Lee Gibson

In FETCH CLAY, MAKE MAN, Will Power investigates the friendship as a fascinating dual study in individual character and cultural identity. Under Debbie Allen’s rocking direction at the Douglas, the play is as exciting as it is thoughtful.  THE BEAR’s Edwin Lee Gibson and Ray Fisher act the daylights out of it.

Will Power’s Fetch Clay, Make Man (a co-production of Center Theatre Group and The SpringHill Company) will open June 18, 2023, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Debbie Allen, in her CTG directorial debut, directs this account of the unlikely (but real life) friendship between the great Cassius Clay and the controversial Stepin Fetchit; with the cast of Ray Fisher, Edwin Lee Gibson, Wilkie Ferguson II, Alexis Floyd and Bruce Nozick. I managed to spar with Will over a few behind-the-scenes queries.

2022 Golden Globe nominee and Obie Award winner Edwin Lee Gibson (The Bear) will star as Stephin Fetchit (a stage name for Lincoln Perry) in Will Power's Fetch Clay, Make Man at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, California via the Centre Theatre Group and LeBron James' The SpringHill Company.

Drama Desk nominee Ray Fisher will put his gloves on again to play the role of heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in Will Power’s “Fetch Clay, Make Man,” after previously performing the role Off-Broadway.

After two successful collaborations with Washington National Opera (2018) and Chicago Opera Theater (2019), respectively producing orchestral workshops of Kamala Sankaram and Jerre Dye's Taking Up Serpents and Dan Shore's Freedom Ride, MassOpera begins a new joint-partnership with OperaHub for the re-imagined New Opera Workshop (NOW).

The North American premiere of The Rosenbergs has been selected for the second annual IOTF: The International Online Theatre Festival. The opera was produced by Boston University and Brandeis University, and presented by Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) in 2018.

Thanks to strong performances and technically proficient staging, Marco Ramirez's THE ROYALE, while neither raging nor bullish, manages to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. The play runs through October 20th at the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix.

Arizona Theatre Company kicks off the 2019/2020 season, its 53rd, with Marco Ramirez' power-packed boxing drama, The Royale, a deeply theatrical and emotionally moving story loosely based on the life of the world's first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson, Sept. 7-28 at the Temple of Music & Art in Tucson and Oct. 3-20 at the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix.

The D.C.-area premiere of Turn Me Loose, Gretchen Law's intimate, no-holds-barred drama about the extraordinary and explosive life of Dick Gregory, will receive an additional six performances during its run at Arena Stage. Under the direction of John Gould Rubin, Turn Me Loose now plays through October 21, 2018 in the Kreeger Theater.

Arena Stage's D.C.-area premiere of Turn Me Loose, Gretchen Law's intimate, no-holds-barred drama about the extraordinary and explosive life of Dick Gregory, who spent his later years in the nation's capital recently celebrated opening night.

Arena Stage's D.C.-area premiere of Turn Me Loose, Gretchen Law's intimate, no-holds-barred drama about the extraordinary and explosive life of Dick Gregory, who spent his later years in the nation's capital recently celebrated opening night. Check out the photos below!

The late great comic genius/activist Dick Gregory was a trailblazer for so many reasons. He told it like it was and didn't care what you thought.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the D.C.-area premiere of Turn Me Loose, Gretchen Law's intimate, no-holds-barred drama about the extraordinary and explosive life of Dick Gregory, who spent his later years in the nation's capital. Turn Me Loose chronicles Gregory's rise as the first Black comedian to expose audiences to racial comedy; in confronting bigotry head-on with biting humor and charm, Gregory turned activism into an art form. "Scorchingly funny and brilliant" (The New York Times), Turn Me Loose, directed by John Gould Rubin, runs September 6-October 14, 2018 in the Kreeger Theater.

Arena Stage announces the D.C.-area premiere of Turn Me Loose, Gretchen Law's intimate, no-holds-barred drama about the extraordinary and explosive life of Dick Gregory, who spent his later years in the nation's capital.

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie announce the 2018/19 season lineup for the company's 69th season. The season reflects Arena Stage's commitment to championing diverse voices and producing work that is politically and socially relevant.

Arena Stage presents the D.C.-area premiere of Turn Me Loose, Gretchen Law's intimate, no-holds-barred drama about the extraordinary and explosive life of Dick Gregory, who spent his later years in the nation's capital.

Arena Stage announces the D.C.-area premiere of Turn Me Loose, Gretchen Law's intimate, no-holds-barred drama about the extraordinary and explosive life of Dick Gregory, who spent his later years in the nation's capital.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces artistic updates, including select cast members for upcoming productions, as part of the company's 2018/19 programming.

Lookingglass Theatre Company announces an extension of 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas adapted by David Kersnar and Althos Low, from the books by Jules Verne, directed by Ensemble Member David Kersnar. Due to high ticket demand, additional dates, August 22 - 26, 2018, have been added. 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas plays at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.

Running June 21-30, 2018 in the Plaza Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, DIVAS is a world premiere play with opera music that finds nine great opera divas from across two centuries locked together in the afterlife, pitted against each other to fight for the soul of opera. Written by Boston-based playwright Laura Neill, DIVAS includes thirteen operatic selections from Purcell to Puccini.  Packed with incredible true stories, extravagant fashion, and gorgeous music, DIVAS is a hilarious and poignant showcase of larger-than-life women whose voices reverberate across the centuries.