Taylor, Marc David Levine, Sheryl Lee Ralph/Jeremy Lentz, Brad Blume, Robert Boyett, Irene Gandy, John Paterakis, Iris Smith, Willette and Manny S. Klausner, Kayla Greenspan, Marlene and Gary Cohen, Ken and Rande Greiner/Sandy Marshall/Jamie deRoy, Jacob Soroken Porter, Concord Theatricals, John Gore Organization, James L. Nederlander Organization and The Shubert Organization.

www.ohiostatemurdersbroadway.com

Follow Ohio State Murders on social media @ohiomurdersbway.

Audra McDonald will return to Broadway this season starring in Ohio State Murders

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Audra McDonald returns to Broadway Starring in Ohio State Murders

By Contributor — 2 years ago

Emmy, Grammy, and Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald will return to Broadway this season starring in Ohio State Murders by Adrienne Kennedy, directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (Fences, A Soldier’s Play).

The production will be the first show to play at the newly re-named and renovated James Earl Jones Theatre (formerly the 110-year-old Cort Theatre at 138 West 48^th St.) with previews beginning on Friday, November 11, 2022 and opening on Thursday, December 8, 2022 for a strictly limited engagement.

Full casting, creative team and ticket on-sale information through Telecharge will be announced at a later date. This inaugural production is proudly presented by Jeffrey Richards, Lincoln Center Theater, Rebecca Gold, Jayne Baron Sherman, Hunter Arnold, Irene Gandy, Kevin Ryan/Lisa Alexander Taylor, Marc David Levine, Concord Theatricals, The Nederlander Organization and The Shubert Organization.

“One of the finest living American playwrights…” (The New York Times), Obie Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, and a member of the Theater Hall of Fame, Adrienne Kennedy will make her Broadway debut with this production at age 91. Earlier this year, Kennedy was awarded the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy of Arts and Letters, which is awarded to those who have achieved eminence in an entire body of work.

Only four other dramatists have been awarded the Gold Medal: Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller. Ms. Kennedy has been contributing to American theater for over six decades, and is best known for her plays such as Funnyhouse of a Negro (Obie Award), June and Jean in Concert (Obie Award), and Sleep Deprivation Chamber (Obie Award) and numerous other plays and books.

“I am so thrilled. It’s only taken me 65 years to make it to Broadway!”

said Kennedy.

“I’m honored and humbled to be part of Adrienne Kennedy’s long-overdue Broadway debut in the newly dedicated James Earl Jones Theatre with Kenny Leon,” said McDonald. “This timeless play has a powerful resonance and relevance today, and we can’t wait to share it with the world.”

When writer Suzanne Alexander (Audra McDonald) returns to her alma mater as a guest speaker, in which she explores the violence in her works, a dark mystery unravels. Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders is an intriguing and unusual suspense play, as well as a social pertinent look at the destructiveness of racism in our society.

The renaming of the Cort Theatre to the James Earl Jones Theatre was announced by The Shubert Organization, Inc. in March of 2022 in recognition of Mr. Jones’s lifetime of immense contributions to Broadway and the entire artistic community. Shubert has performed extensive renovation and construction work on the 110-year-old theatre, including construction of a new, contemporary wing.

www.ohiostatemurdersbroadway.com

Follow Ohio State Murders on social media @ohiomurdersbway.