Like most family gatherings during the pandemic, this barbecue will be virtual. In light of the coronavirus outbreak that has plagued the world since the beginning of the year, Broadway had to dim its lights for the unforeseeable future since March. Some shows had to close as a result of the pandemic, while others have revitalized their standing in the theatre community with special programming, guest appearances, and virtual readings. Robert O’ Hara’s comedic dive into the dark family woes of the O’Mallerys has found a new home for a one-night-only event in support of The Actor’s Fund. Through a new partnership with Broadway’s Best Shows and Today Tix called Spotlight on Plays, O’Hara’s Barbecue culminates the fall season with a family gathering just in time for the holidays.

Photo cred: Zack DeZon

As the O’Mallerys meet in the park for an intervention for their younger sister (played first by a white cast), they are soon met with conversations of race, stereotyping, and family drama (transitioning to a Black cast). The virtual reading will premiere on Thursday, December 10 at 8:00 pm and will be available on-demand until December 14th. The reading will feature an all-star cast of Broadway greats that include Colman Domingo (The Scottsboro Boys) and S. Epatha Merkerson (While I Yet Live). Patrons can purchase a ticket through Today Tix for $5. Pull up a chair, grab you a nice helping of potato salad, and enjoy some time at the family barbecue. 

The post Barbecue by Robert O’ Hara set for Virtual Play Reading appeared first on Broadway Black.

This year’s nominations gave us tons of excitement for some of Broadway Black’s finest. On this list you’ll find work and performances recognized from that of Suzan Lori Parks, Leslie Odom Jr., Quincy Tyler Bernstine, S. Epatha Merkerson, Lillias White, Tonya Pinkins, & Renée Elise Goldsberry.

The ever so popular musical Hamilton broke the record for most nominations with a total of 12, and the most nominated play was Between Riverside and Crazy with 6 nominations. For more information on the Lortel Awards and previous winners visit their website HERE

The following special awards will also be presented:

• Lifetime Achievement Award: Terrence McNally
• Edith Oliver Service to Off-Broadway Award: Nancy Nagel Gibbs
• Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee: Jeanine Tesori

The 2015 nominations by category are:

Outstanding Play

• Between Riverside and Crazy
  written by Stephen Adly Guirgis
  Produced by Atlantic Theater Company
• Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)
  Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
  Produced by The Public Theater in association with American Repertory Theater
• The Invisible Hand
  Written by Ayad Akhtar
  Produced by New York Theatre Workshop
• My Mañana Comes
  Written by Elizabeth Irwin
  Produced by The Playwrights Realm
• The Nether
  Written by Jennifer Haley
  Produced by MCC Theater

Outstanding Musical

• The Fortress of Solitude
  Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman
  Book by Itamar Moses
  Produced by The Public Theater in association with Dallas Theater Center
• Hamilton
  Book, Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
  Produced by The Public Theater
• The Lightning Thief
  Music and Lyrics by Rob Rokicki
  Book by Joe Tracz
  Produced by Theatreworks USA
• Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe
  Written and Composed by Jonathan Christenson
  Produced by Radio Mouse Entertainment, Martin Hummel, Caiola Productions, Terry Schnuck, Susan Jaffe Tane, Hernreich-Horvath Productions, Catalyst Theatre in association with Fireboat Productions, Mary Cossette, Meredith Lynsey Schade
• Pretty Filthy
  Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman
  Book by Bess Wohl
  Produced by The Civilians in association with Jon B. Platt

Outstanding Revival

• Fashions for Men
  Written by Ferenc Molnár
  Produced by Mint Theater Company
• Indian Ink
  Written by Tom Stoppard
  Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company in association with American Conservatory Theater
• Into The Woods
  Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
  Book by James Lapine
  Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company in association with McCarter Theatre Center, a Fiasco Theater production
• Sticks and Bones
  Written by David Rabe
  Produced by The New Group
• The Wayside Motor Inn
  Written by A.R. Gurney
  Produced by Signature Theatre

Outstanding Solo Show

• Every Brilliant Thing
  Written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe
  Performed by Jonny Donahoe
  Produced by Scott Morfee, Jean Doumanian, Tom Wirtshafter, Patrick Daly, Kelpie Arts LLC, Scott Rudin, Marc & Lisa Biales, Terry Allen Kramer, Michael Ostin.
• Josephine and I
  Written and Performed by Cush Jumbo
  Produced by The Public Theater
• Just Jim Dale
  Written and Performed by Jim Dale
  Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company
• The Lion
  Written and Performed by Benjamin Scheuer
  Produced by Manhattan Theatre Club

Outstanding Director

• Michael Greif: Our Lady of Kibeho
• Thomas Kail: Hamilton
• Austin Pendleton: Between Riverside and Crazy
• Ken Rus Schmoll: The Invisible Hand
• Ivo van Hove: Scenes From a Marriage

Outstanding Choreographer

• Andy Blankenbuehler: Hamilton
• Camille A. Brown: The Fortress of Solitude
• Denis Jones: Piece of My Heart: The Bert Berns Story
• Laura Krewski: Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe
• Lisa Shriver: Into The Woods

