| MTC & Signature Announce Full Cast for Bad Kreyol | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 01:47 pm EDT 07/17/24 | |
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| Signature Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club Announce Cast of Their World Premiere Co-Production of Dominique Morisseau's Bad Kreyol, Directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, Beginning October 8 Cast Includes Pascale Armand, Fedna Jacquet, Andy Lucien, Kelly McCreary, and Jude Tibeau Production Kicks off Signature's 2024-25 Season and Concludes Morisseau's Premiere Residency Following Acclaimed Productions of Sunset Baby (2024), Confederates (2022), and Paradise Blue (2018) Bad Kreyol is Part of Manhattan Theatre Club's 2024-25 Season and Brings Morisseau Back to MTC After Her 2021 Tony Award-Winning Production of Skeleton Crew Signature Theatre (Interim Artistic Director Beth Whitaker ; Executive Director Timothy J. McClimon) and Manhattan Theatre Club (Artistic Director Lynne Meadow; Executive Director Chris Jennings) today announced the cast of their world premiere co-production of Dominique Morisseau's Bad Kreyol, directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, which will play October 8 – December 1 on the Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W 42nd St). Bad Kreyol kicks off Signature's 2024-25 season with this work commissioned by the organization, which concludes the playwright's critically acclaimed Premiere Residency. Morisseau's work at Signature has, throughout her residency, burrowed into the fault lines of America's stratified socioeconomic landscape. In this play set in Port-au-Prince, Morisseau turns her knack for meticulous social anatomization—her ability to "craft realistic depictions of marginalized people inextricably caught in the tide of history" (The New York Times)—outward. Manhattan Theatre Club is thrilled to be working with Morisseau again following the 2021 Tony Award-winning, sold-out run of Skeleton Crew, which received three Tony nominations and earned Phylicia Rashad her second Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play. Bad Kreyol follows Simone, first-generation Haitian American, and her cousin Gigi, Haitian born and raised, who reunite to honor their grandmother's dying wish for them to reconnect. Simone's pilgrimage back to her ancestral homeland forces both cousins to confront their differing world views, the presence of NGOs in Haiti, and the plagued dynamic between Haiti and the U.S. Bad Kreyol's cast includes Pascale Armand (Broadway: Eclipsed, The Trip to Bountiful) as Gigi, Fedna Jacquet (Broadway: Ain't No Mo; Off-Broadway: Gloria: A Life) as Lovelie, Andy Lucien (Off-Broadway: sandblasted, The Rape of the Sabine Women, by Grace B. Matthias) as Thomas, Kelly McCreary (Broadway: Passing Strange; TV: "Grey's Anatomy") as Simone, and Jude Tibeau (Regional: What Will Happen To All That Beauty, The Hot Wing King) as Pita. Casting by Sujotta Pace; additional casting by Caparelliotis Casting. Morisseau said, "My residency with Signature has given me such a gift as a playwright that I'm only realizing as it comes to an end how much comfort it has provided me. For the past five to seven years of my life (thank you, pandemic), I have not known the angst that many of us playwrights are familiar with, that unsettled feeling of not knowing where the play you have written will be produced, if anywhere. I forgot what it has meant to be without a theater home, with no brick and mortar to call yours as a playwright. I have been privileged and very fortunate to have the peace of mind that the work I'm creating will not go into the abyss, that there is a whole community ready to welcome my new pages and prepare them for the stage. I'm also pleased and excited that, as the residency comes to a close, Manhattan Theatre Club has joined with Signature to produce Bad Kreyol." Bad Kreyol Performance Schedule and Ticketing Information All performances take place at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W 42nd St) in The Irene Diamond Stage. Performances are October 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, November 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 29, 30 at 7pm and October 12, 13, 19, 20, 23, 26, 30, November 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 13, 16, 17, 20, 23, 24, 27, 30, December 1 at 2pm. The open captioned, ASL, and audio described performances will be announced at a later date. Subscriptions are available at signaturetheatre.org and manhattantheatreclub.com. Single tickets for Bad Kreyol will go on sale to the general public later this summer. About the Cast Pascale Armand (Gigi). Broadway: Eclipsed (2016 Tony nominee, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role), The Trip to Bountiful with the late Ms. Cicely Tyson. Other theater: Merry Wives, A Raisin in the Sun, Piano Lesson, Jitney, Gem of the Ocean, Ruined, The Convert (2012 LA Ovation Award, Best Leading Actress). TV: "East New York," "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "Chicago Med," "Prodigal Son," "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." QSTC core member. NYU Graduate Acting Program alumna. Currently expanding her artistry into writing and directing. Fedna Jacquet (Lovelie). Actor/writer/director Fedna Jacquet was born in Boston to Haitian parents. She recently starred as Passenger 1 in the Tony-nominated Ain't No Mo on Broadway. She is a 2023/2024 Primary Stages fellow (DSNAWG), a CRNY Artist, and the 2020-2024 National Black Theatre Playwright in Residence. Fedna was a 2021-2022 Inaugural Still I Rise Documentary Fellow, a 2019-2022 Huntington Theatre Playwriting Fellow, and a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting. Written work for the screen