Complete Cast For Broadway’s Ohio State Murders Starring Audra McDonald
The complete cast for the Broadway premiere of Ohio State Murders by Adrienne Kennedy is now announced. Joining Emmy, Grammy, and Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Tony Award nominee Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder), and Drama Desk nominee Lizan Mitchell (On Sugarland, Trojan Women), the cast also includes: Mister Fitzgerald, Abigail Stephenson, Brett Diggs, Brooke Gardner, Christina Pedersen and Gayle Samuels.
Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, A Soldier’s Play) directs. Ohio State Murders will be the first show to play at the newly renamed James Earl Jones Theatre beginning Friday, November 11, 2022 and opening on Thursday, December 8, 2022 for a strictly limited engagement.
Rehearsals for Ohio State Murders begin today, October 17. Additionally, the James Earl Jones Theatre box office (138 West 48th St.) is now open Mon-Sat, 10 am-6 pm and tickets can be purchased in person there, through Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200.
The creative team for Ohio State Murders includes set design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Allen Lee Hughes, sound design by Justin Ellington, projection design by Jeff Sugg,wig/hair/make-up design by J. Jared Janas, original music by Dwight Andrews and casting by Caparelliotis Casting.
“One of the finest living American playwrights…” (The New York Times), Obie Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, and a member of the Theater Hall of Fame, Adrienne Kennedy will make her Broadway debut with this production at age 91. Earlier this year, Kennedy was awarded the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy of Arts and Letters, which is awarded to those who have achieved eminence in an entire body of work. Only four other dramatists have been awarded the Gold Medal: Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller. Ms. Kennedy has been contributing to American theater for over six decades, and is best known for her plays such as Funnyhouse of a Negro (Obie Award), June and Jean in Concert (Obie Award), and Sleep Deprivation Chamber which she co-authored with her son Adam Kennedy (Obie Award) as well as numerous other plays and books.
“I am so thrilled. It’s only taken me 65 years to make it to Broadway!” said Kennedy.
“I’m honored and humbled to be part of Adrienne Kennedy’s long-overdue Broadway debut in the newly dedicated James Earl Jones Theatre with Kenny Leon,” said McDonald. “This timeless play has a powerful resonance and relevance today, and we can’t wait to share it with the world.”
When writer Suzanne Alexander (Audra McDonald) returns to her alma mater as a guest speaker, in which she explores the violence in her works, a dark mystery unravels. Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders is an intriguing and unusual suspense play, as well as a social pertinent look at the destructiveness of racism in our society.
Ohio State Murders is presented by Jeffrey Richards, Lincoln Center Theater, Rebecca Gold, Jayne Baron Sherman, Hunter Arnold, Kevin Ryan/Lisa Alexander Taylor, Marc David Levine, Sheryl Lee Ralph/Jeremy Lentz, Brad Blume, Robert Boyett, Irene Gandy, John Paterakis, Iris Smith, Willette and Manny S. Klausner, Kayla Greenspan, Marlene and Gary Cohen, Ken and Rande Greiner/Sandy Marshall/Jamie deRoy, Jacob Soroken Porter, Concord Theatricals, John Gore Organization, James L. Nederlander Organization and The Shubert Organization.
