Cast Set For THE GOSPEL OF COLONUS at Little Island
Performances run from Tuesday, July 8 through Saturday, July 26.
By: Stephi Wild Jun. 25, 2025
Little Island announced the complete cast and creative team for the innovative reimagining of Lee Breuer and Bob Telson's Pulitzer Prize-finalist The Gospel at Colonus, directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury (Public Obscenities), with soloist performances by American opera singer Davóne Tines, American gospel singer and songwriter Kim Burrell, and R&B singer serpentwithfeet, playing in The Amph at Little Island from Tuesday, July 8 through Saturday, July 26.
Reflecting on his collaboration with Lee Breuer, composer Bob Telson said, "For more than 35 years, Lee and I presented our version of The Gospel at Colonus all around the world, with many of the same cast members. With Lee's passing in 2021 and a dwindling cast in their 70's and 80's, it's thrilling to pass the baton to a younger generation who will passionately update the powerful message we created then.”
The complete cast of performers for The Gospel at Colonus includes Davóne Tines, Kim Burrell, serpentwithfeet, Stephanie Berry (Staff Meal at Playwright’s Horizon), Kevin Bond, Little Charles, Samantha Howard, Ayana George Jackson (MJ), Brandon Michael Nase (Watchnight at Perelman Performing Arts Center), Jon-Michael Reese, and Frank Senior. Members from James Hall’s Worship & Praise based in Flatbush collectively represent the traditional Greek chorus: Jaqwanna Crawford, Schanel Crawford, JacQuetta Fayton, Angie Goshea, Robyn McLeod, TJ Riddick, Vischon Robinson, Lenny VanCooten, Eugene Marcus Walker, and Darlene Nikki Washington.
The complete creative team includes co-music direction by Dionne McClain-Freeney and James Hall, associate direction by Sam Morreale, scenic design by David Zinn, costume design by Montana Levi Blanco, lighting design by Stacey Derosier, sound design by Garth MacAleavey, hair & wig design by Cookie Jordan, and Kirk Cambridge-del Peche as makeup consultant.
Original The Gospel at Colonus organist Butch Heyward leads the band, alongside musicians Bobby Bryan, Jackie Coleman, Clayton Craddock, Isaiah Johnson, Booker King, Taja Graves-Parker, Jason Marshall, Dionne McClain-Freeney and Kelvin Walters.
In The Gospel at Colonus, the epic myth of Oedipus is reborn as a Pentecostal ritual that remakes prophecy as testimony and brokenness as transcendence. A man condemned from birth searches for grace. A choir lifts him up. The congregation – the audience – bears witness to his tale. But here, tragedy is not an ending – it's the road to deliverance.
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