BREAKING NEWS: Tony nominated choreographer Camille A. Brown (Broadway’s Choir Boy and Once On This Island) is officially set to make her directorial debut on Broadway with an upcoming revival of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide /When The Rainbow is Enuf. The production is set to debut in 2022.
This production going to Broadway is a transfer of the critically acclaimed Off Broadway revival that played The Public Theater (where it originally all began for this show’s mainstream NY Theater scene) in 2019 prior before Live Theater was shutdown. She also replaced the production’s original director Leah C. Gardiner who couldn’t continue due to prior other commitments.
Casting from that recent production off Broadway included….
Celia Chevalier,
Okwui Okpokwasili,
Danaya Esperanza,
Jayme Lawson,
and
No word has been said if this cast will be continuing. Full details on all that plus a theater and the official starting dates will be announced soon.
FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO CONSIDERED SUICIDE / WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF was the debut play of Ntozake Shange. The show is considered as a series of poetic monologues to be accompanied by music and interpretive dance, a form Shange coined as the choreopoem. The actual story follows 7 women who have suffered oppression in a racist and sexist society. It deals with themes of rape, abandonment, abortion domestic violence, and racism.
The show was first developed in the early 1970’s as a piece originally with 4 other artists at the Bacchanal Bar near Berkeley, California. With its early success, the show would later be expanded and performed all across the country. In 1975, the piece debuted in New York City at the at Studio Rivbea and later the Henry Street Settlement’s New Federal Theatre. Both the runs earned a huge following especially among African-American and Latino audiences.
With that unforgettable result FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO CONSIDERED SUICIDE / WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF went mainstream Off Broadway debuting in the Summer of 1976 at the Public Theatre. Earning rave reviews and selling out, it transferred 3 months later to Broadway’s Booth Theatre for 5 previews and 742 regular performances. Under the direction of Oz Scott, the 7 piece Ensemble cast was led by….
Laurie Carlos,
Risë Collins,
Aku Kadogo,
Janet League,
Paula Moss,
and
Ntozake Shange (along with writing the piece).
It was nominated for 2 Tony Awards in 1977 winning 1 for BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY (for Trezana Beverley). It also nominated and took home several other major Awards for both its Off and On Broadway including a Drama Desk and a Theatre World Award.
Along with its success on stage, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO CONSIDERED SUICIDE / WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF has been adapted from the screen twice.
The first time was in 1982 as a made for television production for PBS. It aired on Thirteen WNET as part of the The American Playhouse series. For this unique version, it was made more as a “telefilm” making it a serious departure from the Broadway production. Under the direction of Oz Scott, the cast featured…..
Sarita Allen,
Trezana Beverley
Laurie Carlos,
Lisa Henley,
Crystal Lilly,
Carol Maillard,
Lynn Whitfield,
Ntozake Shange,
and more,
It was well received by television viewers.
Most recently, the play was adapted again in 2010 as a featured film for Lionsgate Films. Adapted by Tyler Perry, this version featured an all star cast led by….
Phylicia Rashad,
Kimberly Elise,
and more.
The film received accolades primarily from African American film and critic associations, in multiple categories including acting, writing, directing and overall production.
We are so excited to see this powerful piece back on the Great Bright Way!!
Who is excited?
