David St. Louis, Diarra Oni Kilpatrick and More Set for CTG's THE ROYALE, Beginning Tonight

The cast has been set for the world premiere of the powerful, intense new play "The Royale" by Marco Ramirez. Directed by Daniel Aukin, "The Royale" delivers a knock-out punch with its vivid depiction of a man fighting for his place in history. "The Royale" begins previews tonight, April 28, opens May 5 and performances continue through June 2, 2013.

Rehearsals began this week for the cast, which includes Robert Gossett, Diarra Oni Kilpatrick, David St. Louis, Keith Szarabajka and DeSean Terry.

Set and costume design is by Andrew Boyce, with lighting design by Lap Chi Chu, sound design by Ryan Rumery, movement by Ameenah Kaplan and casting by Mark Simon. The production stage manager is Randall K. Lum.

In "The Royale, set in the boxing world of the early 1900s, Jay "The Sport" Jackson has talent and confidence and wants what he feels is owed to him: a shot at the championship. Even though blacks were not offered bouts with white boxers, Jay wants to be the first African American crowned undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and he is pushing hard to have that dream realized, no matter the consequences."The Royale" is loosely inspired by the story of Jack Johnson, who was the first African American sports icon, and who reigned as the world heavyweight champion in the early part of the 20^th Century.

Marco Ramirez, who was a member of CTG's 2010-2011 Writers' Workshop, has had plays produced at The Kennedy Center, The Juilliard School, The Black Dahlia (L.A.), and Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival (where his pieces "I am not Batman" and "3:59AM" were both recipients of The Heideman Award for Best Short Play). Other honors include the Bryan Award from The Fellowship of Southern Writers, a Helen Hayes nomination, the Lila Acheson Wallace Juilliard Playwriting Fellowship, Lincoln Center's Le Comte du Nouy Award and TCG's Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. He trained at both NYU and The Juilliard School. His TV writing credits include "Sons of Anarchy," "DaVinci's Demons" and "Orange is the New Black."

Daniel Aukin is a New York-based director whose work was seen at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Melissa James Gibson's "This." His recent work includes the remounting of Joshua Harmon's "Bad Jews" at the Roundabout Theatre, "What Rhymes with America," "Heartless," "4000 Miles," "The Bad and the Better" and "The Ugly One." Daniel was Artistic Director of Soho Rep (1998-2006) where he commissioned over 50 new plays though the Writer/Director Lab and produced many premieres, garnering eight Obie Awards, four Drama Desk nominations, two Kesselring Prizes, and one Oppenheimer Award.

Tickets for "The Royale" are available by calling (213) 628-2772, online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, in person at the Center Theatre Group box office at the Ahmanson Theatre or two hours prior to performances at the Kirk Douglas Theatre box office. The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City, Calif.

Pictured: David St. Louis at a rehearsal for The Royale. Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz.

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