Tony nominee Rocky Carroll (The Piano Lesson), Emmy Award winner Glynn Turman ("The Wire") and John Cothran, Jr. ("Blake Snake Howl") will be joined by Brandon Dirden (First Breeze of Summer), Jason Dirden (First Breeze of Summer), Julia Pace Mitchell (Ohio State Murders), Charlie Robinson (Jesus Hopped the "A" Train) and Michole Briana White (Of Equal Measure).
Penned by Academy Award nominee Lonne Elder, III, the classic 1969 Harlem-set drama will be directed by Judyann Elder, the widow of the late playwright. Ceremonies has announced an amended production schedule to allow for actor Glynn Turman to attend the forthcoming presidential inauguration at the invitation of President-elect Barack Obama.
Ceremonies will now run Jan. 13-18, 2009, one day earlier to the original start of production. The Jan. 17, 2009 performance has been cancelled and John Cothran, Jr. will go on for Glynn Turman in the role of Russell Parker for the Jan. 18, 2009, final performance.
"Ceremonies illuminated the dilemma of a black family living in Harlem at the dawn of the '60s," said director Judyann Elder in a statement. "In a place like Harlem, populated by marginalized people, it reflected the social, economic and political quagmire that institutionalized racism can spawn. Now, over 40 years since its conception, this American classic still resonates with clarion clarity. The United States has, with the election of Barack Obama as President, finally chosen content of character over color of skin. Nonetheless, the wretched vestiges of prejudice, impoverishment and self-victimization continue to cripple and corrupt inner-city communities all over America. And, indeed, the world."
As with all L.A.T.W. productions, Ceremonies will be presented at the Skirball Cultural Center and will be recorded and subsequently broadcast on L.A.T.W.'s nationally syndicated radio theatre series "The Play's the Thing." For tickets, priced $20-$48, to any of "The Play's The Thing" productions at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Boulevard, call the L.A. Theatre Works box office at (310) 827-0889. For more information visit latw.org.
