Lackawanna Blues with Wright, Schreiber, Smits, Perez To Air on HBO in Feb. 2005

By Ernio Hernandez
11 Nov 2004

Ruben Santiago-Hudson's HBO screen adaptation of his Lackawanna Blues set to star Jeffrey Wright, Liev Schreiber, Jimmy Smits, Rosie Perez and the scribe himself, will debut on the cable network in Feb. 2005.

Outgoing Public Theatre director George C. Wolfe (Caroline, or Change) will direct the work based on the Obie Award-winning play. Halle Berry, Vincent Cirrincione, Shelby Stone and Santiago-Hudson executive produce the work with Nellie Nugiel producing, according to HBO.

Lackawanna Blues played Off-Broadway at The Public Theatre in 2001 written by and starring Tony Award winner Santiago-Hudson (Seven Guitars). Set in 1956 in Lackawanna, New York, the play centers on Miss Rachel's boarding house, a gathering spot for pseudo-philosophers, petty hustlers, lost souls and abandoned lovers.

The ensemble cast features Carmen Ejogo (HBO's "Boycott"), Marcus Carl Franklin (Caroline, or Change), Louis Gossett Jr. (A Raisin in the Sun, Chicago), singer Macy Gray ("Training Day"), Hill Harper (Dogeaters, Blue), Terrence Howard ("The Best Man," HBO's "Boycott"), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Lackawanna Blues), Delroy Lindo (Joe Turner's Come and Gone, "The Cider House Rules"), S. Epatha Merkerson (Fucking A, "Law & Order"), Rosie Perez (Reckless, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune), Liev Schreiber (Henry V, "Scream"), Henry Simmons ("NYPD Blue"), Jimmy Smits (Anna in the Tropics, "NYPD Blue") and Jeffery Wright (Angels in America, Topdog/Underdog).

Originally a one-man piece, the actor-playwright portrayed over twenty characters with original music composed and performed by guitarist Bill Sims. He also toured with the work.

HBO Films presentations have included the screen versions of the Tectonic Theatre's The Laramie Project and Tony Kushner's Angels in America. Recent films have include stage stars as Nine's Antonio Banderas ("And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself"), Private Lives' Alan Rickman and Topdog/ Underdog's Mos Def ("Something the Lord Made") and Avenue Q's Jordan Gelber with Dracula's Stephen McKinley Henderson ("Everyday People"). Up next, Geoffrey Rush stars in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" will star John Lithgow (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and Stanley Tucci (Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune).

For more information, visit HBO Films online at www.hbo.com/films.