Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for LONG WAY DOWN at the Apollo Theater

The new musical Long Way Down, adapted from the New York Times best-selling novel by Jason Reynolds, is now in rehearsal for invited presentations on October 27 and 28, 2023 at the Apollo Soundstage at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater (235 West 125th Street). 

See rehearsal photos below!

The hip-hop/r&b musical is produced by TheaterWorksUSA (Barbara Pasternack, Artistic Director; Michael Harrington, Executive Director), Edgewood Entertainment (Dale A. Mott, Producer/Managing Director; Charles D. Urstadt, Producer/Managing Director), and The Apollo (Kamilah Forbes, Executive Producer)

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 features 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, 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.
 

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