Capathia Jenkins to Star as Hattie McDaniel in New Play

Capathia Jenkins will play the Hollywood icon of the title in Emerging Artists' Theatre's premiere of (mis)Understanding Mammy: The Hattie McDaniel Story, written by Joan Ross Sorkin and directed by David Glenn Armstrong.

This play with music will be part of the company's second annual Triple Threat, which will premiere three full-length plays by emerging playwrights. (mis)Understanding Mammy: The Hattie McDaniel Story will play a four-week off-Broadway engagement at Theatre 5 (311 West 43rd St., 5th Floor—btw. Eighth and Ninth Avenues). Performances begin Wednesday, February 7th, and continue through Sunday, March 4th. 

Jenkins will make her dramatic debut portraying McDaniel.  She stated: "I am honored, humbled and thrilled to be playing Hattie McDaniel. This project is definitely a highlight of my career, to portray the first black woman to win an Oscar for Gone With The Wind and that's just one aspect of this extraordinary woman's life. The chance to do a challenging dramatic piece at Emerging Artists Theatre where they nurture new works is an actor's dream."
 
(mis)Understanding Mammy: The Hattie McDaniel Story is "a play with music that reveals a side of Hattie McDaniel's life that few people knew. Hattie achieved stardom by becoming the first African-American to win an Academy Award, but she paid a high price for fame. By playing a succession of maids and cooks, most notably Mammy in Gone With the Wind, she became the target of an unrelenting campaign against 'Mammyism' led by Walter White of the NAACP, who thought her roles were shameful and degrading to their race. Despite her own efforts to bring dignity and humanity to her roles, within seven years of winning her Oscar, her film career was virtually destroyed," according to production notes.

"The play is set in 1952 at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodlands Hills, California, where Hattie is battling breast cancer. In her weakened state of mind, she imagines that Walter White has come to visit her and possibly reconcile their differences. For the first time Hattie directly confronts her most vocal critic to prove to him that she was in fact a credit to her race. In recounting her miraculous life story as the daughter of a slave who became a world-renowned movie star, Hattie proudly illuminates a life that was too often misunderstood."
 
Lance Horne (Broadway's Little Women) will serve as musical supervisor for the production, which features scenic design by Robert Monaco, costume design by Amy Elizabeth Bravo, lighting design by Jenny Granrud and sound design by Ned Thorne. Jenny Granrud is the stage manager and Daniel Haley will be the associate director.

Jenkins was critically acclaimed for her performance in the Broadway hit Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, and has also appeared in Broadway productions of Caroline, Or Change, The Civil War, and Bacharach and David's The Look of Love. She has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway productions, including the recent York Theatre revival of Godspell, The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea and After Hours. Her national and European tours include Dreamgirls, Bubblin' Brown Sugar, Sophisticated Rhythms and Uptown Saturday Night.  Jenkins recently released her debut CD with composer Louis Rosen, entitled "South Side Stories," available on www.cdbaby.com
 
Tickets are $40 (group rates available) and are now available online at www.eatheatre.org, or by calling 212-247-2429. Tickets may also be purchased in person on the day of the performance at Theatre 5, 311 West 43rd Street, 5th Floor

Tickets are $40.00 and $20.00 with student ID. TDF accepted. For reservations, please call (212) 247-2429 or visit www.eatheatre.org to purchase tickets online.  Visit www.capathiajenkins.com for more information on the performer.

Photo - Capathia Jenkins

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