Audra McDonald (Photo: Autumn de Wilde via The Broadway Blog.)
Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald will return to Broadway this November in a revival of Adrienne Kennedy’s searing 1992 play Ohio State Murders.
Kenny Leon directs the production, which will re-open the newly christened James Earl Jones Theatre, formerly known as the Cort Theatre.
Ohio State Murders will mark the Broadway debut of acclaimed writer Kennedy, whose plays including Funnyhouse of a Negro have been widely produced and celebrated across the world, but whose work has never been seen on the main stem.
“I am so thrilled. It’s only taken me 65 years to make it to Broadway!” said Kennedy, who is 91.
“I’m honored and humbled to be part of Adrienne Kennedy’s long-overdue Broadway debut in the newly dedicated James Earl Jones Theatre with Kenny Leon,” said McDonald. “This timeless play has a powerful resonance and relevance today, and we can’t wait to share it with the world.”
Ohio State Murders is an unusual look at the destructiveness of racism in the United States. When Suzanne Alexander (McDonald), a fictional Black writer, returns to Ohio State University to talk about the violence in her writing, a dark mystery unravels.
Previews begin November 11 ahead of a December 8 opening night. Full casting, creative team and ticket on-sale information will be announced at a later date. This inaugural production is presented by Jeffrey Richards, Lincoln Center Theater, Rebecca Gold, Jayne Baron Sherman, Hunter Arnold, Irene Gandy, Kevin Ryan/Lisa Alexander Taylor, Marc David Levine, Concord Theatricals, The Nederlander Organization and The Shubert Organization.
Earlier this year, Kennedy was awarded the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy of Arts and Letters, which is awarded to those who have achieved eminence in an entire body of work. Only four other dramatists have been awarded the Gold Medal: Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller. Ms. Kennedy has been contributing to American theater for over six decades, and is best known for her plays such as June and Jean in Concert and Sleep Deprivation Chamber.
