We are sure Toast is a show you don’t want to miss! Directed by Andersen’s County of Kings collaborator, Elise Thoron, this Public Lab run that began with previews on April 21st only has a week left in its run. This compelling tale that takes place inside Attica prison during the 1971 uprising will show you the layers of the colored man and inside the mind of life in prison. How do you keep yourself from losing it that is.

Back in 2013, we were there for the premiere reading and Keith David, along with the rest of the cast floored us! (Read the article HERE ) Still don’t believe us maybe this blurb about the show will get you excited:

“Willie Green a.k.a. “Dolomite,” the famous Folklore hero from the old Black Narratives, is still known as the baddest badass out of San Antone, but he’s aged and has been locked up for murder in Attica’s D-Block for the last 27 years. Word is brewing throughout Attica that a riot is coming, but Dolomite and his cellmates would rather not get involved until the youngest inmate in D-Block gets a vicious beating by the officers for demanding better prison conditions. Does Dolomite join the riots and take vengeance upon the officers for what they did – or lock himself in his cell and hope for a promised parole date and the chance to taste freedom? The word “toast” is actually an art form of reciting poetry based on characters and situations driven from the Black Experience, mostly told and performed in the prisons, Bars and pool halls of America. The play honors this poetic form and brings its heroes like Stackolee, Jesse James, Voodoo Queen, Hard Rock to the stage.”

Toast is running now through May 10th at the Public Theatre. Tickets can be purchased by calling (212) 967-7555 or visiting publictheater.org

The post Toast Opens At The Public Theatre Starring Hill Harper & Keith David appeared first on Broadway Black.

Jackson left his tough Brooklyn neighborhood by winning a scholarship to Exeter, where he met Don, a play-hard rich boy who became his unlikely best friend. Now a Harvard-educated lawyer, Jackson’s bought a place in the newly gentrifying area he grew up in. But Jackson’s white girlfriend, Suzy, isn’t so sure she belongs in a community “on the verge.” When Don comes to crash with his old buddy and stay clean, his stories of the neighborhood’s dangerous past collide with the growing disconnect between Jackson and Suzy, and the treacherous sexual and racial tensions waiting just beyond the door and demanding to be let in.

Playwright Tracey Scott Wilson (The Good Negro, The Story) returns to The Public with BUZZER, a darkly funny, intensely gripping new play The Chicago Tribune calls “a sizzling drama about race, real estate and sexual betrayal.”

I had the pleasure of seeing Grantham on stage here in Los Angeles at The Geffen Playhouse, in their production of Choir Boy (written by Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Trip Cullman). He is definitely a talent to keep an eye on. His other credits include One Night (Cherry Lane Theatre), Choir Boy (Manhattan Theatre Club), Romeo and Juliet (Actors Theatre of Louisville), and As You Like It (Public Theater). Grantham is a graduate of the Juilliard Drama Division.

Buzzer is directed by Anne Kauffman, and runs from March 24th to April 26.

Visit PublicTheater.org for more info and to purchase tickets.

The post Grantham Coleman Leads NYC Premiere Of BUZZER At Public Theater appeared first on Broadway Black.