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BIOS
AUDRA McDONALD (Suzanne Alexander) is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a singer and an actor. The winner of a record-breaking six Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards and an Emmy, in 2015 she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and received a National Medal of Arts—America’s highest honor for achievement in the field—from President Barack Obama. In addition to her Tony-winning performances in Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill—the role that also served as the vehicle for her Olivier Award-nominated 2017 debut in London’s West End—she has appeared on Broadway in The Secret Garden; Marie Christine (Tony nomination); Henry IV; 110 in the Shade (Tony nomination); Shuffle Along, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed; and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (Tony nomination). A Juilliard-trained soprano, her opera credits include La voix humaine and Send at Houston Grand Opera, and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at Los Angeles Opera, where the resulting recording earned her two Grammy Awards. On television, she was seen by millions as the Mother Abbess in NBC’s The Sound of Music Live! and played Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC’s Private Practice. She won an Emmy Award for her role as host of PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center and has received nominations for Wit, A Raisin in the Sun and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. Having first appeared as Liz Lawrence on CBS’s The Good Wife, she stars in The Good Fight on Paramount+ as well as in Spectrum’s pandemic-themed drama, The Bite. On film, she has appeared in Seven Servants, The Object of My Affection, Cradle Will Rock, It Runs in the Family, The Best Thief in the World, She Got Problems, Rampart, Ricki and the Flash, Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, the movie-musical Hello Again, and MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect. Her upcoming film projects comprise Higher Ground’s Rustin and FilmNation’s Down Low. McDonald has issued five solo albums on the Nonesuch label as well as Sing Happy with the New York Philharmonic on Decca Gold. She also maintains a major career as a concert artist, regularly appearing on the great stages of the world and with leading international orchestras. A founding member of Black Theatre United, board member of Covenant House International, and prominent advocate for LGBTQAI+ rights, her favorite roles are those performed offstage, as an activist, wife to actor Will Swenson, and mother.
BRYCE PINKHAM (Robert Hampshire). An American stage and screen actor, Bryce is most widely known for originating the role of Monty Navarro in the Tony-winning production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, for which he was nominated for Tony, Grammy, and Drama Desk awards. He also notably appeared in the Broadway revival of The Heidi Chronicles as Peter Patrone, for which he was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance. His other Broadway credits include original roles in Holiday Inn, The Great Society, Ghost, and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Bryce’s on-screen appearances include as a series regular on the Civil War drama Mercy Street, guest appearances in HBO’s Julia, Baz Lurman’s Netflix series “The Get Down”, and Robert DeNiro’s feature film The Comedian, as well as “The Good Wife” (CBS), “Proven Innocent” (FOX), “Person of Interest” (CBS), “Blindspot” (NBC), “The Blacklist” (NBC). As a singer Bryce has performed in concert venues across the country, most notably Carnegie Hall, The Chicago Lyric Opera, Lincoln Center, and The Library of Congress. As a writer, Bryce has published articles in American Theater Magazine and Yale Alumni Magazine. In 2012, Bryce helped found Zara Aina, a not-for-profit that uses the power of theatrical storytelling to empower under-resourced youth. In May 2013, Bryce led a team of American artists on Zara Aina’s pilot program to Madagascar. Bryce is also a frequent collaborator with Outside the Wire, a social impact theater company that serves many communities, but particularly focuses on military audiences. His most notable international tours include Guantanamo Bay, Japan, Kuwait, and Qatar. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Bryce was awarded the Leonore Annenberg Foundation Early Career Fellowship in 2012. Bryce holds a BA from Boston College and an MFA in Acting and bio-writing from the Yale School of Drama.
MISTER FITZGERALD (David/Val). Hailing from Baltimore, MD, Mister is excited to be making his Broadway debut! He is also currently playing George Murchison in Raisin In The Sun at The Public Theatre, directed by Robert O’Hara. He was recently seen in Exception to the Rule at Roundabout Theatre as Abdul and will be starring in the upcoming film The Last Deal as Bobby. Off-Broadway: Blue Man Group, Rio Uphill (York), On Sugarland (NYTW). Regional: Of Mice and Men (Serenbe Playhouse), The Wiz (Shenandoah). Film: Boogie, 30 Weeks. TV: “Power: Book ll,” “FBI,” “The Blacklist,” “Godfather of Harlem.” Awards: Best Duo Performance, DTLA Film Festival. BFA, Florida Southern College.
LIZAN MITCHELL (Mrs. Tyler, Miss Dawson, Aunt Lou). Broadway: Electra, Having Our Say, So Long on Lonely Street. Off-Broadway: Bodies They Ritual, On Sugarland, Cullud Wattah, Trojan Women, The Visitor, Passage, First Noel, Brownsville Song, Cell, Rosmersholm, for colored girls…, Gum, Ma Rose and Salt. Regional: STC, CATF, Rep Theater of St. Louis, The Old Globe, Trinity Rep, Arena Stage, Cleveland Play House, Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep, Victory Gardens, NBT U.K., Cincinnati Playhouse, Roundhouse Theater. Film/TV: Detroit, We’ll Never Have Paris, The Human Stain, The Preacher’s Wife, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Deadbeat,” “Golden Boy,” “John Adams,” “The Good Wife,” “Sesame Street,” “The Wire.”