includes Isaiah (ABFF/TVOne Screenplay Competition Finalist), Homebase (Juilliard/NYU Showcase), Inheritance (Tribeca/Chanel Through Her Lens Finalist, 2021 Urbanworld Film Festival), Circus (2020 HollyShorts Quarterfinalist) and Going Home. She has written two pilots: Model Minority and Pefeksyon. Written plays include Black Mother Lost Daughter, Pefeksyon, Inheritance, Civic Duty, Girlfriend, and Heroes. Her short films include "Chante Maman Mwen" (My Mother's Song) (premiered at the Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival) and "Murika" (premiered at the Brooklyn Film Festival). Fedna is currently recurring on "FBI: Most Wanted" (CBS). BA: Brown University. MFA: NYU/Tisch Grad Acting. Andy Lucien (Thomas). Off-Broadway: Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Vineyard Theatre, The Lark, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Rattlestick Theater. Appearances at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Studio Theater. Film: Seven Lovers (Premiere Digital Services, Quiver), Vox Lux (Neon). TV: "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (Amazon Prime), "The Blacklist" (NBC), "Marvel's Daredevil" (Netflix), "Elementary" (CBS), "Madam Secretary" (CBS). Co-produced and starred in the film Pretty Doesn't Hurt, which was selected as part of the SoHo Film Fest (Audience Award Nominee) and Idyllwild Film Festival where it received various nominations including a Best Actor Nomination. Kelly McCreary (Simone) is best known for her work as Dr. Maggie Pierce on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." Prior to joining the cast in Season 10, she had appeared on television in "Scandal," "Castle," "Emily Owens M.D.," "White Collar," "Rubicon," and more. On the big screen, McCreary portrayed Eartha Kitt in the ?lm, Life opposite Dane DeHaan and Robert Pattinson. Other ?lm credits include 88; Baby, Baby, Baby; Being Flynn; and How To Follow Strangers. McCreary has produced and starred in the short ?lms, "A Cohort of Guests'' and "The Middle Game," as well as the narrative podcast, Wednesday Morning. Select stage credits include Passing Strange on Broadway, Intimate Apparel at Bay Street Theater, as well as Morisseau's earlier works Skeleton Crew at The Geffen Playhouse and Follow Me to Nellie's at Kean Stage. McCreary is an alumna of Barnard College, and trained at the Chautauqua Conservatory Theater Company, British American Drama Academy in London, and The Actors Center in New York. Jude Tibeau (Pita). Regional theater credits include: What Will Happen To All That Beauty (CATF); The Hot Wing King (Baltimore Center Stage); Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew (The Old Globe); Brother Toad (KC Rep); and Ruined (Arena Stage). Television: "Elementary," "Happy!" Education: The Old Globe Theatre's M.F.A. program and B.F.A in Musical Theatre from Howard University. About Dominique Morisseau Dominique Morisseau is the author of The Detroit Project (A 3-Play Cycle): Skeleton Crew (Manhattan Theatre Club, Tony Award nomination for Best Play), Paradise Blue (Signature Theatre), and Detroit '67 (Public Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem and NBT). Additional plays include Confederates (Signature Theatre), Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theater), Sunset Baby (LAByrinth Theatre), Blood at the Root (National Black Theatre), and Follow Me To Nellie's (Premiere Stages). She is the Tony Award–nominated bookwriter on the Broadway musical Ain't Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations (Imperial Theatre) and is currently working on her latest, Hippest Trip - The Soul Train Musical (ACT). TV/Film: Co-Producer on "Shameless" (Showtime), the film adaptation of the documentary STEP (Fox Searchlight), and consultant on the Netflix animated feature, Tunga. Awards include: PoNY Fellowship, TEER Trailblazer Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Audelco Awards, NBFT August Wilson Playwriting Award, Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, OBIE Award (two), Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, one of Variety's Women of Impact for 2018, and a MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow. In 2022, Dominique was awarded the key to the city by the Mayor of Detroit. About Tiffany Nichole Greene Tiffany Nichole Greene is a leader, creator, and aggressive explorer of humanity in its most tender moments. Greene is a two-time NY Times Critic's Pick director, Lincoln Center Directors Lab Alum, Soho Rep Directors Lab Alum, two-time Drama League Finalist, and a proud member of SDC. While Greene works on a great variety of genres in theaters across the nation, she is particularly dedicated to the continued development of new works and the play development process. Recent credits include a developmental production of Kristen Adele Calhoun's blood work at National Black Theatre; Black Cypress Bayou at Geffen Playhouse; world premiere of York Walker's Covenant with Roundabout Theatre Company (New York Times Critic's Pick); Jonathan Larson's Rent at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; world premiere of Steph Del Rosso's 53% Of at Second Stage Theater; Invincible, a new musical, at The Wallis Annenberg, working alongside Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo; Adrienne Kennedy's Ohio State Murders at the Goodman Theatre; Lydia R. Diamond's Whiterly Negotiations and Lynn Nottage's What Are The Things I Need To Remember with Octopus Theatricals (New York Times Critic's Pick); and Hamilton (National Tour Resident Director). She holds an MFA in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep. About Signature Theatre Signature Theatre is an artistic home for storytellers. By producing several plays from each Resident Writer, Signature continues its deep