Playwrights Horizons recently announced casting for Familiar, which will feature Ito Aghayere, Joby Earle, Melanie Nicholls-King, Roslyn Ruff, Harold Surratt, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Joe Tippett, and Tony Award winner Tamara Tunie (Spring Awakening). Rebecca Taichman is set to direct.

Previews are scheduled to begin February 12 with an opening night set for March 3 and run through March 27 at Playwrights Horizons’ Mainstage Theater. Familiar had its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre in February 2014.

The synopsis is billed as:

It’s winter in Minnesota and a Zimbabwean family is preparing for the wedding of their eldest daughter (Ruff), a first-generation American. But when the bride insists on observing a traditional African custom, it opens a deep rift in the household. Rowdy and affectionate, Familiar pitches tradition against assimilation, drawing a loving portrait of a family: the customs they keep, and the secrets they bury.

Gurira has made it known that she is very interested in getting stories about women of color out there for the world to see. “I want to see women of African descent shine,” Gurira told “Elle” magazine in a recent interview. “I want to see them [in roles] that are intense, that are full, that are complex—that allow them to exercise their chops. I want women of color who are preparing for auditions to stop asking, ‘Where are the monologues? Where are my stories?'”

Tickets to Familiar aren’t yet on sale, but information regarding tickets and the show can be found at the official website , by phone at (212) 279-4200, or by visiting Ticket Central Box Office at 416 West 42nd St., Manhattan.

The post Danai Gurira’s Familiar Announces Casting appeared first on Broadway Black.

Photo Credit: Carol Rosseg
For tickets and more information visit romeoandjulietbroadway.com

Joining Condola and Orlando in the cast are Tony-winner Chuck Cooper (as Lord Capulet), Roslyn Ruff (as Lady Capulet), Corey Hawkins (as Tybalt), Geoffery Owens (as Prince Escalus), Brent Carver (as Friar Laurence), Jane Houdyshell (as Nurse), and Justin Guarini (as Paris).

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The readings of all 10 of plays will now be streamed live and you can watch them here!

Join us for an historic series as an extraordinary cast of actors and directors — many who worked directly with Wilson — gather to make the first-ever recording of his celebrated 10-play cycle capturing 100 years of African American life in the 20th century.

The readings will feature many actors reprising the roles they performed on stage, including Tony Award winner LESLIE UGGAMS as Ruby in King Hedley II; Drama Desk and Obie Award winner ANTHONY CHISHOLM (Oz, Premium Rush) as Fielding in Jitney and Elder Barlow in Radio Golf; BRANDON DIRDEN (The Big C, House of Payne) in his Obie Award-winning role as Boy Willie in The Piano Lesson; RUSSELL HORNSBY (Grimm, Shameless) as King Hedley in King Hedley II; Emmy Award winner KEITH DAVID (Crash, Armageddon) as Seth Holly in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone; EBONY JO-ANN as Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; RUBEN SANTIAGO-HUDSON as Canewell in Seven Guitars; JOHN EARL JELKS as Sterling Johnson in Radio Golf; ROSLYN RUFF (Rachel Getting Married, The Help) as Berniece in The Piano Lesson, among others.

Other Wilson actors will take on new roles, including Tony Award nominee S. EPATHA MERKERSON (Law & Order, Lincoln) as Bertha in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and WENDELL PIERCE (Treme, The Wire) as Red Carter in Seven Guitars.

Academy Award nominee TARAJI P. HENSON (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Person of Interest) and JESSE L. MARTIN (Law & Order, Rent) will make their Wilson debuts as Molly Cunningham in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and Lyons in Fences, respectively.

Check Back here to watch the reading recordings each week.

In the meantime listen to Ruben Santiago Hudson, Phylicia Rashad, and others talk about the legacy of August Wilson, read the cast lists for the recordings, and copy the schedule of the recording series below

SCHEDULE

All readings start at 7pm at The Greene Space, 44 Charlton Street (at Varick Street), Downtown Manhattan.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom– Monday, August 26
Directed by Ruben Santiago Hudson

David Margulies……………………………Sturdyvant
Tuck Milligan…………………………………….Irvin
Charles Weldon…………………………………Cutler
Clarke Peters…………………………………..Toledo
Harvy Blanks……………………………….Slow Drag
Ebony Jo-Ann…………………………..…Ma Rainey
Joniece Abbott-Pratt………………..…….Dussie Mae
Jonathan Majors………………………..…… Sylvester

