Lincoln Center Theater has officially announced its 2025–2026 season—and it’s not just a new lineup, it’s a full-on renaissance. Under the visionary leadership of incoming Artistic Director Lear deBessonet, this inaugural season marks a major turning point for one of New York’s most prestigious theatrical institutions.

With a slate that fuses legacy revivals, fresh new voices, and community-forward programming, deBessonet is redefining what it means to serve New York audiences across generations, identities, and neighborhoods. And yes, Black artistry is front and center—from the return of Ragtime starring Joshua Henry, to an ensemble revival of The Whoopi Monologues led by Kerry Washington and Kara Young, to a citywide community choir experience co-created with Jeanine Tesori.

Let’s break it down.

ON BROADWAY: “RAGTIME” RETURNS WITH A STAR-STUDDED CAST

At the Vivian Beaumont Theater, deBessonet kicks off her tenure with a lavish revival of Ragtime, her acclaimed New York City Center Gala production, now reimagined for the Broadway stage. The production boasts a powerhouse cast: Tony nominee Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker Jr., rising star Nichelle Lewis as Sarah, and Olivier and GRAMMY nominee Caissie Levy as Mother, alongside Tony winner Brandon Uranowitz as Tateh.

This iteration of Ragtime isn’t just a restaging—it’s a reckoning. Set at the turn of the 20th century, the show follows three families—Black, Jewish, and white upper-class—whose lives intertwine in pursuit of the American Dream. With direction by deBessonet, choreography by Ellenore Scott, and music direction by James Moore conducting a 28-piece orchestra, this production promises not only grandeur but renewed urgency.

Performances begin September 26, 2025.

OFF-BROADWAY: WHOOPI. KENNY. KERRY. KARA. YES.

The Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater will host three bold and deeply resonant productions:

• KYOTO, a sharp political thriller about the 1997 climate summit, directed by Stranger Things: The First Shadow duo Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin.
• Amahl and the Night Visitors, a family opera classic reimagined by Tony-winning director Kenny Leon and starring opera icon Joyce DiDonato. This production marks LCT’s first official seasonal holiday offering.
• The Whoopi Monologues, a reimagining of Whoopi Goldberg’s iconic 1984 solo debut. Directed by Whitney White and featuring an all-star ensemble led by Kerry Washington (American Son, “Scandal”), and Tony^®  Award winner Kara Young(Purpose, Purlie Victorious) lead a remarkable ensemble of 5 women in bringing Goldberg’s unforgettable characters back to the stage, in this new production directed by Tony^® Award nominee Whitney White. This revival reclaims Whoopi’s groundbreaking work for a new era.

Expect laughter. Expect truth. Expect legacy to meet liberation.

LCT3: COMEDY, HEALING, AND BLACK JOY

At the Claire Tow Theater, LCT3—under Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes—continues to be the incubator for boundary-breaking work:

• The Comedy Series featuring Jenny Slate and more, in a dynamic new stand-up/storytelling experiment with Seaview.
• Night Side Songs, a folk-infused new musical by The Lazours (We Live in Cairo), directed by Taibi Magar, exploring illness, caregiving, and resilience.
• A Woman Among Women by Julia May Jonas, a feminist reply to Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, in partnership with The Bushwick Starr and New Georges.
• The Reading Series curated by a dream team of playwrights including Lynn Nottage, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, and Sarah Ruhl, featuring new voices handpicked for one-night-only staged readings and conversations.

This isn’t just programming—it’s legacy-building.

EXPANDED PROGRAMMING: FROM SILENT DISCOS TO COMMUNITY SINGING

Lincoln Center Theater is breaking beyond the proscenium with a series of free, community-focused events:

• WARRIORS Silent Disco – Inspired by the 1979 cult film, this concept album from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis, produced by Nas and Mike Elizondo, will come to life in a silent disco dance party at Lincoln Center Plaza on July 30.

• COME & SING – A public choir series co-created with Jeanine Tesori, inviting New Yorkers to sing together—no audition, no pressure, just joy and harmony.
• Collaboration with Chef Kwame Onwuachi – Culinary meets culture as the celebrated chef behind Tatiana partners with LCT for a future creative collaboration.