ABIGAIL STEPHENSON (Iris Ann). Broadway debut. Theater: World Premiere and Original Cast Album Knoxville (Asolo Rep), Hi, My Name is Ben (Goodspeed Musicals), and others. TV/Film: “The Good Fight.” Thank you, WTG, friends, Mom, Dad, Al, and Forrest McClendon for all the love and support. I could not do this without you all. Beyond grateful. MA: Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
BRETT DIGGS:(U/S David/Val) Broadway Debut! A Baltimore, MD native and SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film grad. THEATRE: Buzzer (The Public Theater); FILM: The Post (20th Century Fox/Disney); TV: “Godfather of Harlem” (EPIX), “The Equalizer” (CBS), “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Chicago P.D.” (NBC), “The Punisher” (Netflix), “That Damn Michael Che” (HBO MAX). Excited to be a part of this Broadway production and thanks all his family and loved ones. A special THANK YOU goes out to his Mom.
BROOKE GARDNER (U/S Iris Ann). Broadway Debut! Brooke Gardner is a 2019 Pace University graduate with a BFA in Acting. Film/TV credits include Soul Santa (BET+), Sour Honey (Short Film, Post-Prod), and “Ways and Means” (CBS Pilot). Commercial credits include NY Lottery and McDonald’s. Brooke’s Theater background includes performing in The Mad Dog Blues (The Hive, NYC) and in the original musical We Didn’t Have Time to be Scared at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Repped by Realm Talent and managed by Michal Zecher at MZ.MGMT.NY
CHRISTIAN PEDERSEN (U/S Robert Hampshire) most recently appeared in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco. Off-Broadway: Cherry Lane, 59E59, 3LD, The Pearl, Abingdon, Barrow Street. Regional: Once (South Coast Rep), reasons to be pretty (Geffen Playhouse), The Mousetrap (Rep St. Louis), Clybourne Park (Cleveland Play House, Geva, Laguna Playhouse), The 39 Steps (Maltz Jupiter Theatre), Cloud Nine (Studio Theatre DC), Dead Ringer (NJ Rep) and others. TV credits include The Offer, Seal Team, This Is Us, Superstore, The Good Wife. Graduate of the University of Richmond and the NY Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.
GAYLE SAMUELS (U/S Mrs. Tyler, Miss Dawson, Aunt Lou) recently portrayed Lena Younger in A Raisin In the Sun at the Sydney Theatre Company. She received a Best Supporting Actress Award for the independent film American Wisper and a Best Actress nomination from the Connecticut Critics Circle for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. She recently worked with Emmy Award winner Peter Dinklage in Cyrano, originating the role of the Chaperone at the Goodspeed Opera House, and just directed a production of The Mountaintop at the Music Theatre of Connecticut. Gayle has appeared on Broadway in Children of a Lesser God, Sunset Boulevard, Grind, and Dancin’. Her Off- Broadway credits include Barbara in MsTrial, Gloria in Sistas, Ronnette in Little Shop of Horrors and Josephine Baker in The Dark Star from Harlem. She toured internationally as a featured vocalist with Harry Belafonte, played the Phyllis Hyman role in the Russian tour of Sophisticated Ladies and played Mrs. Loftus in the national tour of Little House on the Prairie starring Melissa Gilbert. Regionally, Gayle has worked at The Artist Repertory Theatre (Seven Guitars), John W. Engeman Theatre (The Sunshine Boys), The Florida Repertory Theatre (Fences), The Guthrie (Little House on the Prairie), Cincinnati Playhouse (Crowns, Beehive), The Florida Studio Theatre (The World Goes Round), and Georgia Shakespeare (Shrew). Gayle’s television and film credits include Bull, The Equalizer, Queens, The Flight Attendant, Girls5eva, Blue Bloods, Madam Secretary, The Americans, The Class and Black Nativity.
ADRIENNE KENNEDY (Playwright). Award-winning playwright, lecturer and author Adrienne Kennedy was born in Pittsburgh in 1931 and attended Ohio State University. Her plays include Funnyhouse of a Negro (Obie Award, Petit Odeon directed by Jean Marie Serreau), June and Jean in Concert (Obie Award), Sun (Commissioned by Royal Court London), A Movie Star Has to Star in Black and White, Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles? (co-authored with her son Adam Kennedy), A Rat's Mass, The Owl Answers, Motherhood 2000, Electra and Orestes (adaptation), She Talks to Beethoven, An Evening with Dead Essex, A Lesson in a Dead Language and The Lennon Play. She is the recipient of an Obie Award for Sleep Deprivation Chamber, which she co-authored with her son Adam Kennedy. It premiered at the Public Theater and was produced by Signature Theatre Company, which devoted an entire season to Ms. Kennedy's work. Other awards include a Guggenheim Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature, the American Book Award for 1990, and induction into the Theater Hall of Fame. Her published works include Heart in a Box in Spring 2021 with the Modern Language Association, In One Act, Alexander Plays and Deadly Triplets, all published by University of Minnesota Press, and People Who Led to My Plays (a memoir), originally published by Knopf and now in paperback by Theatre Communications Group, which also published He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box and Other Plays. Her plays are taught in colleges throughout the country, in Europe, India and Africa. She has been a visiting lecturer at Yale University, New York University, and University of California at Berkeley, where she was Chancellor's Distinguished Lecturer in 1980 and 1986. She was also commissioned to write plays for Jerome Robbins, the Public Theater, Mark Taper Forum, Juilliard School and the Royal Court in England. She was a distinguished Hutchins Fellow in 2016-2017. Ms. Kennedy has lived in Africa, Italy and London and has taught in Harvard University's English Department for six semesters. In 2018, Ms. Kennedy was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame for "Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater." In March of 2022, Ms. Kennedy was awarded the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy of Arts and Letters which is awarded to those who have achieved eminence in an entire body of work.
KENNY LEON (Director) is a Tony Award winning director who also has been honored with The Actors Fund Medal of Honor, an Obie Award and an NAACP Image Award. Mr. Leon is also a proud honoree of the George Abbott Lifetime Achievement for American Theatre. Broadway: A Soldier’s Play; American Son; Children of a Lesser God; Holler If Ya Hear Me; A Raisin in the Sun; The Mountaintop; Stick Fly; August Wilson’s Fences, Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf. Upcoming Broadway: Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog on Broadway this fall.
Off-Broadway: The Underlying Chris, Everybody’s Ruby, Emergence-See! (The Public); Smart People (Second Stage). Television: Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia; Colin in Black & White; 4400; Amend: The Fight for America; American Son (adapted for Netflix); Hairspray Live!; The Wiz Live!; Steel Magnolias; Dynasty; In My Dreams. Author: Take You Wherever You Go. Artistic Director Emeritus, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company. Senior Resident Director: Roundabout Theatre Company. Upcoming Broadway: Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog on Broadway this fall.
BEOWULF BORITT (Set Design). 26 Broadway designs include the Tony Award winning set for Act One, the Tony nominated sets for The Scottsboro Boys, Therese Raquin, Potus, and Flying Over Sunset. Also on Broadway, Come From Away, Freestyle Love Supreme, Be More Chill, The New One, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Meteor Shower, A Bronx Tale, Prince Of Broadway, Hand To God, Sondheim On Sondheim, …Spelling Bee , LoveMusik, Rock Of Ages, Chaplin, On The Town, Bronx Bombers, Grace, and The Two And Only. 100 Off- Broadway shows include Shakespeare in the Park’s Much Ado and Merry Wives, The Last Five Years, Fiddler On The Roof (in Yiddish), Sleepwalk With Me, and Miss Julie. He has designed for The NYC Ballet and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Kenny Leon’s production of Trading Places at the Alliance Theatre, and around the world in England, Russia, China, Australia, and Japan. His book about Broadway set design, Transforming Space Over Time, is available wherever books are sold.
