Kent Gash directs the new work that uses Hughes' own words to tell his journey. Performances will begin April 9 toward an April 15 opening night at Urban Stages' midtown home. The show is scheduled to run through May 2.

Langston In Harlem features music by Walter Marks, lyrics by Langston Hughes and a book credited to Hughes, Marks and Gash. Musical direction is by Barry Levitt and choreography is by Byron Easley.

The new musical — which infuses Hughes' words with jazz, gospel, R&B, swing and dance — is "set in the African-American cultural capital of Harlem from the Harlem Renaissance through the Civil Rights movement," according to a show announcement. Langston in Harlem "tells the story of Langston Hughes' journey into manhood and his emergence as one of the most beloved and forward thinking artists of our time."

Josh Tower (The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin) stars as the title character in a cast that also includes Jordan Barbour (Stormy Weather), Francesca Harper (Fosse, The Producers), Boise Holmes ("CSI: Miami," The Lion King), Dell Howlett (Bombay Dreams, "Across The Universe"), Krisha Marcano (The Color Purple), Kenita Miller (Xanadu, The Color Purple), Gayle Turner (The Wiz), Glenn Turner, C. Kelly Wright (A Little Princess).

The design team features Emily Beck (scenic), William H. Grant, III (lighting), Austin Sanderson (costume) and Jason Fitzgerald (sound). Langston in Harlem is produced by arrangement with Langston, Ltd. and executive producer Jon Kimbell/SenovvA, Inc.

Tickets to Langston in Harlem at Urban Stages, 259 West 30 Street (between Seventh and Eighth Avenue), are available by calling (212) 868-4444. For more information, visit urbanstages.org.