Fences–Wednesday, August 28
Directed by Kenny Leon

Eugene Lee………………………………… Jim Bono
Jesse L. Martin………………………………….Lyons
Ray Anthony Thomas………………………….Gabriel
Jonathan Majors………………………………….Cory
Regina Taylor…………………………………….Rose

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone– Wednesday, September 4
Directed by Phylicia Rashad

Keith David…………………………….…..Seth Holly
Taraji P. Henson……………….… Molly Cunningham
S. Epatha Merkerson……………………. Bertha Holly
Roger Robinson……………………….……… Bynum
Raynor Scheine………………….……Rutherford Selig
Jason Dirden…………………….……..Jeremy Furlow
John Douglas Thompson……….……..Harold Loomis
January LaVoy………………….……Mattie Campbell
Nile Bullock………………….………Reuben Mercer
Alexis Holt…………………….………..Zonia Loomis

The Piano Lesson– Monday, September 9
Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Brandon J. Dirden………………………….Boy Willie
Roslyn Ruff…………………………………..Berniece
Jason Dirden…………………………..……….Lymon
Alexis Holt…………………………..…………Maretha
Eric Lenox Abrams………………….……….….Avery
Chuck Cooper……………………….……Wining Boy
Mandi Masden……………………………..…….Grace

Two Trains Running– Wednesday, September 11
Directed by Michele Shay

Ron Cephas Jones……………………………….Wolf
James A. Williams………………………….Holloway
Owiso Odera………………………………….Sterling
Leon Addison Brown……………………….Hambone
Harvy Blanks…………………………………….West

Seven Guitars– Friday, September 13
Directed by Stephen McKinley Henderson

Ruben Santiago-Hudson…………………… Canewell
Wendell Pierce……………………….……Red Carter
Brenda Pressley…………………………………Louise
Lou Ferguson………………………………….Hedley
Harry Lennix……………………………Floyd Barton
Cassandra Freeman………………………………Ruby

Jitney– Monday, September 16
Directed by Ruben Santiago Hudson

Anthony Chisholm…………………………….Fielding
Amari Cheatom………………………….Youngblood
Stephen M Henderson…………………………Turnbo
Barry Shabaka Henley…………………………..Doub
Harvy Blanks…………………………………..Shealy
Joaquina Kalukango……………………………..Rena

King Hedley II– Saturday, September 21
Directed by Michele Shay

Russell Hornsby………………………King Hedley II
Leslie Uggams…………………………………..Ruby
Kevin Carroll……………………………………Mister
Stephen M. Henderson………………………..Elmore
Marsha Stephanie Blake………………………..Tonya
Arthur French……………………………Stool Pigeon

Gem of the Ocean– Tuesday, September 24
Directed by Kenny Leon

Eugene Lee…………………………………………Eli
Stephen Tyrone Williams……………..Citizen Barlow
Phylicia Rashad……………………………Aunt Ester
Danai Gurira………………………………Black Mary
Raynor Scheine………………………Rutherford Selig
Anthony Chisholm………………….Solly Two Kings
Keith Randolph Smith…………………………Caesar

Radio Golf– Saturday, September 28
Directed by Marion McClinton

Anthony Chisholm………….. ….Elder Joseph Barlow
John Earl Jelks………………………..Sterling Johnson
Rocky Carroll…………………………Harmond Wilks
Sharon Washington………………………Mame Wilks
James A. Williams……………………Roosevelt Hicks

The post You Have No Excuse: Don’t Miss August Wilson Cycle Recordings Live Stream appeared first on Broadway Black.

Joining Condola and Orlando in the cast are Tony-winner Chuck Cooper (as Lord Capulet), Roslyn Ruff (as Lady Capulet), Corey Hawkins (as Tybalt), Geoffery Owens (as Prince Escalus), Brent Carver (as Friar Laurence), Jane Houdyshell (as Nurse), and Justin Guarini (as Paris).

On August 7th, Condola and a motorcycle-mounted Orlando joined each other at a photo call outside of the Richard Rodgers Theatre. They posed for pictures, spray painted one of the stage doors, and kissed to “oooh’s” and “aahh’s” from the crowd!

(*Thanks to our friends over at JustJared.com for these fabulous photos! Check them out for more! )

 The show begins previews at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on August 24th, and officially opens on September 29th!
Get your tickets now! This is sure to be a steamy interpretation of the piece. 

The post Condola Rashad and Orlando Bloom “Rev It Up” for ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Revival appeared first on Broadway Black.