| Billy Porter and Alan Cumming join the Sugar Daddy producing team | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 11:08 am EDT 08/29/24 | |
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| BILLY PORTER AND ALAN CUMMING JOIN THE PRODUCING TEAM FOR SUGAR DADDY WRITTEN BY AND STARRING SAM MORRISON THE PRODUCTION, DIRECTED BY TONY AWARD NOMINEE STEPHEN BRACKETT WILL PLAY THE WALLIS ANNENBERG CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS THIS FALL PRIOR TO ITS BROADWAY DEBUT IN 2025 (Thursday, August 29, 2024) – Edgewood Entertainment (Producers Dale A. Mott and Charles D. Urstadt) is pleased to announce that Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Billy Porter and his producing partner D.J. Gugenheim, and Tony and Olivier Award winner Alan Cumming have joined the producing team for Sugar Daddy, comedian, and actor Sam Morrison's hilariously funny, unexpectedly moving one-man show. Sugar Daddy will play the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, CA from September 20-October 13, 2024, prior to coming to Broadway in 2025. Opening night will be September 29. The production is directed by Tony Award nominee and Drama Desk Award winner Stephen Brackett (Broadway: A Strange Loop). Tickets for The Wallis engagement are on sale at TheWallis.org. Billy Porter is an acclaimed actor, singer, and producer, celebrated for his groundbreaking performances on Broadway in Kinky Boots (Tony and Grammy Awards) and on television in "Pose,” for which he won an Emmy Award. This year, The Tonys presented Porter with the prestigious Isabelle Stevenson Award for his philanthropic work. Known for his powerful voice and fearless style, Porter has become a prominent advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and a trailblazer in the entertainment industry, and through his production company, Incognegro, he continues to create culturally relevant art. "Joining the producing team for Sugar Daddy is an exhilarating opportunity to champion a story that is both daring and deeply human,” Porter commented. "I'm thrilled to support this groundbreaking play that challenges conventions and celebrates authenticity.” Actor and performer Alan Cumming is best known for his dynamic roles on Broadway in Cabaret (Tony Award) and on television in "The Good Wife.” With a career spanning theatre, film, and television, Cumming is also an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and a celebrated author. "I'm thrilled to join Sam Morrison's Sugar Daddy as a producer,” Cumming said. "Sam is an incredible performer and writer, and this show is revelatory. He tackles personal grief not just with humor but with such bold tenderness and insightful vision. It's fresh, it's full of heart and it's really dirty, and I can't wait to help bring this incredible story into more people's lives.” One summer in the gay paradise of Provincetown, MA., Sam met the sexy silver zaddy of his dreams, igniting a romance for the ages. But in the midst of the pandemic, the love of his life tragically died from COVID. Devastated, Sam realized the only way to cope was through comedy. Done live on stage. In front of thousands of strangers. All around the globe. And to call the show Sugar Daddy. Join Sam as he shares his wild ride packed with big belly laughs and small tender kisses. Where seagull attacks are more vicious than a New York mugger. Where threesomes and steamy shower sex go head-to-head with Jehovah's Witnesses. Oh, and where there's a surprise diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. Along the way, Sam reminds us that the only thing sweeter than laughter is love. Morrison is a Los Angeles-based comedian and writer. He was named a New Face at the 2023 Just for Laughs Festival, made his late-night television debut on "Late Night With Seth Meyers,” has performed on "Comedy Central Featuring,” "The Drew Barrymore Show,” "Watch What Happens Live” and "Tamron Hall,” and was a staff writer on Bravo's "Blind Date.” Sugar Daddy was a hit at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and later played a critically acclaimed engagement that was extended three times at Off-Broadway's SoHo Playhouse, directed by Ryan Cunningham, where it received Outer Critics Circle and Off Broadway Alliance nominations, and was called "the best new show in New York” by Daily Beast. It has since played throughout the United States and in London. Scenic design is by Arnulfo Maldonado, lighting design is by Jennifer Schriever, sound design is by Sinan Zafar and video and projection design is by Alex Basco Koch. General management is by DR Theatrical Management. Tickets for Sugar Daddy ($39-$95) are on sale now, as are single tickets and subscriptions to all performances in The Wallis' 2024/2025 Season. Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. To purchase single tickets, subscriptions and for more information, please call 310-746-4000 (Monday – Friday, 10 am to 6 pm) or visit TheWallis.org. BIOGRAPHIES Sam Morrison (Author/Performer) recently moved to Los Angeles after coming up in the New York comedy scene where he was a club regular and staple of the Brooklyn comedy scene. In 2023, he was named a New Face at the Just for Laughs Festival, made his television debut on "Late Night With Seth Meyers,” performed on Comedy Central, and his solo show Sugar Daddy played Off-Broadway for 14 weeks, extending three times and receiving Outer Critics Circle and Off Broadway Alliance nominations. He performed in the 2024 Netflix is a Joke Festival and has performed in the New York Comedy Festival five times, being selected for Best of New Talent in 2019 and headlining in 2023. He is also a Stand Up NBC Finalist, has performed on "The Drew Barrymore Show,” appeared on "Watch What Happens Live,” "Howard Stern,” "Tamron Hall,” and was a staff writer on Season One of Bravo's "Blind Date.” Stephen Brackett (Director). Broadway: A Strange Loop (Lyceum, Tony nomination), Be More Chill (Lyceum) and The Lightning Thief (Longacre). London: A Strange Loop (Barbican), Be More Chill (Shaftesbury and The Other Palace) and Buyer & Cellar (Menier Chocolate Factory). Off-Broadway: To My Girls (Second Stage), A Strange Loop (Playwrights Horizons/Page 73/Wooly Mammoth, A.C.T. and C.T.G.) (Obie and Drama Desk Awards), Be More Chill (Signature/Two River), The Lightning Thief (Theaterworks USA/National Tour), Buyer & Cellar (Rattlestick/Barrow Street/National Tour), Ultimate Beauty Bible (Page 73), Carnival Kids (Lesser America), and Be A Good Little Widow (Ars Nova). Regional: AD 16 (Olney Theater), Fall Springs (Barrington Stage), Significant Other (Geffen Playhouse), I Now Pronounce (Humana Festival), Le Switch (About Face), and The Great Pretender (TheatreWorks). Arnulfo Maldonado (Scenic Design) is a New York City-based set and costume designer. He is a Tony Award nominee for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for the Broadway production of A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson (Lyceum Theatre) directed by Stephen Brackett. Notable design credits include the recent 20th anniversary Broadway production of Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks (Golden Theatre), directed by Kenny Leon and the Broadway premieres of Alice Childress' Trouble In Mind (Todd Haimes Theatre), directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and the forthcoming revival of David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face (Todd Haimes Theatre), directed by Leigh Silverman. West End/UK: A Strange Loop (Barbican Theater), In Dreams (Leeds Playhouse), The Comeuppance (Almeida Theater). Recent Off-Broadway: Buena Vista Social Club (Atlantic), The Coast Starlight (Lincoln Center), Dead Outlaw (Audible, Minetta Lane), Sabbath's Theater (New Group), The Comeuppance, A Case for the Existence of God (Signature). Regional: Alley Theatre, Berkeley Rep, CTG, Guthrie, Steppenwolf, Woolly Mammoth. International Tour: The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir. In addition, Arnulfo received an Obie for Sustained Excellence in Set Design, as well as a Special Citation Obie as part of the Creative Team of the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Strange Loop. Arnulfo is a recipient of a Princess Grace Faberge Theater Award, Lucille Lortel Award, and a multiple Lucille Lortel and Henry Hewes Design nominee. IG: @arnulfo.maldonado.design arnulfomaldonado.com Jennifer Schriever (Lighting Design). Broadway: Mother Play, A Strange Loop (Tony nomination), Death of a Salesman (Tony nomination), 1776, Birthday Candles, Lackawanna Blues, What the Constitution Means to Me, Lifespan of a Fact, Eclipsed, Ghetto Klown. Selected Off-Broadway: Spain, White Girl In Danger, To My Girls, SuperHero (Second Stage); Which Way to The Stage, Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties, School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play (MCC); The Moors (Playwrights Realm); Shhhh (Atlantic); A Bright New Boise, My Broken Language, Thom Pain, Night is a Room (Signature); Strange Interlude (Transport Group). Selected Regional: A Strange Loop (ACT & CTG), The Preacher's Wife (The Alliance Theater), The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical (ACT), A Transparent Musical (Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles). Opera: A Thousand Splendid Suns (World Premiere, Seattle Opera), Die Fledermaus, Pearl Fishers (Metropolitan); Faust, A Midsummer Night's Dream, La Traviata (Mariinsky, Russia); and The Pearl Fishers (ENO). Obie Award for sustained excellence in design. Teaching: Adjunct