Tyrese Shawn Avery, Dyllón Burnside & More to Lead LONG WAY DOWN Presentations

TheaterWorksUSA, Edgewood Entertainment, and The Apollo have revealed the cast for the invited presentations of the new musical Long Way Down, adapted from the New York Times best-selling novel by Jason Reynolds. The new hip-hop/r&b musical will be presented on October 27 and 28, 2023 at the Apollo Soundstage at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater (235 West 125th Street).

Long Way Down features book, music and lyrics by poet, performance artist and musician Dahlak Brathwaite (HBO's Def Poetry Jam, Spiritrials, Try/Step/Trip), additional writing by Khiyon Hursey (Netflix's Soundtrack, Love in America, Spirited with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul), co-choreography by Ken-Matt Martin (Goodman Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival) and Victor Musoni (Goodman Theatre's Toni Stone, Steppenwolf's Columbinus), and directed by Mr. Martin. Scenic and lighting design is by Simean Carpenter. 

The cast for the invited presentations will feature Tyrese Shawn Avery (TV: “And Just Like That,” “The Equalizer”) as Will, Dyllón Burnside (Broadway: Thoughts of a Colored Man, TV: “Pose”) as Mark, Cheryse Dyllan (Film: A Vigilante; TV: “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU”) as Dani, Blaine Krauss (Broadway: The Cher Show, Kinky Boots) as Frick, Daniel Kyri (TV: “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.”) as Mike, Jade Jones (Theatre: School Girls, or the African Mean Girls Play at Round House Theatre (Helen Hayes Award nomination); Into the Woods at Ford's Theatre (Helen Hayes Award nomination)) as Buck, Victor Musoni (Theatre: Toni Stone at the Goodman; Columbinus at Steppenwolf) as Shawn, and Zurin Villanueva (Broadway: Mean Girls, Shuffle Along) as Shari. 

Published in 2017, Jason Reynolds' critically acclaimed novel, written in verse, received a prestigious John Newbery Honor, along with a Printz Award Honor and the Coretta Scott King Honor. 

With humor and grace and mixing classic and contemporary hip-hop with r&b, the Broadway-bound musical Long Way Down explores the cycle of violence, the nature of grieving, and the power of decision-making.  

Long Way Down tracks 15-year-old Will who is raised to follow the rules- number one, no crying; number two, no snitching; and number three, always seek revenge. Following the murder of his brother, Will enters an elevator intent on revenge, but on the way down to the ground floor is haunted by ghosts of family and community.

Long Way Down is a production of TheaterWorksUSA and Edgewood Entertainment, in partnership with The Apollo. The rolling world premiere of Long Way Down will be presented from May 22-June 23, 2024 at the Olney Theatre Center in Olney, MD, and at The Apollo's new Victoria Theater in October 2024, with production dates to be announced.
 

Dahlak Brathwaite

(Book, Music, Lyrics) is an award-winning dramatic auteur: playwright, composer, performer, director, and filmmaker. His work has been presented at The Smithsonian, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, REDCAT, MCA Chicago, Ars Nova, The Public Theater, The Apollo, SXSW, by Creative Time, and on HBO's last two seasons of “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry.” Dahlak's trilogy of works – Spiritrials (solo play), Try/Step/Trip (musical), Adapting History (documentary film) – take a personal look into the criminal justice system and the relationship between Black American music and Black American subjugation. Development of the work has been supported by CalArts, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Victory Gardens, and Montalvo Arts Center. Dahlak has received awards and support from NEFA, the Doris Duke Foundation, The U.S. State Department, NYU Tisch, and MAP Fund. He was a Creative Capital finalist, a United States Artist nominee, and a member of The Public Theater's 2023 DTWG cohort. He is a graduate of NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, where he was awarded the Dean's Full-Tuition Fellowship and served as the Assistant Director for the national tour of the Tony Award-winning revival of Oklahoma! thisisdahlak.com

Khiyon Hursey 

(Additional Writing) is a writer and composer. He recently finished co-penning songs with Oscar and Grammy winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La  Land, Dear Evan Hansen) for the major motion picture Spirited, starring Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell and Octavia Spencer. The song “Good Afternoon” from the film was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He was a staff writer for Soundtrack on Netflix and is currently co-writing Love in America, a movie musical to be produced by Issa Rae. He is the recipient of the ASCAP Foundation's Irving Burgie Scholarship, the Bart Howard Songwriting Scholarship, the Lucille and Jack Yellen Award, a 2016 NAMT Writers Grant, a 2016/2017 Dramatists Guild Musical Theater Fellow, 2017 Space on Ryder Farm Residency, 2018 Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project residency, 2019 ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre Workshop, 2019 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, the 2020 Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals and the 2020 Stephen Schwartz Award for which he wrote the song “Higher.” His musical Eastbound was selected for the 2020 National Alliance of Musical Theatre Conference and he has works in development at New York Stage and Film and Ars Nova. 