DEDE AYITE (Costume Design). Broadway: American Buffalo, How I Learned to Drive, A Soldier’s Play, Slave Play, Chicken& Biscuits, American Son, and Children of a Lesser God. Select Off-Broadway: Merry Wives (The Public); The Secret Life of Bees, Marie and Rosetta (Atlantic); By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Signature); School Girls… (MCC). Regionally, Ayite’s work has appeared at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Steppenwolf and more. She has worked in television with Netflix and Comedy Central. Awards: Drama Desk, Obie, Lucille Lortel, Helen Hayes, Theatre Bay Area, and Jeff Awards;Two Tony nominations.
ALLEN LEE HUGHES (Lighting Design). Broadway designs include: A Soldier’s Play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf;Clybourne Park; Having Our Say; Mule Bone; Once on this Island; K2; Strange Interlude; Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Quilters. His work has been seen at major theaters including the McCarter Theatre, Seattle Rep, Goodman Theatre, Gurhrie Theatre and Mark Taper Forum. New York designs include work at Roundabout Theatre Company, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, New York Shakespeare Festival, and Lincoln Center Theater. He is proud to have been honored with four Tony nominations, Audelco and Ovation Award nominations, Outer Critics Circle Award, Joseph Maharam Award, USITT Distinguished Achievement Award in Lighting Design, Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration, two Helen Hayes awards and eight other Helen Hayes nominations. He was the recipient of the 2015 National Black Theatre Festival Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Design Award and is proud that The Fellows’ Program at Arena Stage bears his name.
JUSTIN ELLINGTON (Sound Design). Broadway: TopDog Underdog, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Was Enuff (Tony Nomination), Clyde's, Pass Over, Other Desert Cities. Off Broadway: Heroes Of The Fourth Turning (Playwrights Horizons). Pipeline (Lincoln Center); Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie (ArsNova); Merchant Of Venice, He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box (TFANA).
JEFF SUGG (Projection Design) is a Tony nominated designer with over 25 years in the performing arts. His work ranges from experimental to Broadway. Select credits include: Broadway: Tina: The Musical, All My Sons, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweat, Bring It On, 33 Variations. West End: Tina: The Musical. Off-Broadway & Regional credits include work at St. Ann’s Warehouse, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, The Public, Steppenwolf, The Old Globe, Mark Taper Forum, Oregon Shakespeare, Arena Stage, and many others. Music: Flower Power (LA Phil), Fire In My Mouth (NY Phil) Anthracite Fields (worldwide), and Prince’s final appearance on SNL. Awards: Lucille Lortel Award, Obie Award, Bessie Award and two Henry Hewes Design Awards.
J. JARED JANAS (Wig/Hair/Make-Up Design) Select Broadway: & Juliet, Kimberly Akimbo, Topdog Underdog, How I Learned to Drive, Jagged Little Pill, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, Gettin' the Band Back Together, Bandstand, Indecent, Sunset Boulevard, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Motown, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.
DWIGHT ANDREWS (Original Music) is a saxophonist, composer, and Professor of Music Theory and African American Music at Emory University. He is also Pastor of First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Atlanta. He was a Dubois Research Fellow at Harvard University for 2021-22 and holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the Yale Divinity School, and a PhD in Music Theory from Yale University. Andrews has appeared on over twenty-five jazz and ‘new music’ recordings and been recognized for his collaborations with playwright August Wilson and director Lloyd Richards. He served as musical director for the Broadway productions of Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Fences, The Piano Lesson, and Seven Guitars. He also served as Music Director for the Broadway Revivals of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and A Raisin in the Sun, directed by Kenny Leon. He has worked in theaters throughout the US and provided music for the dramatic works of Athol Fugard, Wole Soyinka, and Pearl Cleage. His film credits include The Old Settler, The Piano Lesson, and Miss Evers'Boys.
CAPARELLIOTIS CASTING (Casting). Broadway: Cost of Living, Macbeth, The Minutes, Skeleton Crew, Waverly Gallery, Boys in the Band, Three Tall Women, A Doll’s House Part 2, Jitney, Glass Menagerie. TV: "New Amsterdam" (NBC).