The Brooklyn Academy of Music has announced the full cast and creative team for its upcoming revival of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, starring Golden Globe winners Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan.
Obie and Lortel winner Anne Kauffman (The Thugs, Mary Jane) will direct the work, set to begin previews in the Harvey Theater February 4 ahead of a February 23 opening night.
In addition to the previously announced Isaac and Brosnahan, the production will feature Gus Birney as Gloria Parodus, Julian De Niro as Alton Scales, Glenn Fitzgerald as David Ragin, Andy Grotelueschen as Wally O’Hara, Miriam Silverman as Mavis Parodus Bryson, and Raphael Nash Thompson as Max. Understudies include Joey Auzenne, Gregory Connor, Brontë England-Nelson, and Amelia Pedlow.
Brosnahan and Isaac star as Iris Brustein and Sidney Brustein, respectively. Set in 1960s Greenwich Village, Hansberry paints a portrait of the couple's marriage and their progressive circle of friends whose ideals do not always match reality.
The seldom-seen work debuted on Broadway in 1964. BAM's production will be its first major New York revival. Kauffman previously directed the work at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2016.
Known for playing Miriam "Midge" Maisel in Amazon Prime's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Brosnahan previously starred Off-Broadway in New York Theatre Workshop's 2016 Othello as Desdemona. She also starred in Roundabout's 2013 Broadway revival of The Big Knife as Dixie Evans.
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Isaac has also appeared Off-Broadway in The Public's 2017 Hamlet, as well as Free Shakespeare in the Park productions of Romeo and Juliet and Two Gentlemen of Verona. At Manhattan Theatre Club, he starred in We Live Here and Beauty of the Father.
The creative team will consist of dramaturg Arminda Thomas, scenic designer dots, costume designer Brenda Abbandandolo, lighting designer John Torres, sound designer Bray Poor, wig designer Leah Loukas, props master Andrew Diaz, vocal coach Kate Wilson, and casting director Taylor Williams.
“During the five years I spent working to produce the first Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun (in 2004), I fell in love with The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window,” says BAM Artistic Director David Binder in a statement. “I shared this passion for Lorraine’s play with Anne, and the two of us spent many, many years working together to mount the show in New York. It’s an honor to present Lorraine’s beautiful, and rarely seen, play, finally, at BAM.”
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“We are in dire need of Hansberry’s voice...we know so little of her, and define her by one play: A Raisin in the Sun. Without a doubt, Raisin is a masterpiece, but Hansberry’s evolution and contribution to this country's culture, history and political motion stretches way beyond that astonishing accomplishment," adds Kauffman. "Her work as an artist and activist is varied and deep. The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, written four years after A Raisin in the Sun, embraces human complexity and frailty while aggressively shaking us free of our delusions, yet very few people know of it. Now they’ll know.”
BAM will also create in-person and online experiences about Hansberry, including talks, an exhibit in the Harvey Theater lobby curated by BAM archivist Sharon Lehner, and online educational tools.
Visit BAM.org.
