Just as the Pulitzer-winning play preps to open at the American Airlines Theatre April 12, we've got new video highlights from the disco-fied modern take on Shakespeare's Hamlet. Watch above.
Playwright James Ijames moves the story to a Southern cookout, where queer college kid Juicy has to grapple with identity questions, the ghost of his father, and a supernatural demand for vengeance. The choice laid before him? Whether to break or perpetuate cycles of trauma and violence.
Reprising their roles from the award-winning Off-Broadway run of The Public and National Black Theatre co-production are Nikki Crawford as Tedra, Chris Herbie Holland as Tio, Billy Eugene Jones as Rev and Pap, Adrianna Mitchell as Opal, Calvin Leon Smith as Larry, Marcel Spears as Juicy, and Benja Kay Thomas as Rabby; Crawford, Holland, Mitchell, Smith, and Spears are all making their Broadway debuts.
READ: In Fat Ham, James Ijames Reinvents HamletThrough a Lens of Blackness and Queerness
Joining the Broadway cast as understudies are RJ Foster, Marquis D. Gibson, Alexandria Lewis, Matthew Elijah Webb, and Rema Webb.
Saheem Ali, who directed the Off-Broadway production, also directs the Broadway staging, marking his Main Stem debut. The creative team also features the return of scenic designer Maruti Evans, costume designer Dominique Fawn Hill, sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman, choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie, hair and wig designer Earon Chew Nealey, and illusions designer Skylar Fox. They are joined by lighting designer Bradley King, fight director Lisa Kopitsky, and singing coach Deborah Lapidus. Casting is by Kate Murray.
Nikki Crawford, Billy Eugene Jones, Benja Kay Thomas, Marcel Spears,
Adrianna Mitchell, and Calvin Leon Smith
Calvin Leon Smith, Nikki Crawford, Billy Eugene Jones, Benja Kay
Thomas, Adrianna Mitchell, and Marcel Spears
Marcel Spears and Adrianna Mitchell
Nikki Crawford, Billy Eugene Jones, Benja Kay Thomas, Adrianna Mitchell, Calvin Leon Smith, and Marcel Spears
Adrianna Mitchell and Benja Kay Thomas
Marcel Spears and Nikki Crawford in Fat Ham
Marcel Spears
Marcel Spears and Calvin Leon Smith in Fat Ham
Marcel Spears and Billy Eugene Jones
Adrianna Mitchell, Chris Herbie Holland, and Marcel Spears