CENTERING COMMUNITY: A NEW DEPARTMENT, A NEW VISION

One of the most exciting announcements is the expansion of LCT’s Education Department into the Education and Community Engagement Department, signaling a deeper investment in connecting the theater’s work to the everyday lives of New Yorkers.

With expanded initiatives like storytelling workshops, book clubs, and artmaking projects, this department—under the continued leadership of Kati Koerner—will focus on making the theater a “third space” for all: a place of belonging, creativity, and cultural healing.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BROADWAY BLACK

The 2025–2026 season at Lincoln Center Theater is more than artistically ambitious—it’s inclusive, intergenerational, and deeply rooted in community. Black artistry isn’t a side note; it’s the foundation. With talents like Joshua Henry, Kenny Leon, Eisa Davis, and Kara Young at the forefront, Lear deBessonet’s inaugural season isn’t just a debut—it’s a declaration of legacy in the making.

And we’re watching, front row.

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This marks a significant milestone as the first major Broadway production of this classic play in nearly 25 years. “Our Town,” known for its timeless portrayal of life in the village of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, has achieved status as an enduring American classic with universal appeal. Thornton Wilder’s masterpiece, which first graced Broadway in 1938 to widespread acclaim, went on to receive the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, solidifying its place in the annals of American theater history.

The cast includes Jim Parsons as the “Stage Manager,” Zoey Deutch as “Emily Webb,” Katie Holmes as “Mrs. Webb,” Billy Eugene Jones as “Dr. Gibbs,” Ephraim Sykes as “George Gibbs,” Richard Thomas as “Mr. Webb,” Michelle Wilson as “Mrs. Gibbs,” Julie Halston as “Mrs. Soames,” Donald Webber Jr. as “Simon Stimpson,” and a talented ensemble consisting of Ephie Aardema, Heather Ayers, Willa Bost, Bobby Daye, Safiya Kaijya Harris, Doron JéPaul, Shyla Lefner, Anthony Michael Lopez, John McGinty, Bryonha Marie, Kevyn Morrow, Hagan Oliveras, Noah Pyzik, Sky Smith, Bill Timoney, Matthew Elijah Webb, and Nimene Sierra Wureh. The final two actors will be announced at a later date.

Previews for Our Town begin on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, with the grand opening set for Thursday, October 10, 2024, at the Barrymore Theatre for a limited engagement.

“Thornton Wilder’s Our Town – in my mind stands at the top of the Mount Rushmore of great American Theatre. I feel blessed and fortunate to have gained the trust of The Wilder estate to present this classic to another generation of theatre lovers. It’s long been a burning desire to collaborate on a Broadway production of such magnitude that speaks so beautifully and intimately to all people about our shared time on the planet.”

Kenny Leon, Tony Award winning director

The design team will include scenic design by Tony Award-winner Beowulf Boritt (New York, New York; Act One), costume design by Tony Award-nominee and Drama Desk Award- winner Dede Ayite (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding; Suzan Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog), lighting design by Tony Award-nominee Allen Lee Hughes (Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog; A Soldier’s Play), sound design by Tony Award-nominee Justin Ellington (Ohio State Murders; for colored girls…), casting by Jim Carnahan, with Kate Wilson (The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window) as the dialect coach.

Speaking for the Wilder family, the playwright’s nephew, Tappan Wilder said: “Shortly before the Broadway opening of Our Town in 1938, my uncle, Thornton Wilder, described it to the press in these words: ‘You might say that it is a kind of an attempt at a complete immersion into everything about a New Hampshire village which, I hope, is gradually felt by the audience to be an allegorical representation of all life.’ In the first twenty months after the Broadway production closed, his drama about living and dying in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, with a minimal set of tables, chairs, and a ladder, would be performed in 658 American communities—in forty- seven of the then forty-eight states — as well as in four Canadian provinces and several European countries. This universal embrace of the play has never ended. Even now, Our Town, with its message about the transcendent value of our growing up, our living, and our dying, is performed at least once every day somewhere in the world. Its ‘allegorical representation of all life’ really does unite us all. I got to know the play on an intimate level for the first time in 1955, when, as a high school freshman, I played Professor Willard on a postage-stamp-sized stage in our gymnasium. The responsibility of performing my uncle’s words left me a frightened puppy. Almost seventy years later, I am once again frightened, but not from stage fright. We live in a dangerously fractured world. It’s hard for us to recognize the experiences we all share: life, death, love. Which means that it’s a good thing that my uncle’s play is back on Broadway, with its timely reminder that we all live together in our town.”