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play

• Usman Ally: The Invisible Hand
• Carson Elrod: The Heir Apparent
• Stephen McKinley Henderson: Between Riverside and Crazy
• Owiso Odera: Our Lady of Kibeho
• Bill Pullman: Sticks and Bones

Outstanding Lead Actress in a play

• Quincy Tyler Bernstine: Grand Concourse
• Anna Gunn: Sex With Strangers
• Jan Maxwell: The City of Conversation
• S. Epatha Merkerson: While I Yet Live
• Tonya Pinkins: Rasheeda Speaking

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical

• Adam Chanler-Berat: The Fortress of Solitude
• Claybourne Elder: Allegro
• Lin-Manuel Miranda: Hamilton
• Leslie Odom Jr.: Hamilton
• Ben Steinfeld: Into The Woods

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical

• Michelle Knight: Disenchanted!
• Jennifer Mudge: Into The Woods
• Sally Murphy: The Threepenny Opera
• Phillipa Soo: Hamilton
• Lillias White: Texas in Paris

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

• Victor Almanzar: Between Riverside and Crazy
• Jacob Ming-Trent: Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)
• Jesse Pennington: Bootycandy
• Will Pullen: Punk Rock
• Scott Shepherd: The Village Bike

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

• Sophia Anne Caruso: The Nether
• Sun Mee Chomet: brownsville song (b-side for tray)
• Liza Colón-Zayas: Between Riverside and Crazy
• Beth Dixon: The City of Conversation
• Deirdre O’Connell: By the Water

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

• Daveed Diggs: Hamilton
• Andy Grotelueschen: Into The Woods
• Brian d’Arcy James: Hamilton
• Kevin Mambo: The Fortress of Solitude
• Steve Rosen: Pretty Filthy
  

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  Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

  • Renée Elise Goldsberry: Hamilton
  • Luba Mason: Pretty Filthy
  • Lulu Picart: Disenchanted!
  • Jessica Tyler Wright: Allegro
  • Emily Young: Into The Woods

  ---

  Outstanding Scenic Design

  • Brett J. Banakis: Big Love
  • Laura Jellinek: The Nether
  • Derek McLane: Into The Woods
  • Walt Spangler: Between Riverside and Crazy
  • Jan Versweyveld: Scenes From a Marriage

  ---

  Outstanding Costume Design

  • Candice Donnelly: Indian Ink
  • Bretta Gerecke: Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe
  • Clint Ramos: Bootycandy
  • Paul Tazewell: Hamilton
  • Anthony Ward: Josephine and I

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  Outstanding Lighting Design

  • Howell Binkley: Hamilton
  • David Lander: The Library
  • Tyler Micoleau: The Invisible Hand
  • Ben Stanton: The Nether
  • Japhy Weideman: Punk Rock

  ---

  Outstanding Sound Design

  • Mikhail Fiksel: My Mañana Comes
  • Leah Gelpe: The Invisible Hand
  • Daniel Kluger and Brandon Wolcott: The Nether
  • Nevin Steinberg: Hamilton
  • Matt Tierney: Pocatello

  ---

  The 2015 Lucille Lortel Awards voting committee is appointed by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres & Producers, the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Actors’ Equity Association, the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers, and the Lucille Lortel Foundation, and includes theatre journalists, academics and other Off-Broadway professionals.

  Awarded since 1986, the Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the League by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

The post The Lucille Lortel Awards Announce 2015 Nominations appeared first on Broadway Black.

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.

Broadway Black stars have shown up and show out this year!

Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change, Jelly’s Last Jam) is the 2013 celebrity co-chair, along with actor Dorien Wilson (The Parkers).  Pinkins will also perform her new solo show Tonya Pinkins: Unplugged.

Tony nominees S. Epatha Merkerson (Come Back, Little Sheba, The Piano Lesson) and Paul Tazewell (A Streetcar Named Desire, The Color Purple) are among the 2013 NBTF honorees

The legendary Tony Award winning Lillias White (Dreamgirls, Fela!) will perform BIG MAYBELLE: Soul of the Blues, written and directed by Paul Levine.

Two-time Tony Award nominee André De Shields (The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’) will star in Woodie King Jr.’s New Federal Theatre production of Knock Me a Kiss.

Chester Gregory (Sister Act, Hairspray) is back with his new play The Eve of Jackie: A Tribute to Jackie Wilson.

Actor and Playwright Regina Taylor’s (I‘ll Fly Away, The Unit) gospel musical Crowns will be staged by the North Carolina Black Repertory Company

Rain Pryor will perform her off-Broadway hit Fried Chicken & Latkas.

The Negro Ensemble Company presents Women in the Pit starring the 2013 NBTF Sidney Poitier Lifelong Achievement Award Recipient Hal Williams (227, Sanford & Son).

Tony Award nominated Norm Lewis (Porgy & Bess, Les Misérables) and Hattie Winston (The Tap Dance Kid, Hair) are also in attendance along with many other film and television stars.

For more information about the National Black Theatre Festival visit: www.NBTF.org

We’re actually here at the festival this year and we’ll be bringing to reviews and sightings here! Check our instagram as well!

The post 2013 National Black Theatre Festival appeared first on Broadway Black.