| PURPOSE by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Directed by Phylicia Rashad Coming to Broadway Spring 2025 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 08:33 pm EDT 08/14/24 | |
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| FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT OF "APPROPRIATE" AND THE THEATRE BEHIND "AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY"… " Star with solid fillStar with solid fillStar with solid fillStar with solid fill (out of four) ABSOLUTELY NOT TO BE MISSED! Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is the white-hot writer of the moment - I was knocked out!" •Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune " Star with solid fillStar with solid fillStar with solid fillStar with solid fill (out of four) A BLISTERING STEPPENWOLF PRODUCTION WITH EXPLOSIVE, KNEE-BUCKLING INTENSITY." •Steven Oxman, Chicago Sun-Times The Steppenwolf Theatre Company Production of PURPOSE By Tony Award-Winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Directed by Two-Time Tony Award-Winner Phylicia Rashad in her Broadway Directorial Debut Limited Engagement Begins Previews February 25, 2025 Opening mid-March At the Helen Hayes Theater (New York, NY – August 14, 2024) – The acclaimed Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of PURPOSE, written by Tony Award-winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Appropriate, The Comeuppance), and directed by Two-time Tony Award-winner Phylicia Rashad (Skeleton Crew, A Raisin in the Sun), will come to Broadway in spring 2025. The production will begin previews on February 25, 2025 at The Helen Hayes Theater (240 West 44th street) and will officially open in mid-March. PURPOSE will mark Ms. Rashad's Broadway directing debut. PURPOSE is produced by David Stone, Debra Martin Chase, Marc Platt, LaChanze, Rashad Chambers, Aaron Glick, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Casting will be announced in the coming months. ABOUT PURPOSE For decades, the influential Jasper family has been a pillar of Black American Politics: civil rights leaders, pastors and congressmen. But like all families, there are cracks and secrets just under the surface. When the youngest son Nazareth returns home to Illinois with an uninvited friend in tow, the family is forced into a reckoning with itself, its faith and the legacies of Black radicalism. Spirited, hilarious and filled with intrigue, PURPOSE is an epic family drama from one of the country's most celebrated voices. PURPOSE was commissioned by and had its World Premiere on March 14, 2024 at Chicago's legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where it received rave reviews. The production sold out its initial engagement and extension weeks, becoming one of the highest-grossing shows in Steppenwolf's nearly 50-year history. PURPOSE will feature scenic design by Todd Rosenthal, costume design by Dede M. Ayite, lighting design by Amith Chandrashaker, and sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen. Casting is by JC Clementz, CSA and Calleri Jensen Davis. ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS is a Brooklyn-based playwright and producer and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. He received the 2024 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play for Appropriate, which recently completed an acclaimed, record-breaking, 8-month run on Broadway. Other recent theatre credits include The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre Company, NYC; Almeida Theatre, London); Girls (Yale Rep); Everybody (Signature Theatre); War (Yale Rep; Lincoln Center/LCT3); Gloria (Vineyard Theatre); An Octoroon (Obie Award; Soho Rep, Theatre for a New Audience); and Neighbors (The Public Theater). He currently teaches at Yale University and serves as Vice President of the Dramatists Guild council and on the boards of Soho Rep, Park Avenue Armory, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Additional honors include a USA Artists fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, the MacArthur fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award. He is currently writing the book for the upcoming stage adaptation of Purple Rain. PHYLICIA RASHAD (Director). A two-time Tony Award winner (A Raisin in the Sun and Skeleton Crew), Ms. Rashad's directing credits include Stephen Adly Guirgis' Our Lady of 121st Street; Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky; August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Joe Turner's Come and Gone (2014 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director), and Fences; Paul Oakley Stovall's Immediate Family; Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun; The Roommate; and Four Little Girls. Producing credits include the recent revival of Ossie Davis' Purlie Victorious on Broadway and PBS film, "The Old Settler." Ms. Rashad is Dean Emerita of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University. STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY is the nation's premiere Ensemble Theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions – from Balm in Gilead and Grapes of Wrath to August: Osage County, Downstate and The Brother/Sister Plays – have made this theatre legendary. Founded in 1976, Steppenwolf started as a group of teens performing in the basement of a church. Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its Ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 12 Tony Awards, and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair, Keating Crown – Steppenwolf continually redefines the landscape of acting and performance. Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org , facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre , twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr . To sign up for more information please visit: purposeonbroadway.com Social handles: TikTok: purposeonbroadway X: PurposeBroadway Facebook: Purpose on Broadway IG: purposeonbroadway |
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