![]() Love is often trapped in gummy lyricism (“The world fell silent as I listened to the internal instrumental my heartbeat made. Some of those colors are deeper than others. Simmons, Scott aims to give them a full palette of colors beyond their allegorical-sounding names. Although they are costumed in black, white, grey and red by Toni-Leslie James and Devario D. The play touches on a wide range of problems faced by these men (gentrification, absent fathers, financial strain, violence) as well as some of their pleasures (mentorship, parenthood, sneakers, romance). (“When an elder speaks make sure you listen,” he says.) Wisdom (Esau Pritchett) is a Nigerian-American barber in his sixties who keeps a swear jar in his shop and doles out guidance. Happiness (Bryan Terrell Clark) is a well-heeled gay buppie who uses gender-neutral pronouns for his lap dog. Anger (Tristan Mack Wilds) is a once-promising athlete sidelined by an injury, and Depression (a distinctive, snappish Forrest McClendon) is a genius who has given up his studies to support his family by working at Whole Foods. Lust (the likable Da’Vinchi) is a young guy on the make, and Love (Dyllón Burnside) is his dreamy, moony counterpart. ![]() Much of the show consists of personal monologues there is also a storyline that follows the men from dawn to dusk on a single day as they interact in locations including a barbershop, a grocery store and a line to buy the latest Jordans. In some ways, the play suggests a companion piece to Ntozake Shange’s 1976 choreopoem For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf, but its characters are identified by personality traits instead of colors, and it incorporates far less music and movement (though the schoolteacher called Passion, played by Luke James, sings briefly and beautifully). In language that moves between dialogue and slam-poetry style jazz verse, Scott gives each of them a hearing. It’s a direct challenge to the world at large, but also specifically to the Broadway audience-mostly white, unlike the actors onstage-that has come to see this full-hearted survey of seven Black men in modern Brooklyn. Casting is by Calleri Jensen Davis.“But you don’t hear us, though!”: That is the refrain of the seven characters in Keenan Scott II’s Thoughts of a Colored Man, voiced in unison at the end of the play. Simmons, lighting designer Ryan O’Gara, projection designer Sven Ortel, and sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman. The creative team also includes composers Te’La and Brother Kamau, set designer Robert Brill, costume designers Toni-Leslie James and Devario D. Actors Kadeem Ali Harris, Reynaldo Piniella, and Christian Thompson had recently been announced to join the cast in January. The current cast included Emmy winner Dyllón Burnside ( Pose), Tony nominee Forrest McClendon ( The Scottsboro Boys) as Depression, Luke James (Showtime’s The Chi) as Passion, Bryan Terrell Clark ( Hamilton) as Happiness, Da’Vinchi (Showtime’s Black Mafia Family) as Lust, Esau Pritchett (Fox's Prodigal Son) as Wisdom, and Tristan Mack Wilds (HBO’s The Wire) as Anger with Bjorn DuPaty ( Mlima's Tale) and Garrett Turner (National Black Theatre's Bayano) as understudies. ![]() Broadnax III, explores a single day in the pulsing heart of Brooklyn, as seven Black men discover the extraordinary together through a blend of spoken word, slam poetry, rhythm, and humor. We have never been prouder to be theatre makers than at this very moment.” As a community, we remain undeterred, unflinching, and unstoppable. The theatre industry’s great return is about so much more than the success or failure of any single production. Lead producers Brian Moreland, Ron Simons, Diana DiMenna, Kandi Burruss, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Samira Wiley issued the following statement on the closure: “While this is not the outcome we had hoped for, being part of this historic season on Broadway has been the greatest privilege of our lives. At the time of closing, the show had played 79 regular performances and 13 previews.Įven with positive cases in the company, the production made a valiant effort to continue-playwright Scott joined two understudies by stepping into a role himself this week, script in hand, to perform when three cast members were not able to take the stage. Due to the current health crisis, Thoughts of a Colored Man by Keenan Scott II has permanently closed after playing its final performance December 22 at Broadway's Golden Theatre.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |