Signature Theatre Announces Casting for King Hedley II

Casting has been announced for Signature Theatre Company's upcoming production of August Wilson's King Hedley II.

The third entry of the theatre's August Wilson tribute season, King Hedley II will run from February 20th through April 15th.

The production will feature Cherise Boothe as Tonya (Blues for an Alabama Sky/Berkshire Theatre Festival), Lynda Gravatt as Ruby (Intimate Apparel/Roundabout Theatre Company), Stephen McKinley Henderson as Elmore (Seven Guitars/Signature Theatre Company), Russell Hornsby as King (Jitney/Second Stage Theatre), Curtis McClarin as Mister (Drowning Crow/Manhattan Theatre Club) and Lou Myers as Stool Pigeon (The Piano Lesson/Broadway).

Derrick Sanders will direct.

The show will feature scenic design by David Gallo; costumes by Reggie Ray; lights by Thom Weaver; and sound by Jill BC Duboff.

Set in a backyard in the decaying Hill District of Pittsburgh, King Hedley II follows the characters created by August Wilson in Seven Guitars. A woman is tormented by a secret she has kept for 36 years, while her only son returns home after serving time for murder to find a neighborhood riddled with crime, poverty and broken families. King's epic struggle to survive is at the center of this poetic portrayal of life in the inner city during the 1980's," as Signature notes describe the show.

Signature previously presented acclaimed productions of Wilson's Seven Guitars and Two Trains Running.

King Hedley II opened on May 1st, 2001 at the Virginia Theatre (now the August Wilson Theatre), where it ran for 72 performances.  Viola Davis won a Tony Award for her performance in the play, which also featured Tony-nominated work by Brian Stokes Mitchell and Leslie Uggams.

Wilson, who died of liver cancer on October 2nd, 2005, is considered to have been one of the major modern playwrights.  His groundbreaking 10-play chronicle of the African-American experience in the 20th century encompassed Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf. 

Visit www.signaturetheatre.org for tickets and more information.

Photo - Stephen McKinley Henderson