Kenny Leon News

For 16 seasons, Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company has created masterful works of theatre art that honor the African American experience, lift up diverse voices, and create cultural understanding. To honor those who have championed the company's mission of celebrating the tradition of Black storytelling while giving voice to bold artists of all cultures, True Colors will host the second annual True Colors Applauds Awards Brunch on Saturday, June 1, 2019 at 11:00 AM at the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta Hotel.

Westport Country Playhouse will stage the gripping drama, "Skeleton Crew," written by 2018 MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellow Dominique Morisseau and directed by LA Williams, from June 4 through June 22. 

Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theatres announce the winners for the 11th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition National Finals, held on Monday, May 6th at the August Wilson Theatre in New York. The first-place winner was Trajan Clayton from Perry, GA; second-place, Katara Willis from Buffalo, NY; and third place, Abad Viquez from Chicago, IL.

QSTC's Playwrights of Color Summit (POCS) is a week-long residency that allows previously unproduced playwrights an opportunity to work exclusively on their plays with all resources, stipends, travel and room & board provided by QSTC.  The week's work will culminate in staged readings of four finalists' plays. Founder Tyrone Mitchell Henderson says, "This year we will accentuate the voices of four female solo artists whose work sheds light on self-worth, communication, love, identity and growing as an artist.  It is so fulfilling to bring these new works to my home town."

True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theaters announce the winners of the 11th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition National Finals.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announces 11 awards granted from their Frank Young Fund for New Musicals(formerly known as the National Fund for New Musicals), and six awards granted from their Innovation & Exploration Fund.

The Actors Fund, the national human services organization for everyone in performing arts and entertainment, held their Annual Gala on Monday, April 29, 2019.

True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theaters announce the panel of celebrity judges for the 11th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition, taking place on Monday, May 6th at 7:00 p.m. at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street).  

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Kick off a new week by catching up on the latest Broadway news!

The cast of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING will include Jamar Brathwaite (Ensemble), Danielle Brooks (Beatrice), Grantham Coleman(Benedick), Chuck Cooper (Leonato), Javen Crosby (Ensemble), Denzel Fields (Ensemble), Jeremie Harris (Claudio), Tayler Harris (Ensemble), Erik Laray Harvey (Antonio/Verges), Kai Heath (Messenger), Daniel Croix Henderson (Balthasar), Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Friar Francis/Sexton), Tiffany Denise Hobbs (Ursula), Lateefah Holder (Dogberry), LaWanda Hopkins (Dancer), Billy Eugene Jones (Don Pedro), Margaret Odette (Hero), Hubert Point-Du Jour (Don John), William Roberson (Ensemble), Jaime Lincoln Smith (Borachio), Jazmine Stewart(Ensemble), Khiry Walker (Conrade/Ensemble), Olivia Washington (Margaret), and Latra A. Wilson (Dancer).

The Actors Fund, the national human services organization for everyone in performing arts and entertainment, announced today their lineup of performers to pay special tribute to this year's honorees at their Annual Gala on Monday, April 29, 2019. Michael Urie (Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song) hosts the evening that will include performances by Amber Gray (Hadestown), Beth Leavel, Michael Potts, Matthew Sklar (The Prom), Damon Daunno,Rebecca Naomi Jones (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!), Sarah Stiles (Tootsie) and a special appearance by Chairman of The Actors Fund Brian Stokes Mitchell. Luke Hawkins & Evan Ruggiero will open the Gala with an original tap dance number. Additional presenters and guests include: Annette Bening,Kenny Leon, Jawan M. Jackson, Tony Kushner, Will Roland, Brandon Uranowitz, Eric William Morris, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Gideon Glick and more. Performers and guests are subjects to change.

Following record-breaking runs at New York Theatre Workshop, Canada's Citadel Theatre, and the National Theatre, the new musical Hadestown opened on Broadway last night! BroadwayWorld was there and you can check out photos from the star-studded red carpet below!

Directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, the beloved comedy will officially open on Tuesday, June 11 and will run through Sunday, June 23.

Musical Theatre Concert producers Club 11 London announce that after the 2016 and 2018 sell out concerts, Broadway and TV star Jeremy Jordan will return on Friday 25th, Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th October 2019 at Cadogan Hall, London, for just four shows.

Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theaters announce that the 11th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition will take place on Monday, May 6th at 7:00 p.m. at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street).  

Broadway and TV star Brandon J. Dirden (All the Way, Jitney, The Americans) hosted the 11th annual New York City August Wilson Monologue Competition, sponsored by LEAP (Learning through an Expanded Arts Program, Inc.). A total of 15 LEAP students from nine New York high schools in four boroughs brought the audience to their feet as they embodied Wilson's characters and provided their own interpretations-immersing them in Wilson's world of 10 plays, referred to as The Century Cycle.

A birthday medley from Jeremy Jordan is the best present! Music director Benjamin Rauhala's birthday was on the same day as Jordan's concert Aventura, Florida, so he arranged a medley of songs for Jordan to sing all for the first time that night. 

Theatrical Outfit will enter a new era when Artistic Director Tom Key exits his longstanding position in June of 2020.  The Theatre's Board of Directors announced Key's plans to retire along with the announcement of the launch of a nationwide search to name his successor by the opening of the 2019-2020 season.

After the phenomenal 2016 and 2018 sell out concerts, Broadway and TV star Jeremy Jordan will return to Cadogan Hall in London on Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th October 2019.

Long Wharf Theatre (LWT), in collaboration with Yale Repertory Theatre (YRT), will host the 2019 New Haven Regional August Wilson Monologue Competition (AWMC).The Regional Competition will be presented on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 7 PM at Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06510. Fifteen participants from the Greater New Haven Area, Hartford County, and Fairfield County, will compete to win all-expense paid trip to the National Competition in NYC where they will perform on a Broadway stage, see a Broadway play, and have a chance to win college scholarships. The National Competition will take place in May 6, 2019 at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre.