Kenny Leon News

Artistic Director Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre Company present Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew beginning this February.

Broadway and TV star Brandon J. Dirden (All the Way, Jitney, The Americans) is set to host the 11th annual New York City August Wilson Monologue Competition, sponsored by LEAP (Learning through an Expanded Arts Program, Inc.)

The Riant Theatre will be presenting THE PIONEER OF THE ARTS AWARDS to CAMILLE A. BROWN, Choreographer of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND and CHOIR BOY on Broadway and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR - LIVE on NBC with John Legend and to JEROME PRESTON BATES, Actor, JITNEY, STICK FLY & AMERICAN SON on Broadway, on Monday, March 4, 2019 at the Mansion/Museum, Margo Feiden Galleries LTD, 15 East 9th St, NYC.

Artistic Director Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre Company present Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew beginning this February.

Few directors working today can honestly say that their careers span so many genres of the entertainment industry. Live television. Theatre. The list goes on and on. But Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon can easily claim such an honor. With a resume spanning three decades, Leon has more than proven his place as one of the American theatre's most preeminent and prolific directors. Most recently represented on Broadway with his acclaimed production of American Son (starring Kerry Washington and Steven Pasquale and soon to be filmed for an upcoming release on Netflix), Leon has proved time and again to be a director for a new generation, impressing upon his audiences the importance of racial matters in our country. And now, he humbly shares his success in a memoir entitled Take You Wherever You Go (released in 2018 from Grand Central Publishing), in which he shares his deep passion for directing through the lens of his humble upbringings in Tallahassee and St. Petersburg, Florida.

New York Stage and Film announced today that, following a nationwide search, Christopher Burney will become its next Artistic Director. Additionally, New York Stage and Film's longtime Associate Artistic Director, Liz Carlson, has been promoted to the newly created position of Artistic Producer.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced the line-up today for the 2019 Free Shakespeare in the Park season, continuing a 57-year tradition of free theater in Central Park. Since 1962, over five million people have enjoyed more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at the Delacorte Theater. Conceived by founder Joseph Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, The Public's Free Shakespeare in the Park continues to be the bedrock of the Company's mission to increase access and engage the community.

Theatre Communications Group just presented its 2019 Gala, directed by Tony Award-winner Michael Mayer and featuring performances from Oklahoma!'s Ali Stroker, Hadestown's Patrick Page and Eva Noblezada, and Angels in America's Beth Malone.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) will present the world premiere of GOOD FAITH: Four Chats about Race and the New Haven Fire Department, a new play by Karen Hartman, directed by Kenny Leon, February 1-23, 2019.

Anotidaishe Chikunya, a senior at Dana Hall School, took first place on Monday, January 28, 2019 with her performance as Berniece from The Piano Lesson at the Boston Regional Finals of the August Wilson Monologue Competition, held for the ninth year by the Education Department of the Huntington Theatre Company, the playwright's longtime artistic home.  Sarah Purvis, a junior at Boston Collegiate Charter School, was named first runner-up and portrayed Black Mary from Gem of the Ocean; Osamede Izevbizua (Toledo, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), a junior at John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, was named second runner-up. The three will receive a total of $850 in prize money, and the top two winners will be awarded an all-expense-paid trip to New York City where they will perform their monologues at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre in the National Competition on May 6, 2019. Airfare, hotel accommodations, workshops, and tickets to attend a Broadway production will be provided in collaboration with Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theatres. The national competition is free and open to the public.

Theatre Communications Group has announced that its 2019 Gala will be directed by Tony Award-winner Michael Mayer and feature performances from Oklahoma!'s Ali Stroker, Hadestown's Patrick Page and Eva Noblezada, and Angels in America's Beth Malone.

Kerry Washington announced during her appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon that the Broadway play American Son will be filmed for Netflix.

Sacred Fools Theater Company is excited to continue its 22st season with the West Coast Premiere of Too Heavy for Your Pocket written by Jireh Breon Holder and directed by Michael Shepperd. "We have been tracking Too Heavy For Your Pocket since its world premiere, and were deeply affected by the poetry and humanity on display in Jiren's work," former Artistic Director Bryan Bellomo says. "We are honored to bring a west coast premiere to Los Angeles, and thrilled to finally have the opportunity to partner with Michael A. Shepperd, the perfect director to tell this delicate story of aspiration and familial love."

Florida Repertory Theatre is pleased to announce the opening of August Wilson's "Fences," the multiple Tony Award-winning Best Play and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Playing January 11-30 in the Historic Arcade Theatre, the run includes four nearly-sold out preview performances January 8-10.

Artistic Director Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre Company present Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew beginning this February.

The Old Globe has announced The Old Globe Classical Directing Fellowship, led by the Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, a leading Shakespearean scholar, author, and director. Four directing fellows-Daniel Jaquez, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, Sam White, and LA Williams-will participate in the pilot session of this new initiative. They will be in residence from Tuesday, January 22 through Friday, January 26, 2019.

Florida Repertory Theatre is pleased to announce the opening of August Wilson's "Fences," the multiple Tony Award-winning Best Play and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Playing January 11-30 in the Historic Arcade Theatre, the run includes four nearly-sold out preview performances January 8-10.

The Directors Guild of America  today announced the nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television, Commercials and Documentary for 2018.

Disney Theatrical Productions President & Producer Thomas Schumacher, Frozen songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, Caissie Levy (Frozen on Broadway), legendary Broadway and West End producer (and Chairman of Music Theatre International) Sir Cameron Mackintosh, songwriting team Pasek & Paul, Taylor Iman Jones (Head Over Heels), Ryan McCarten (Heathers The Musical), Billy Jenkins ('The Crown,' 'Holmes & Watson'), Luca Padovan (School of Rock), and Isabella Russo (School of Rock) are some of the stars confirmed for the 2019 iTheatrics Junior Theater Festival Atlanta (#JTF), happening January 18-20, 2019 at The Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.

Today, we're giving you a look back on the marquees of 2018, with this retrospective album from our archives.