For more information, visit OurTownBroadway.com and experience the magic of Our Town on Broadway once again.

The post Our Town Returns to Broadway with a Stellar Cast including Michelle Wilson, Ephraim Sykes, Billy Eugene Jones, & More appeared first on Broadway Black.

The cast for Home includes Tory Kittles as Cephus Miles, Brittany Inge as Woman One/Pattie Mae Wells, and Stori Ayers as Woman Two, all making their Roundabout Theatre Company debuts. In this Tony Award-nominated play described by The New York Times as “an uplifting folk ballad about the pure in heart,” Cephus Miles navigates life’s challenges until his sweetheart Pattie Mae’s departure for college and subsequent marriage to another man.

Originally staged by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1979 and part of Roundabout’s Refocus Project, Home by Samm-Art Williams remains a poignant coming-of-age story that resonates with the enduring spirit of all Americans seeking a sense of belonging. Kenny Leon, known for his work on A Soldier’s Play and Topdog/Underdog, brings his directorial prowess to breathe new life into this classic.

Home will commence preview performances on Friday, May 17, 2024, and officially open on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Todd Haimes Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd Street). The production is set for a limited engagement, running through Sunday, July 21, 2024.

The creative team behind “Home” includes Arnulfo Maldonado (Set Design), Dede Ayite (Costume Design), Allen Lee Hughes (Lighting Design), and Justin Ellington (Sound Design) to bring a visually and aurally immersive experience for theatre enthusiasts.

With its return to Broadway, Home not only celebrates the legacy of Samm-Art Williams but also reaffirms the enduring relevance of this heartfelt exploration of identity, resilience, and the quest for home. Don’t miss this opportunity to witness the magic of “Home” on stage, where the power of storytelling comes alive.

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The creative team will feature scenic design by Tony Award winner Derek McLane (Moulin Rouge, MJ), costume design by Tony Award nominee Emilio Sosa (Trouble in Mind, A Beautiful Noise), and lighting design by Adam Honoré (Ain’t No Mo’, Chicken & Biscuits).

The producing team is led by Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Irene Gandy, Jacob Soroken Porter, Kayla Greenspan and Leslie Odom, Jr.,making his Broadway producing debut.

Theatre, dates, additional casting, and creative team members will be announced at a later date.

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Following this performance, directed by Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon and starring Emmy Award-winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Tony Award-nominee Corey Hawkins, will offer a post-show talkback with members of the company, exclusively for members of The Divine Nine.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG is a darkly comic fable about brotherly love and family identity, following the lives of two brothers, Lincoln and Booth, as they struggle with their past and their obsession with the street con game three-card monte. The play has received critical acclaim, being named “Best of the Year” by The New York Times, New Yorker, Huffington Post, and others.

This performance will offer a ticket discount of up to $60 off the ticket price (using code TDDIVINE9) at telechargeoffers.com.

In addition to its talented cast and crew, the production features scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Allen Lee Hughes, and sound design by Justin Ellington. The production is being produced by David Stone, LaChanze, Rashad V. Chambers, Marc Platt, Debra Martin Chase, and the Shubert Organization, and is currently in its final weeks of a limited engagement, set to close on January 15. Don’t miss your chance to see this powerful and thought-provoking production, and take advantage of the special ticket discount for members of The Divine Nine.

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Written by American playwright Charles Fuller, A Soldier’s Play will be directed by Tony Award winner and Roundabout Theatre Company’s Senior Resident Director Kenny Leon. The North American tour of A Soldier’s Play will begin performances in December of 2022 with tour stops and additional casting to be announced soon.

In 1944, on a Louisiana Army base, two shots ring out. A Black sergeant is murdered. And a series of interrogations triggers a gripping barrage of questions about sacrifice, service, and identity in America.  Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece opened on Broadway for the first time on Jan. 21, 2020, at Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre, nearly forty years after it was written. The acclaimed production was nominated for 7 Tony Awards and 3 Drama Desk Awards, winning Best Revival for both.

