Joniece Abbott-Pratt News

Huntington Theatre Company will hold a by-invitation-only Breaking Ground developmental reading of (Shoe) Shine Safari by Huntington Playwriting Fellow John Oluwole ADEkoje (Cry Baby Jones) on Tuesday, December 11 at 7:30pm at the Huntington's Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. Niegel Smith (Neighbors at The Public Theater) directs a cast that includes: Stephen Tyrone Williams as Shoe Shine; Johnny Lee Davenport (Vengeance is the Lord's and the upcoming Invisible Man at the Huntington) as Driver/Father; Robert D. Murphy as Lincoln Douglas; Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Huntington) as Amina; Reg Cathey as General Butt Naked/Big House/Rebel 1; James Milford as Rebel 2; and others.

Passage Theatre Company, Trenton's only professional theater company, will wrap up its 2011-2012 season with Slippery as Sin, running from May 17 to June 3. David Lee White's comic thriller will be directed by Adam Immerwahr - the same team that delivered the 2010 smash hit, Blood: A Comedy.

The Huntington Theatre Company's production of MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM completes August Wilson's Century Cycle, ten plays that reflect the African-American experience in America by the decade throughout the 20th century. Yvette Freeman (NBC's ER) is a force of nature in the title role, and local actor Jason Bowen captivates as the hotheaded young trumpeter who personifies the Zeitgeist.

As part of its 30th Anniversary Season celebration, the Huntington Theatre Company brings August Wilson's MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM. Click below to view the production shots!

As part of its 30th Anniversary Season celebration, the Huntington Theatre Company brings the cast of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to Roxbury's Hibernian Hall to perform a reading of the play on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 7pm. The reading is free and open to the public, but an RSVP at huntingtontheatre.org/raineyreading is encouraged, as seating is limited. Liesl Tommy, director of the Huntington's acclaimed 2011 production of Ruined, helms the production. The ensemble features "ER" cast member Yvette Freeman as the legendary blues singer Ma Rainey and local favorite Jason Bowen (Ruined, A Civil War Christmas at the Huntington) as Levee.

As part of its 30th Anniversary Season celebration, the Huntington Theatre Company brings the cast of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to Roxbury's Hibernian Hall to perform a reading of the play on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 7pm. The reading is free and open to the public, but an RSVP at huntingtontheatre.org/raineyreading is encouraged, as seating is limited. Liesl Tommy, director of the Huntington's acclaimed 2011 production of Ruined, helms the production. The ensemble features "ER" cast member Yvette Freeman as the legendary blues singer Ma Rainey and local favorite Jason Bowen (Ruined, A Civil War Christmas at the Huntington) as Levee.

As part of its 30th Anniversary Season celebration, the Huntington Theatre Company brings the cast of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to Roxbury's Hibernian Hall to perform a reading of the play on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 7pm. The reading is free and open to the public, but an RSVP at huntingtontheatre.org/raineyreading is encouraged, as seating is limited. Liesl Tommy, director of the Huntington's acclaimed 2011 production of Ruined, helms the production. The ensemble features "ER" cast member Yvette Freeman as the legendary blues singer Ma Rainey and local favorite Jason Bowen (Ruined, A Civil War Christmas at the Huntington) as Levee.

Hartford Stage's sturdy revival of part #1 of Wilson's 'Pittsburgh Cycle' finds the play unwieldy.

Hartford Stage's sturdy revival of part #1 of Wilson's 'Pittsburgh Cycle' finds the play unwieldy.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, August Wilson's The Piano Lesson returns to Yale Rep, where it had its world premiere in 1987. The Piano Lesson was one of six plays in August Wilson's 10-play cycle chronicling the African American experience in the 20th century to premiere at Yale Rep. Wilson's other Yale Rep world premieres included Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1984), Fences (1985), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1986), Two Trains Running (1990), and Radio Golf (2005).

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON, directed by Liesl Tommy, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street, at York Street) January 28-February 19, 2011.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON, directed by Liesl Tommy, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street, at York Street) January 28-February 19, 2011.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON, directed by Liesl Tommy, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street, at York Street) January 28-February 19, 2011.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON, directed by Liesl Tommy, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street, at York Street) January 28-February 19, 2011.

If the gang at Madison Avenue were looking for the perfect spokesmodel to help win support for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, they couldn't have done better than Rosa Parks, a sweet-looking, modestly dressed woman who spoke with quiet dignity. Or Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Joseph McNeil and Franklin McCain, the conservatively dressed, well groomed college freshmen who started the Woolworth lunch counter sit-in. White people who feared the consequences of desegregating America could have their views softened with a look at these clean-cut 'credits to their race' (as the old saying went) who were everyday people just like them. And if that sounds like a crass way of referring to the brave souls who put themselves on the front lines in the fight for equality, well that's a major point playwright Tracy Scott Wilson makes with her new drama, The Good Negro.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that Francois Battiste, Crystal A. Dickinson, Alano Miller and Wendell Pierce will be featured in its upcoming production of BROKE-OLOGY, a new play by Nathan Louis Jackson, directed by Thomas Kail.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that Francois Battiste, Crystal A. Dickinson, Alano Miller and Wendell Pierce will be featured in its upcoming production of BROKE-OLOGY, a new play by Nathan Louis Jackson, directed by Thomas Kail.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that Francois Battiste, Crystal A. Dickinson, Alano Miller and Wendell Pierce will be featured in its upcoming production of BROKE-OLOGY, a new play by Nathan Louis Jackson, directed by Thomas Kail.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that Francois Battiste, Crystal A. Dickinson, Alano Miller and Wendell Pierce will be featured in its upcoming production of BROKE-OLOGY, a new play by Nathan Louis Jackson, directed by Thomas Kail.

Due to strong demand, The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced today that it would extend Tracey Scott Wilson?s THE GOOD NEGRO an additional two weeks through Sunday, April 19. THE GOOD NEGRO begins previews on Tuesday, March 3 and will now run through Sunday, April 19 with an official press opening on Monday, March 16. Directed by Liesl Tommy and in association with Dallas Theater Center, THE GOOD NEGRO is the first new play to transfer from the Public LAB initiative to a full main stage production at The Public.