Curtain Call: Robert O’Hara Directs Lorraine Hansberry’s Renowned Drama ‘A Raisin In The Sun’

Broadway: Disney’s beloved Aladdin has been a hit on Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theater for eight years now, so much so that the show will now travel across the United States to spread the magic with a different cast. The production, which the New York Times has called “fabulous” and “extravagant,” is scheduled to embark on a North American tour in addition to its regular installments in Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan.

The show’s music was written by five-time Oscar winner, Alan Menken, including “A Whole New World,” which has won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. 342 people from 26 different costume shops put together the costumes for Aladdin. The costume design is made up of fabrics from nine different countries: Morocco, Turkey, India, Uzbekistan, Guatemala, France, Italy, Germany, and China.

Jordan Hunter-Fidalgo

Off Broadway: Basement Light Productions will present a private industry reading of Riley Elton McCarthy’s The Lesbian Play at the Art of Resident Theaters’ South Oxford Space in Brooklyn on November 30. Directed by Colleen Morgen, the cast for the reading will feature Lizzie Milanovich, London Riley Keller, Mickey Skinner, Júlia Cerqueira, Dot Davis, Jordan Hunter-Fidalgo, Aingea Venuto, and Grayson James. For more information on attending, email them.

Set on the night of the 2016 presidential election, the play is about Boston University's Women Loving Women Club gathering to celebrate a birthday. As the impending patriarchal threat of the election's outcome hangs over their heads, a club member's identity sets in motion an inter-club argument over the definition of lesbianism and who is allowed to consider themselves a member of the LGBTQ community.

A revised version of The Lesbian Play will head to the Triad Theater in June 2023 for its first fully-staged production.

Writer-Director Robert O’Hara (Insurrection: Holding History, Barbecue, Mankind) is directing Lorraine Hansberry’s renowned drama “A Raisin In The Sun.” Originally produced in 1959, it is known as one of the greatest plays that puts the true stories and lives of Black people living in America front and center. It tells the story of a working-class Black family living in Chicago in the 1950s, along with their hopes, dreams, trials and tribulations—“Lena Younger has decided to use her late husband’s life insurance to move her family out of their cramped apartment on Chicago’s South Side. Her son, Walter Lee, has other ideas. This innovative new production of an American classic fearlessly interrogates the American dream in the face of racial and economic strife.”  

The cast for O’Hara’s directed play will include Francois Battiste (Person of Interest, Station 19, Ten Days In The Valley) as Walter Lee Younger, and Tonya Pinkins (Gotham, Fear The Walking Dead, Scandal) as Lena Younger. Joining them as cast members are Toussaint Battiste (Travis Younger alternate), Almeria Campbell (Understudy Ruth Younger/Mrs Johnson), John Clay III (Joseph Asagai), Vann Dukes (Understudy Moving Man), Bjorn Dupaty (Moving Man), Calvin Dutton (Bobo), Mister Fitzgerald (George Murchison), Perri Gaffney (Mrs. Johnson), Skyler Gallun (Understudy), Paige Gilbert (Beneatha Younger), Christopher Marquis Lindsay (Moving Man), Mandi Masden (Ruth Younger), Camden McKinnon (Travis Younger alternate), Jesse Pennington (Karl Lindner) and N’yomi Stewart (Understudy).  

The play began its production on September 27 and will run until November 6 at Newman Theater.

Regional: Academy Award-winner Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is coming to Hollywood. The Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece will grace the stage at the Pantages Theater on Hollywood Boulevard for a month starting October 25.

One of the most influential works of literature, Rolling Stone has called the theatrical adaptation “an emotionally shattering landmark production of an American classic. Directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, the national tour will feature Emmy Award-winning actor Richard Thomas playing the role of Atticus Finch.

Bat Out of Hell: The Musical commenced its Las Vegas residency on September 27 at the Paris Hotel & Casino. The show is dedicated to the memory of longtime collaborators Meat Loaf and the late Jim Steinman, whose music serves as the nucleus of the project. Directed by Jay Scheib, the leading cast comprises singer-songwriter Travis Cormier, Travis Cloer and Alize Cruz.

The play tells the story of Strat, the leader of a rebellious gang, as he falls in love with Raven, the beautiful daughter of the tyrannical ruler of Obsidian. This wild-child musical thunders through hits such as “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That),” “Paradise By The Dashboard Light,” “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad,” “Dead Ringer For Love” and “Bat Out of Hell.”

The show is currently touring the UK and Ireland.

International: The Seymour Center at The University of Sydney will be showing a musical theater production of Out Of Africa from October 14-29. It tells the story of performers Tarisai Vushe (The Lion King, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory), Samuel Barrie and Emilia Nwakpa and their journeys from Africa to Australia. By using different art-forms like singing, rap and dance, the performers hope to tell a beautiful story about life as an Afro-Australian. The musical theater production will also feature Kenneth Tusubira and Jonathan Chagaresango. The creative team consists of the performers themselves as writers-directors including Geoffrey Sikes, and the musical will be produced by Playscript.

Buddies in Bad Times Theater presents New Harlem Productions and Great Canadian Theatre Company—The First Stone, is a play that explores themes of history, war and forgiveness through the use of poetry and song. The play engages the audience by getting them to look through the viewpoints of family struggling with some of life’s most challenging lessons.

The First Stone is written by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard and directed by Yvette Nolan. Included in the Design Team are Indrit Kasapi + Pulga Muchochoma (Choreography), Michelle Ramsay (Lighting Design), Maddie Bautista (Sound Design + Composition), River Oliviera (Assistant Sound Design), Cameron Davis (Projection), Jackie Chau (Set Design + Props), Jeff Chief (Costume Design), Sarah O'Brien (Stage Manager), Heather Bellingham (Assistant Stage Manager), Alison Wong (Producer), Charissa Wilcox (Production Manager), and Shanae Sodhi (Production Associate).

The play will be in production October 6-16, tickets can be found here.