Jason Reynolds (Author of the original novel) is a New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, National Book Award Honoree, a Kirkus Award winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. The American Booksellers Association's 2017 and 2018 spokesperson for Indies First, his many books include When I Was the Greatest, Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely), As Brave as You, For Every One, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), and Long Way Down, which received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.

Victor Musoni 

(Co-Choreography) is an actor, writer and dancer hailing from Chicago. Select theater credits include: Toni Stone (Goodman); The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, Columbinus (Steppenwolf); What to Send Up When it Goes Down (Congo Square); Queen of the Night (Victory Gardens); America V2.1, are you ready to smash white things?, No Child (Definition Theatre Company); La Havana Madrid (The Den Theater); Television and film: Me, We; The Tensile Strength of Air; “61st Street”; WHOLE; “Chicago Med” and 6×9. Choreography: Alaiyo (Definition); Musoni is an ensemble member of Definition Theatre and is represented by Paonessa Talent Agency.

Ken-Matt Martin

(Director, Co-Choreographer) is a producer and director who has worked at many theaters across the country. Martin is a co-founder of Pyramid Theatre Company in Des Moines, IA where he served as Executive Director until 2018. Martin's producing and directing credits in Des Moines have received numerous Cloris Leachman Excellence in Theatre Award nominations, including the 2023 Best Direction Award for his production of The Piano Lesson. Next season, he will direct world premiere plays and musicals at Flint Rep, Mosaic Theatre Company, and Olney Theatre Center. Martin also served as Producing Director at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Additionally, he has served as Associate Producer at The Goodman Theatre where he co-created the Future Labs program. He was recently appointed Interim Artistic Director of Baltimore Center Stage and Arkansas Repertory Theatre. He received two degrees from Drake University and his MFA in Directing from Brown University.

Simean “Sim” Carpenter

(Scenic and Lighting Designer) is an African American scenic and lighting designer from Baltimore, MD, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. He has worked as a freelance teaching artist, as well as a lighting and set designer and has toured with theater companies and music groups throughout North America. Sim holds a deep passion for social equality. His goal as a designer is to use his many mediums to captivate the audience and reveal the too often disregarded stories of marginalized groups. Recent credits include: The Color Purple, Tiny Beautiful Things, The Folks at Home, NDSF Romeo & Juliet, Queen of the Night, When Harry Met Rehab, The Last Pair of Earlies, Hoodoo Love, HELA, Middle Passage, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Native Son. Regional credits jnclude: Baltimore Center Stage and Pittsburgh Public Theatre. Sim holds a B.F.A. in Stage Design from DePaul University and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Scenic Design from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. simcarpenter.com

TheaterWorksUSA

(Producer) has led the Theater for Young and Family Audiences movement in New York City and across North America for over half a century. At TWUSA, we believe that access to art—and theater, in particular—is vital for our youth. Since 1967, the 501(c)3 not-for-profit has captured the imaginations of 100 million new and veteran theatergoers with an award-winning repertoire of over 140 original plays and musicals. Acclaimed alumni include Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (Disney's Frozen), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent), Jerry Zaks (The Music Man), Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen), Miguel Cervantes (Hamilton), Kathleen Chalfant (Angels in America), and Chuck Cooper (Tony Award-winning actor, The Life). twusa.org

Edgewood Entertainment 

(Producer) are Tony Award and Telly Award Theatre and Multimedia Producers. Edgewood produces beautiful, authentic, relatable, and deeply affecting stories by artists whose voices have traditionally been unheard. In addition to Long Way Down, current projects as lead producers include the new musical Gun & Powder, based on the real-life story of African American twin sisters Mary and Martha Clarke; Nolan Williams, Jr. and Nikkole Salter's original musical Grace; Sam Morrison's acclaimed autobiographical solo play Sugar Daddy; and Dominican American playwright Erlina Ortiz's play La Egoista. Past Broadway productions include A Strange Loop (Tony Award, Best Musical); August Wilson's The Piano Lesson; New York, New York; Thoughts of a Colored Man; and The Lifespan of a Fact. edgewoodedge.com

About The Apollo

The legendary Apollo—the soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends. Since its founding, The Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world. In 2024, The Apollo will open The Apollo's Victoria Theaters, which will include two new theater spaces, and begin the renovation of its Historic Theater, marking the first-ever expansion and renovation of The Apollo in its nearly 90-year history. Read more about the project here: www.apollotheater.org/renovation-restoration-and-transformation/ 

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