Further casting has been revealed for Broadway's upcoming limited engagement of Ohio State Murders, which, as previously announced, will be led by six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald at the recently renamed James Earl Jones Theatre beginning November 11. Opening night is December 8 with Kenny Leon set to direct.
Newly announced to join McDonald in the cast are Tony nominee Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, The Great Society) and Lizan Mitchell (On Sugarland, Cullud Wattah). Additional casting will be announced in the coming weeks.
Joining the production's creative team are scenic designer Beowulf Boritt, lighting designer Allen Lee Hughes, costume designer Dede Ayite, sound designer Justin Ellington, and projection designer Jeff Sugg.
In Ohio State Murders writer Suzanne Alexander (McDonald) returns to her alma mater as a guest speaker to explore the violence in her works, and a dark mystery unravels. The suspense play also offers a look at the destructiveness of racism in our society. The work debuted March 7, 1992, at the Great Lakes Theater Festival. Theatre for a New Audience premiered the play Off-Broadway at The Duke on 42nd Street in October 2007. The Broadway run isn’t the first time McDonald and Leon have tackled Kennedy’s work, both having collaborated on a digital reading of the play that previously aired as part of Broadway’s Best Shows’ Spotlight on Plays series.
The production will mark the Broadway playwriting debut for 91-year-old Obie Lifetime Achievement Award winner and Theater Hall of Fame inductee Kennedy, who was awarded the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy of Arts and Letters earlier this year. Her previous plays include Funnyhouse of a Negro (Obie Award), June and Jean in Concert (Obie Award), and Sleep Deprivation Chamber, co-authored with son Adam Kennedy (Obie Award).
Ohio State Murders is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Lincoln Center Theater, Rebecca Gold, Jayne Baron Sherman, Hunter Arnold, Marc David Levine, Kevin Ryan/Lisa Alexander Taylor, Brad Blume, Robert Boyett, Irene Gandy, Iris Smith, Willette and Manny Klausner, Kayla Greenspan, Gary and Marlene Cohen, Ken and Rande Greiner/Jamie deRoy, Jacob Soroken Porter, Concord Theatricals, John Gore Organization, The Nederlander Organization, and The Shubert Organization.
Visit OhioStateMurdersBroadway.com.
