Johnny Lee Davenport

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Johnny Lee Davenport BIO

From the time he was cast in the role of Jaquot in the musical Carnival at West Aurora High School, Johnny Lee Davenport has recognized and been driven by the power of theatre. Since then, he has appeared in more than 200 professional productions throughout the United States, Canada, and Ireland.

The focus of his stage career became more specific when, in 1988, he was selected to represent The Chicago Associates of the Stratford Festival of Canada and joined the Young Company, performing in King Lear, Oedipus, The Critic, and Twelfth Night. This experience ignited his passion for classical theatre, and as a result, he began “chasing Shakespeare.” In 1989, he trained at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass., and became a company member. He continues to perform with the company today.

With a goal to perform in professional productions of Shakespeare’s entire canon, Johnny has embraced his peripatetic nature and traveled extensively. He has been a guest artist for several Shakespeare companies and hopes to work with other professional companies that are or will be producing shows in which he has yet to appear.

As an artist, Johnny is committed to transforming the perpetuated assumption that classical theatre is an elitist art form. He endeavors to make classical theatre relevant and accessible to everyone. Towards this end, he is developing a classical theatre training program designed for the urban American interested in acquiring the technical skills necessary to take ownership of classical material and represent classical themes and characters with a personal truth and confidence.

Beyond classical theatre, Johnny is equally interested in contributing to any powerful theatrical experience that seeks to elevate and educate.

Some of his career highlights have included working with August Wilson for the Chicago premiere of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Goodman Theatre, being cast as Marshal Henry in Andrew Davis’s Oscar-nominated film The Fugitive, working with Joseph Shabalala and Ladysmith Black Mambazo in Steppenwolf Theatre’s production of Nomathemba, traveling to the Athens Festival in Greece with Washington D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company to present The Oedipus Plays, performing with Avery Brooks in an all-African American King Lear, and representing America as a guest artist on three occasions to perform as Othello and Iago for Alan Stanford’s Second Age Theatre Company in Dublin.

Over the years Johnny has been inspired, encouraged, and tolerated by artists such as Avery Brooks, David Chambers, Kevin Coleman, Robert Downey Jr., Harrison Ford, Barbara Gaines, Frank Galati, Jim Helsinger, Tommy Lee Jones, Kristin Linklater, Dan McCleary, Tina Packer, Joe Pantoliano, Robin Phillips, Joseph Shabalala, and Dennis Zacek.

Johnny Lee Davenport News


Shakespeare & Company's Summer Shakespeare Intensive Returns In June

​​​​​​​The Center for Actor Training at Shakespeare & Company will offer its Summer Shakespeare Intensive for actors May 31 to June 26 in Lenox, Mass., this June.

39th Elliot Norton Awards Nominations Announced - See the Full List!

More than 60 nominations in over two dozen categories of outstanding actors, directors, designers, choreographers, musicians, and productions were announced today by the Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA) for the 39th Elliot Norton Awards.

Casting Announced For TFANA's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

TFANA presents William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, featuring John Douglas Thompson, directed by Arin Arbus, and co-produced with Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC; Simon Godwin, Artistic Director).

Virtual Theatre Today: Monday, October 26- with LaChanze, Laura Osnes, and More!

Today (October 26) in live streaming: LaChanze sings with Seth Rudetsky, Laura Osnes visits Cast Party, and so much more!

New Repertory Theatre Announces MULTICULTURAL MOSAIC: An Annual BIPOC Artist Fundraiser

New Repertory Theatre announces its virtual Multicultural Mosaic: An Annual BIPOC Fundraiser on Monday, October 26, 2020 at 7:00pm.

SIX, AMERICAN UTOPIA, Rachel Chavkin, Ben Levi Ross, and Billy Porter-Directed THE PURISTS Take Home Elliot Norton Awards

Among tonight's winners was the pre-Broadway engagement of Six the Musical. which took home Outstanding Visiting Production for its run at ART, while David Byrne's American Utopia was honored with Best Visiting Performance, Musical.

38th Annual Elliot Norton Award Nominations Announced - MOBY-DICK, Billy Porter's THE PURISTS, and More!

Two dozen nominations of outstanding actors, directors, designers and ensembles were announced today by The Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA) for the 38th Annual Elliot Norton Awards.