“It’s an honor to direct Charles Fuller’s masterwork for audiences around the country. Anyone who has seen Norm on the stage or screen knows that he is a remarkably powerful presence, a true force-of-nature and I can’t wait to see what will happen when we have that power at the center of this play.”

Kenny Leon

“As an institution committed to shining new light on classics, Roundabout was proud to produce the long-overdue Broadway premiere of A Soldier’s Play. On Broadway, I was thrilled to see Charles Fuller’s work and Kenny Leon’s spectacular vision get the recognition it deserved,” said Todd Haimes, Artistic Director and CEO, Roundabout Theatre Company. “Now, the opportunity to bring this production to cities across North America allows us to continue elevating the legacy of this great, American masterpiece.”

A veteran of 14 Broadway productions and countless TV & film appearances, Norm Lewis made history as The Phantom of the Opera’s first Black Phantom on Broadway.  Most recently, he starred in Spike Lee’s critically acclaimed Da 5 Bloods and in the groundbreaking FX series, “Pose.” Additionally, Mr. Lewis can be seen starring in ABC’s newest series, “Women of the Movement” and offscreen, his voice can be heard in Apple TV’s animated series “Central Park.” He was also seen as ‘Caiaphas’ in the award-winning NBC television special, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!” alongside John Legend, Sara Bareilles, and Alice Cooper. 

His additional television credits include “Dr. Death,” “Mrs. America,” “Better Things,” “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Bull,” “Chicago Med,” “Gotham,” “The Blacklist” and “Blue Bloods” as well as in his recurring role as ‘Senator Edison Davis’ on the hit drama “Scandal.”

Mr. Lewis returned to Broadway in the Fall of 2021, starring in Chicken and Biscuits at the Circle In The Square Theatre. He previously appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on this Island and as ‘Sweeney Todd’ in the Off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Barrow Street Theatre, receiving the AUDELCO Award for his performance. He received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for his performance as ‘Porgy’ in the Broadway production of The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess. Other Broadway credits include Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, and The Who’s Tommy.

Joining director Kenny Leon for the tour of Roundabout Theatre Company’s A Soldier’s Play is the Broadway design team that includes Derek McLane (Sets), Dede Ayite (Costumes), Allen Lee Hughes (Lights), and Dan Moses Schreier (Sound).  The tour of A Soldier’s Play is produced by Roundabout Theatre Company and Tamar Climan.

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A member of the Theater Hall of Fame, Adrienne Kennedy will make her Broadway debut with this production at age 90. A well-known prize-winning playwright as well as lecturer and author who has been contributing to American theater for over six decades, Kennedy is best known for her plays such as Funnyhouse of a Negro, June and Jean in Concert, Sleep Deprivation Chamber, and numerous other plays and books.

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

Adrienne Kennedy

Ohio State Murders is an unusual look at the destructiveness of racism in the United States. When SuzanneAlexander (McDonald), a fictional Black writer, returns to Ohio State University to talk about the violence in her writing, a dark mystery unravels.

Dates, casting and the creative team will be announced in the coming months.

The producing team for Ohio State Murders is led by Jeffrey Richards, Rebecca Gold, Jayne Baron Sherman and
Irene Gandy.

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Friedman-Abeles/New York Public Library

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the Broadway debut of Lorraine Hansberry’s landmark play A Raisin In the Sun. It was on this date that history was made as Hansberry was the first African American woman to have her play produced and performed on Broadway; it was also the first Broadway play to be directed by a Black person (Lloyd Richards). It opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater (and later moved to the Belasco Theater) on March 11, 1959, and played for a total of 530 performances before closing on June 25, 1960.

The play centers around the Youngers: a family of five that lives in a 2-bedroom apartment on the Southside of Chicago. Set to the backdrop of post-WWII, the family’s pursuit of success is driven by the idealization of the American dream; often thwarted by the consequential effects of racism, cultural appropriation and identity, and generational differences. Hansberry gives the reader, and oftentimes the performer, an eye-opening look into the Black experience in America with questions of freedom – educational and economic – ruling the conversation.

The play echoes many of the circumstances and accounts of the playwright’s family from the 1940 Supreme Court case of Hansberry v. Lee, which gave them a voice in the judicial system to fight against racial discrimination in the housing market.  Inspired by that, she wrote parts of her truth through the language of a family who only wanted their slice of the American pie; a slice that would feed their spirits in a world that starved them of their identity. 