Professor, Purchase College. Mom: Henry. jenschriever.com. Sinan Refik Zafar (Sound Design) is an award-winning sound designer and composer from NYC. Credits include What the Constitution Means to Me (Broadway, National Tour, New York Theatre Workshop); What to Send Up When It Goes Down (National Tour, Playwrights Horizons); English (Obie Award), Shhh (Atlantic Theater Company); Letters from Max (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations, Signature Theatre); Which Way to the Stage, All the Natalie Portmans (MCC Theater); To My Girls (Second Stage); The Vagrant Trilogy, Cullud Wattah (Public Theater); Wish You Were Here (Playwrights Horizons), Montag (Soho Rep). Regional: Kennedy Center, Guthrie, Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Rep, Williamstown, among others. M.F.A., David Geffen School of Drama. sinanzafar.com Alex Basco Koch (Video & Projection Design) is a Drama Desk and Lortel-nominated projection & media designer for plays, musicals, films, and immersive art events. His work can be seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, across the US, and in Central and South America and Europe. Concert designs include Mariah Carey, Phish, the Magnetic Fields' international tour 50 Song Memoir and a dozen official music videos. Alex's projection design work was featured in two films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival: Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady; and Miles Ahead, directed by and starring Don Cheadle. He is a founding member of and produces Staging Film, an experimental film and theater project that has featured original work from Leigh Silverman, Heidi Rodewald, and Chisa Hutchinson among many others. He has led the creative direction of video for brands such as Tyra Banks' Modelland, Benjamin Moore, and Target. Edgewood Entertainment is a Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning producing entity focused on supporting works by historically marginalized people, including the BIPOC and LBGTQIA+ communities, female artists, and other stories not often told on stage. In addition to Sugar Daddy, Edgewood's projects as lead producers include the new musicals Gun & Powder and Long Way Down (May 22-June 23, 2024 at the Olney Theatre Center in Olney, MD and at The Apollo's Victoria Theater in Harlem, (Dates TBA), the original musical, Grace, currently in development, and the new play, La Egoista by Erlina Ortiz, directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo. edgewoodedge.com Dale A. Mott (Producer) is a leading producer of critically acclaimed and award-winning productions including the Tony Award-winning play Appropriate and the Tony Award-winning musical A Strange Loop. Other seminal Broadway productions include New York, New York, August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, Thoughts of a Colored Man and The Lifespan of a Fact. Charles D. Urstadt (Producer) is focused on bringing new voices to commercial audiences. In his role as Producer/Managing Director of Edgewood Entertainment, Urstadt serves as lead creative producer of Long Way Down, La Egoista and Grace, and as co-producer of Gun & Powder and the Tony Award-nominated Appropriate. Past experience includes serving as chairman of the board of directors of Urstadt Biddle Properties, Inc, a real estate investment trust traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Urstadt was a board member of the Ensemble Studio Theater, the Friends of WNET/Thirteen, and the New York State Board of Historic Preservation. Urstadt is currently president and director of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, and a trustee of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, where he served a four-year term as chairman. In honor of his service, the museum named him chairman emeritus and created the Charles D. Urstadt Acquisition Fund. Billy Porter (Producer) is an award-winning actor, singer, director, producer, composer, and playwright. He won an Emmy Award for Lead Actor for his role in FX's Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated drama "Pose.” He earned three Emmy nominations total for his role in the series. In 2024, Porter received the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for his activism and contributions to the LGBTQ+ community. A Hollywood Walk of Fame inductee, Porter has numerous theatre credits, including the role of Lola in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, which he originated in 2013 and for which he won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards, as well as the Grammy for best musical theatre album. He won his second Tony Award in 2022 for Best Musical as a producer on A Strange Loop. Recently, he starred in the film Our Son alongside Luke Evans, the Paramount comedy 