dive into their bodies of work. Signature serves its mission by hosting distinctive resident playwrights and cultural communities at its permanent home at The Pershing Square Signature Center, a three-theater facility on West 42nd Street designed by Frank Gehry Architects. At the Center, which opened in January 2012, Signature continues its original Playwright-in-Residence model with Spotlight Residency (formerly Residency 1), an intensive exploration of a single writer's body of work. The Premiere Residency (formerly Residency 5), the only program of its kind, supports playwrights as they build a body of work by guaranteeing each writer three productions over a five-year period. The Legacy Program, launched during Signature's 10th Anniversary, invites writers from both residencies to premiere or restage earlier plays. Inaugurated in 2022, the LaunchPad Residency seeks to advance an early-career playwright's voice, body of work, and professional development. In 2020, Signature launched SigSpace, to bring free artistic programming to the Center's public spaces and more fully activate Signature's lobby as a free public workspace and social hub for New York artists. The Pershing Square Signature Center is a major contribution to New York City's cultural landscape. The Center supports and encourages collaboration among artists, cultural organizations and local communities by providing free, public access throughout the space. In addition to its three intimate theaters, the Center features a studio theater, a rehearsal studio and a public café, bar and bookstore. Founded in 1991 by James Houghton, Signature Theatre is now led by Interim Artistic Director Beth Whitaker and Executive Director Timothy J. McClimon. Signature's Resident Playwrights include: Edward Albee, Annie Baker, Lee Blessing, Martha Clarke, Will Eno, Horton Foote, María Irene Fornés, Athol Fugard, John Guare, Stephen Adly Guirgis, A.R. Gurney, Katori Hall, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Samuel D. Hunter, David Henry Hwang, Bill Irwin, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Adrienne Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Romulus Linney, Kenneth Lonergan, Dave Malloy, Charles Mee, Arthur Miller, Dominique Morisseau, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, Sam Shepard, Anna Deavere Smith, Regina Taylor, Paula Vogel, Naomi Wallace, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson, Lauren Yee, The Mad Ones, and members of the historic Negro Ensemble Company: Charles Fuller, Leslie Lee, and Samm-Art Williams. Signature and its artists have been recognized with Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prizes, MacArthur "Genius" grants, and Lucille Lortel, Obie, Drama Desk, AUDELCO, and Artios Awards as well as the 50/50 Award for Gender Parity in Theatre, among many other distinctions. In 2014, Signature became the first New York City theater to receive the Regional Theatre Tony Award for its body of work and accomplishments as an institution. For more information, please visit signaturetheatre.org. The groundbreaking Signature Access (formerly the Signature Ticket Initiative), which in 2019 celebrated its one millionth ticket sold, guarantees affordable tickets to every Signature production through 2032. Serving as a model for theaters and performing arts organizations across the country, the Initiative was founded in 2005 and is made possible, in part, by Lead Partner The Pershing Square Foundation. About Manhattan Theatre Club Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Director Chris Jennings, Manhattan Theatre Club produces seasons of new work for the theatre both on and Off-Broadway, and in the 2023-24 season, all three of their Broadway shows were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play, representing three of the five nominees in the category. MTC's mission, which Meadow created in 1972 and has implemented over five decades of award-winning theatrical productions, is to develop and present new work in a dynamic, supportive environment; to identify and collaborate with the most promising new as well as seasoned, accomplished artists; and to produce a diverse repertoire of innovative, entertaining, and thought-provoking plays and musicals by American and international playwrights. Since 1989, MTC Education, which uses the power of live theatre and playwriting to awaken minds, ignite imaginations, open hearts, and change lives, has also been an important corollary to MTC's work, reaching thousands of students and educators worldwide each season. Since its beginnings on East 73rd Street in New York City, MTC has grown from a small off-off-Broadway showcase theatre into one of the country's most prestigious and award-winning producing companies, creating over 600 world, American, New York and Broadway premieres. MTC productions have earned 7 Pulitzer Prizes, 30 Tony Awards, 51 Drama Desk Awards and 49 Obie Awards amongst many other honors. MTC has homes on Broadway at its Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and Off-Broadway at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street). MTC is an anti-racist organization that respects and honors all voices, and upholds the values of community and equity. For more information, please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com. Press Contacts For Signature Theatre: Adriana Leshko and Blake Zidell at Blake Zidell & Associates: adriana@blakezidell.com, 917.294.0544; blake@blakezidell.com, 917.572.2493 For Manhattan Theatre Club: Chris Boneau/ Amy Kass / Michelle Farabaugh / Colleen Donahue at Boneau/Bryan-Brown: akass@bbbway.com; mfarabaugh@bbbway.com; cdonahue@bbbway.com. # # # # www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com |
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