Ricardo Engermann to Replace Johnny Lee Davenport in FENCES at New Repertory Theatre

New Repertory Theatre announces that Ricardo Engermann replaces recently deceased Boston favorite Johnny Lee Davenport, as Troy in New Repertory Theatre's upcoming production of August Wilson's Fences. Directed by Benny Sato Ambush, the production runs April 25 through May 17, 2020 in the MainStage Theater at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA. Tickets are $25-$67 and may be purchased by calling the New Rep Box Office at 617-923-8487 or visiting newrep.org. Student, senior, and group discounts are available, as well as free tickets for WIC/EBT cardholders.

John Douglas Thompson Reprises Role In JITNEY In Staged Reading Benefiting Boston's The Front Porch Arts Collective

Tony Award nominee and Elliot Norton Award winner John Douglas Thompson revives his Tony-nominated role in a staged reading of Jitney as a benefit for the Front Porch Arts Collective, Boston's newest Black theatre company. The reading will take place at the South End/Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont St., Boston) on Monday, September 16 at 6:30pm. Single tickets are pay what you wish starting at $25 and can be purchased by visiting bostontheatrescene.com.

RACE Opens At Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater opens the 2019 season of live theater with Race, by David Mamet, June 5-28. Race is directed by Jackie Davis, with stage and film actors Johnny Lee Davenport, John Kooi, Bill Mootos, and Tyra Ann-Marie Wilson. Performances are at 8:00 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays (with one Monday performance on June 24). Two preview performances, June 5 and 6, begin at 7:30 p.m. Opening night is June 7, at 8 p.m.

MOULIN ROUGE, JAGGED LITTLE PILL & More Earn Nominations for 23rd Annual IRNE Awards

The Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) today announced the nominees for the 23rd Annual IRNE Awards, which honor the best of the previous year's actors, directors, choreographers, designers and companies across the full spectrum of large, mid-size and fringe theater companies. Moulin Rouge!, a new musical produced by Global Creatures, and An American in Paris, produced by the Ogunquit Playhouse, led with 12 and 11 nominations, respectively, in the Large Stage Musical Category. The Huntington Theatre led all companies with 31 nominations across seven productions, including 11 for Man in the Ring, the story of six-time world champion prizefighter Emile Griffith.

BWW Review: Intense ANNA CHRISTIE at Lyric Stage Company

Director Scott Edmiston has to thank the guy who wrote a taut adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning play ANNA CHRISTIE, thus positioning him to lead a seamless production which combines inventive stagecraft, stunning design elements, and a group of actors who seem born to their roles. The fact that Edmiston is that guy who Lyric Stage Company enlisted to adapt the play is a tribute to his depth of knowledge about O'Neill and his ability to stay true to the playwright's themes, while making the work both accessible and relevant to a modern audience.

Special ANNA CHRISTIE Post-Show Event, Announced At The Lyric Stage

Special Post-Show Event, April 15, after the 3pm performance. Feminist or Misogynist: Eugene O'Neill and "Anna Christie" A panel discussion with Director Scott Edmiston, O'Neill scholars Steven Bloom & Beth Wynstra, and members of the cast of Anna Christie.

Lyric Stage's ANNA CHRISTIE Cast And Creative Team Announced

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, O'Neill's classic is a surprisingly contemporary play that crackles with fierce physicality, humor, and drama. After a 20-year separation, a coal barge captain (Lyric Stage favorite Johnny Lee Davenport) is reunited with the daughter he unknowingly abandoned to a life of hardship. When Anna falls in love with a shipwrecked sailor, her father and her suitor come to recognize their own culpability in her plight, and all three struggle in their own way for salvation. Following his acclaimed production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Scott Edmiston takes a fresh look at one of America's greatest playwrights.

Shakespeare & Company Presents LOVERS' SPAT with Alison Larkin

Shakespeare & Company is pleased to announce the return of Lovers' Spat, this year with a new twist. The popular performance will be hosted by internationally acclaimed comedienne Alison Larkin. Company actors and guest performers explore the complexities of love in staged readings featuring theatre's most notorious couples' loving, fighting, scheming and wooing. Lover's Spat is directed by Artistic Director Allyn Burrows and will be performed in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre on Saturday, February 17 at 7:00pm and Sunday, February 18 at 2:00pm.

Vote For the 2017 BroadwayWorld Orlando Awards; Just One Week Left!

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

Vote For the 2017 BroadwayWorld Orlando Awards; Just Two Weeks Left!

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

Vote For the 2017 BroadwayWorld Orlando Awards; DRACULA Leads Best Play!

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

Vote For the 2017 BroadwayWorld Orlando Awards; NEWSIES Leads Best Musical!

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

Vote For the 2017 BroadwayWorld Orlando Awards; Orlando Gay Chorus' BITCH PERFECT Leads Best World Premiere Production!

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

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