A Raisin In the Sun has seen a long history on Broadway and around the world. After the original production was nominated in 1960 for four Tony Awards, the story became a universal tale of hope and success. The original production starred Hollywood leading man Sidney Poitier (later succeeded by Ossie Davis), Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Louis Gossett, Ivan Dixon, Lonne Elder III, John Fiedler, Glynn Turman, and Ed Hall. Multiple iterations of Hansberry’s classic have graced the stage and screen over the last 62 years: 

1961 film starring the original Broadway cast. 

Raisin (a musical based on A Raisin In the Sun) debuted on Broadway in 1973. The book was written by Hansberry’s former husband and starred Joe Morton, Debbie Allen, Virginia Capers (Tony winner for Lead Actress in a Musical), Ernestine Jackson, and Ralph Carter. It also won the Tony Award for Best Musical. 

1989 tv film starring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle.

2004 Broadway revival starring Sean Combs, Audra McDonald (Tony winner for Best Featured Actress in a Play), Sanaa Lathan, and Phylicia Rashad (Tony winner for Best Actress in a Play; also the first Black woman to win this award).

2008 tv movie event starring many of the leads of the 2004 Broadway revival. 

2014 Broadway revival at the Ethel Barrymore Theater (where it originally played in 1959) starring Denzel Washington, Sophie Okonedo (Tony winner for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play), Anika Noni Rose, and LaTanya Richardson Jackson. The production also won the Tonys for Best Revival of a Play and Best Direction for Kenny Leon (who also directed the 2008 tv movie). 

The title was inspired by the Langston Hughes poem “Harlem,” which starts out with “what happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” It is the hope in the midst of suffering and the strength in the midst of pain that makes this classic theatre work a blessing to the arts community.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Broadway Black honors Lorraine Hansberry. Your dream is a gift to us all.

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A Soldier’s Play rehearsal photos by Jeremy Daniel

Tony-winning director Kenny Leon has been a longstanding advocate for arts education for decades. As a result of his hard work, he will soon be honored by the Educational Theatre Foundation (ETF) at their third annual Theatre Alive! Gala as the Craig Zadan Theatre for Life Award recipient.

Through his own True Colors Theatre Company based in Atlanta, GA, Leon has set the stage for the next generation of theatre-makers; inspiring them to take the reigns of their own destinies and using the arts as a catalyst for social change. He already serves on the advisory board for the Educational Theatre Foundation’s Pathway Initiative, “which creates opportunities for high school students to work with industry professionals of color and perform works encouraging dialogue and racial equality.” His commitment to this cause comes at a time when a global pandemic halted the productions of not only Broadway, but also school productions across the country. Through the efforts of Kenny Leon and ETF, the gala will be raising funds for the Thespian Reliefs Grant to Save School Theatre, which supported in keeping struggling arts programs in school afloat; and Pathway, an initiative through ETF to counter racial disparities in the theatre. 

The award is named after famed producer and writer Craig Zadan. ETF president Julie Cohen Theobald says, “Kenny Leon embodies the spirit of the Craig Zadan Theatre for Life Award…and we’re thrilled to pay tribute to the resilience of school theatre programs through Theatre Alive!” Leon, who is only the third recipient of this award, has ignited the Broadway stage time and time again with productions that highlight the beauty and boldness of the Black experience. Those productions include: A Raisin In the Sun, A Soldier’s Play, Much Ado About Nothing, and Fences, for which he won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play.

The virtual gala will stream free on Playbill. To register for the event and to make a donation to the Educational Theatre Foundation, visit HERE. 

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The role of Senior Resident Director gives Leon the opportunity to participate in the season selection of plays and musicals, but also lead the search for bringing more BIPOC directors and creatives to Roundabout’s company. His accolades of creating a space for Black performers continue with him being the Co-Founder of the prestigious August Wilson Monologue Competition. 

 

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Kenny Leon is also well known for winning the 2014 Tony Award for Best Play for the revival of A Raisin in the Sun, directing American Son, Gem of the Ocean, and the NBC performances of The Wiz Live and Hairspray Live. 

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