The Huntington in association with Alliance Theatre and Front Porch Arts Collective announces the cast and creative team of Fat Ham, the acclaimed new play written by James Ijames and directed by Tony Award-nominated Stevie Walker-Webb.The production runs from Friday, September 22 – Sunday, October 22, 2023 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont St).
In this deliciously funny, Pulitzer Prize-winning new play, sweet and sensitive Juicy wants to make his own way as a queer Black man growing up in a Southern family, until his father’s ghost turns up at a backyard barbecue and insists that Juicy avenge his murder. Ay, there’s the rub!
“James Ijames’ brilliant, hilarious play is Hamlet and is not Hamlet,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “This is the beginning of our rigorous exploration of the classics – powerful stories that continue to speak to us – as re-dreamt for our time. In Ijames’ deft hands this exploration of masculinity, queerness, and familial acceptance boasts of muscular language, emotional truth, and the wildly entertaining foibles of family.”
This smart and sharp reinvention of Shakespeare’s masterpiece premiered in a filmed production for the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia in 2021 before making its Off Broadway debut at the Public Theater the following year. The play won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and in spring of 2023, the Public Theater transferred their production to Broadway where it received five Tony Award nominations and even more critical acclaim. The New York Times called it “Hot and sizzling! A raucous, flat-out hilarious comedy! Fat Ham is a revelation!”
“I am very excited for Fat Ham to meet the audiences in Boston. The play has a powerful message of transformation, radical acceptance, and joy! This show is for anyone looking for a space of liberation and beauty.”
Playwright James Ijames
The cast of Fat Ham includes:
- James T. Alfred as Rev
- Amar Atkins as Larry
- Thomika Marie Bridwell as Rabby
- Marshall W. Mabry IV as Juicy
- Lau’rie Roach as Tio
- Victoria Omoregie as Opal
- Ebony Marshall-Oliver as Tedra
- Understudies include: David J. Castillo, Vincent Ernest Siders, Kai Tshikosi, and Shanelle Chloe Villegas.
The creative team for Fat Ham includes scenic design by Luciana Stecconi (Witch and The Art of Burning at The Huntington), costume design by Celeste Jennings (Malvolio at Classical Theatre of Harlem), lighting design by Xiangfu Xiao (The Diamond at Pregones/PRTT), sound design by Aubrey Dube (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and Clyde’s at The Huntington), hair and wig design by Earon Nealey (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at The Huntington), and illusions design by Evan Northrup (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at The Huntington. The choreographer is PJ Johnnie Jr, dialect coach is Amani Dorn, and the fight choreographer and intimacy coach is Jesse Hinson. The associate director is Dawn M. Simmons. The production stage manager is R. Lamar Williams and the stage manager is Ashley Pitchford.
Evan Northrup is a resident of Lynn and will be the illusions designer on this production. Some background on Evan…
- The Huntington: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, I Was Most Alive with You.
- Regional: Fast Company (Lyric Stage Company); Carnival (Gloucester Stage Company); The Tempest(Camden Shakespeare Festival); A Bright Room Called Day (Flat Earth Theater Company); Dracula(Salem Theater Company).
- Other: The Spirits Speak (The National Parks Service)
- Education: BA (Brown University), also has studied magic at institutions including the McBride Magic & Mystery School (Las Vegas, NV) and the Real Centro Universitario María Cristina (El Escorial, Spain)
- Member: The Society of American Magicians
- Learn more: EvanNorthrup.com
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating over 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community. Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life- changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA.
The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; a storied venue with a bold vision for the future, the renovation and building project will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org
The above press release was submitted to us by The Huntington Theatre.
The above was edited for brevity, and the full release can be found here.
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