Cast List
Cast Announced for The First Deep Breath by Lee Edward Colston II at National Black Theatre
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre [NBT] announces the cast of the first workshop production for this year’s cohort of I Am Soul Playwriting Residency by playwright Lee Edward Colston II. Colston’s workshop production of The First Deep Breath will be February 13 – 17, 2019 and will be directed by Malika Oyetimein.
Lee Edward Colston II
As part of NBT’s Soul Series L.A.B. [Liberating Artistic Bravery], The First Deep Breath will conclude an 18-month residency for Lee Edward Colston II as the institution celebrating NBT’s 50th season which is themed “Liberation: A Journey Beyond Walls.”
The full cast for this workshop production will be: Paris Campbell (Albert), Paris Crayton III (Leslie), SJ Hannah (Abdul Malik), Vanessa A. Jones (Ruth), Drew Shade (Tyree), Cole Taylor (AJ), Chelsea Lee Williams (Dee Dee), C. Kelly Wright (Pearl). NBT is also excited to have on the creative team: Izmir Ickbal (Set/Lights), Elia Chuaqui (Sound), Beylnda Hardin (PSM).
About The First Deep Breath: Pastor Albert Jones plans a special church service to honor his late daughter Diane on the sixth anniversary of her death. But when his eldest son, Abdul-Malik, returns home from prison, the First family of Mother Bethel Baptist Church is forced to confront a hornet’s nest of long-buried secrets. With each member of the Jones clan desperately fighting to stay afloat, sometimes a family that stays together drowns together.
Launched in 2012, I AM SOUL – Playwright Residency Program is the only program in the country that is dedicated to Black playwrights, whose work demonstrates exceptional artistic merit and excellence in the theatrical field, with a commitment to production. Coined as a dream MFA program this eighteen (18) month residency also seeks to unleash the soul of a playwright on the page so that they can develop, hone and explore new ways of artistic expression in a safe, supported and transformative environment. With I AM SOUL, NBT seeks to deepen the artistic relationship between Black theatrical institutions and Black playwrights in order to re-establish Black theatrical institutions as the foremost supporters and producers of new works created by Black playwrights.
Past residents: Mfoniso Udofia, Aurin Squire, Angelica Chéri, Derek Lee McPhatter, Nambi E. Kelley, Dennis A. Allen II
Current residents: Eric Micha Holmes, Lee Edward Colston II, Tracey Conyer Lee & Darrel Holnes.
Tickets for The First Deep Breath are now on sale. www.nationalblacktheatre.org
Cast List
Queen Latifah Set to Play Ursula in Live Musical (Not Live-Action) Little Mermaid Broadcast
Queen Latifah has recently announced that she will be playing Ursula in ABC’s live musical version of The Little Mermaid, (not to be confused with the live-action movie remake starring Halle Bailey).
The actress, singer, rapper, mogul & icon will be joined by reggae musician and actor, Shaggy as Sebastian the crab, and the voice of Moana Auli’i Cravalho as Ariel.
Ursula will add to Queen Latifah’s ever-growing collection of musical theatre roles and her 2nd time in a live musical broadcast, after having played The Wiz in NBC’s The Wiz Live.
This live event will air on November 5th on ABC and will be part of the Disney celebrating 30 years since the initial release of The Little Mermaid (1989). It will combine concert-style performances, costumes and set from the 2008 Broadway musical, and footage from the original animated feature.
Director Hamish Hamilton described the set as an immersive “dive in theatre” and will feature a projection surface in the middle. Despite the broadcast being a celebration of the original movie, the broadcast will feature songs from the Broadway musical. specifically for the characters who didn’t have solo songs in the original movie.
No new songs will be added to this production, strengthening its positioning as a celebration and not as an entirely new version of The Little Mermaid.
The Wonderful World of Disney presents The Little Mermaid Live! will air Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. ET, live on ABC.
