PHOTO CALL: Pullman Porter Blues, Starring Cleavant Derricks, Arrives at DC's Arena Stage

By Krissie Fullerton
30 Nov 2012

Tony Award winner Cleavant Derricks and the company of the play-with-music Pullman Porter Blues — seen earlier this fall in Seattle — began the second leg of the co-production with Seattle Repertory Theatre Nov. 23 at Arena Stage in Washington, DC.

Pullman Porter Blues is a commission of Seattle Rep's New Play Program. It is the first of the organization's commissions to debut on the main stage (it played Seattle Sept. 27-Oct. 28). Its DC run, at Arena Stage's Mead Center for American Theater's Kreeger Theater, continues to Jan. 6, 2013.

Derricks (Dreamgirls, Brooklyn) leads a cast that also includes E. Faye Butler, Emily Chisholm, James Patrick Hill, Lamar Lofton, Felicia Loud, Larry Marshall, Warner Miller, Richard Ziman, musical director/arranger Jmichael and Seattle musical icon Chic Street Man.

Here's how Pullman Porter Blues is billed: "It's 1937, and three generations of porters are hard at work on the luxurious Panama Limited train. Midwest blues songs flavor their journey from Chicago to New Orleans as the porters confront dark secrets from their past and tough truths about their future together. This captivating coming of age story is woven with iconic blues music and features a live band."

Here's a look at the production:

View the Entire Photo Gallery
Larry Marshall, Cleavant Derricks and Warner MIller
Photo by Chris Bennion


For more information, please visit ArenaStage.org.