80 For Brady alongside Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field, and Prime Video's Cinderella re-make. His feature directorial debut Anything's Possible, a coming-of-age film written by Ximena García Lecuona, was released in July 2022 on Prime Video. In 2023, he directed an episode of Fox's anthology series Accused. Upcoming, he will co-write and star in a James Baldwin biopic. Porter released his first literary project, Unprotected, in October 2021, which was published by Abrams Press. As a recording artist, Porter most recently released his album Black Mona Lisa , under his record deal with Island Records (UK) and Republic Records (US). Alan Cumming (Producer) is a six-time Emmy Award nominee and two-time Tony Award winner. Known for his role as Eli Gold on the CBS series "The Good Wife” and the spinoff "The Good Fight,” Cumming has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award for his performance in Cabaret. He is the host and executive producer of Peacock's reality phenom "The Traitors.” His other recent projects include the Apple TV+ series Schmigadoon! and the documentary My Old School. He recently concluded touring his internationally acclaimed solo concert show, Alan Cumming is Not Acting His Age, with final performances on Broadway at the legendary Studio 54. About Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, located in the heart of Beverly Hills, CA, is a dynamic cultural hub and community resource where local, national, and international artists share their artistry with ever-expanding audiences. Distinguished by its eclectic programming that mirrors the diverse landscape of Los Angeles and its location in the entertainment capital of the world, The Wallis has produced and presented more than 400 theater, dance, music, film, cabaret, comedy, performance arts, and family entertainment programs, boasting nominations for 79 Ovation Awards and nine L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards as well as six architectural awards. Since its doors opened in October 2013, The Wallis has been committed to robust and distinctive presentations and education programs curated with both creativity and social impact in mind. Hailed as "au courant” (LaLa Magazine), The Wallis was lauded by Culture Vulture, which proclaimed, "If you love expecting the unexpected in the performing arts, you have to love The Wallis.” Broadway legend Patti LuPone, who was The Wallis' 2015/2016 Season Artistic Advisor, described the venue as "one of the best in the country, allowing for an unparalleled intimacy between [the artist] and the audience.” A recent patron survey produced audience comments about The Wallis ranging from "amazing, engaging, inspiring!" to "fun. entertaining. educational." The breathtaking 70,000-square-foot facility, celebrating the classic and the modern, was named after philanthropist Wallis Annenberg, who's original $25-million-dollar donation was instrumental in transforming the former Beverly Hills post office building into an arts complex. Designed by acclaimed architect Zoltan E. Pali (SPF: architects), the restored building features the original 1934 Beverly Hills Post Office (on the National Register of Historic Places), whose eight towering fresco murals are one of two sets of WPA frescos remaining in the entire California Federal Building system. The Wallis' lobby, now known as Jim and Eleanor Randall Grand Hall, serves as the theater's dramatic yet welcoming entryway to the contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater; the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater; an inviting open-air plaza for family, community and other performances; and GRoW @ The Wallis: A Space for Arts Education, where learning opportunities for all ages and backgrounds abound. Together, these elements embrace the city's history and its future, creating a performing arts destination for L.A.-area visitors and residents alike. Daphna Nazarian is Chairman of The Wallis' Board of Directors and Robert van Leer is Executive Director and CEO. PRODUCTION INFORMATION The Wallis presents in association with Edgewood Entertainment Sugar Daddy Written by and starring Sam Morrison Directed by Stephen Brackett Scenic Design by Arnulfo Maldonado Lighting Design by Jennifer Schriever Sound Design by Sinan Refik Zafar Video & Projection Design by Alex Basco Koch Lovelace Studio Theater Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts 9390 N Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA September 20, 2024-October 13, 2024 Opening Night: September 29, 2024 WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA Website: sugardaddyshow.com Facebook: facebook.com/SugarDaddyShow Instagram: instagram.com/_sugardaddyshow |
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