‘Thoughts of a ColoredMan’ going to Broadway
NEWYORK » Playwright Keenan Scott II’s play “Thoughts of a Colored Man,” a work about the outer and inner lives of Black men, is heading to the bright lights of Broadway.
The play will be given a Shubert theater and will open whenever Broadway restarts. It will be directed by Steve H. Broadnax III. Both playwright and director are Black and will bemaking their Broadway debuts.
“Thoughts of a Colored Man” is made up of related vignettes and set over the course of a single day in Brooklyn, where seven Blackmen discuss gentrification, violence, racial and sexual identity and what it means to be part of a community.
“I think people can expect to be moved and to laugh. There’s so much laughter in this show, but there’s also so much revealed about the Black male experience in America,” producer Brian Moreland told The Associated Press. “They will laugh, they will cry, and they’ll be able to ask questions that they’ve never been able to ask before.”
In addition to Moreland, the producing lineup includes Ron Simons, Diana DiMenna, Samira Wiley and Sheryl Lee Ralph. It’s a predominately Black list with what will be a mostly Black cast, both rarities on Broadway.
The play made its world premiere last year at Syracuse Stage and also was produced at Baltimore Center Stage. Broadway remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic at least until June 2021. Moreland said Scott’s play was something he instantly felt belonged on Broadway.
“I felt like it was something that needed to be seen. It was a work that was much larger than anything I’ve ever experienced,” said Moreland, whose producing credits on Broadway include “Sea Wall/A Life,” “The Lifespan of a Fact” and “The Sound Inside.”
The pandemic silenced several shows with Black-led casts, including “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” the revival of “A Soldier’s Play” and “Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of The Temptations.”
Putting a Black-led play on Broadway is one of the most concrete steps toward a more inclusive theatrical community coming in the wake of the death of George Floyd and a summer of protests.