STAGE TUBE: FENCES' Viola Davis Visits MSNBC's Morning Joe

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Academy Award nominee and Tony Award winner Viola Davis, nominated for a Tony Award this season for her performance opposite two-time Academy Award-winner and Tony nominee Denzel Washington in August Wilson's FENCES, was featured this morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe".

Directed by Tony nominee Kenny Leon, FENCES is playing a strictly limited 13-week engagement at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street) through July 11.

The first Broadway revival of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning FENCES is nominated for TEN 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play, Leading Actor in a Play (Denzel Washington), Leading Actress in a Play (Viola Davis), Featured Actor in a Play (Stephen McKinley Henderson), Direction of a Play (Kenny Leon), Scenic Design of a Play (Santo Loquasto), Costume Design of a Play (Constanza Romero), Lighting Design of a Play (Brian MacDevitt), Sound Design of a Play (ACME Sound Partners), Original Score Written for the Theatre (Branford Marsalis).

FENCES has won both the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play Revival, as well as Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Actor Denzel Washington and Best Actress Viola Davis. Drama Desk Awards were presented to Viola Davis and Branford Marsalis (for his score), and Ms. Davis has won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Sustained Excellence. Director Kenny Leon has received a Drama League Award for Excellence in Directing.

In addition to Denzel Washington as Troy Maxson and Viola Davis as Rose Maxson, the cast features Chris Chalk as Cory, Tony Award-nominee Stephen McKinley Henderson as Jim Bono, Russell Hornsby as Lyons, Mykelti Williamson as Gabriel, and with Eden Duncan-Smith and SaCha Stewart-Coleman alternating in the role of Raynell.

FENCES is produced by Carole Shorenstein Hays (who produced the original Broadway production) and Scott Rudin.

The original Broadway production of FENCES opened on March 26, 1987 at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre). FENCES was one of the most critically acclaimed and successful plays of the 1980s, winning four Tony Awards including Best Play, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, three Drama Desk Awards, including Best Play and the NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play.

Two-time Academy Award® winner Denzel Washington returns to Broadway, alongside Academy Award nominee and Tony Award® winner Viola Davis, in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Both a monumental drama and an intimate family portrait, FENCES tells the story of Troy Maxson, a man torn between the glory of his past and the uncertainty of his future. Emboldened by pride and embittered by sacrifice, Troy is determined to make life better for future generations, even as he struggles to embrace the dreams of his own son.

The production team includes Branford Marsalis (Original Music), Santo Loquasto (Set Design), Constanza Romero (Costume Design), Brian MacDevitt (Lighting Design), ACME Sound Partners (Sound Design).

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