Alicia Keys To Present Kenny Leon’s Stick Fly on Broadwayby Wilson Morales
June 27, 2011
In the same way that Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jay-Z got together to help promote the musical ‘Fela!’ on Broadway, Grammy winning artist Alicia Keys, along with Tyler Perry co-hort Reuben Cannon and Nelle Nugent will present the Broadway premiere of STICK FLY, the critically-acclaimed American play by Lydia R. Diamond and directed by Kenny Leon, opening on Broadway on Thursday, December 8, 2011 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 W. 45th Street).
STICK FLY follows the LeVays, an affluent African American family who come together to spend a summer weekend at their Martha’s Vineyard home. The adult sons, aspiring novelist Kent and golden boy plastic surgeon Flip, have each brought their respective ladies (one Black and one White) to meet the parents. Food, drink and Trivial Pursuit tangle with class, race and identity politics in this contemporary comedy of manners.
“This is a story that everybody can relate to,” said producer Alicia Keys. “I’m passionate about this play because it is so beautifully written and portrays Black America in a way that we don’t often get to see in entertainment. I know it will touch all audiences, who will find a piece of themselves somewhere inside this house.”
“Stick Fly is one of those unique plays with a beauty that lies in its universality,” said director Kenny Leon. “Lydia Diamond is a master storyteller, combining humor with intellect. Her reach is as great as my friend August Wilson – her poetry and the world of the characters may differ, but the results are the same: an evening full of laughter and thought that keeps us talking long after we’ve left the theatre. I love plays where everyone can find themselves in the story on stage.”
This is the second production that Leon will be directing this year. He’s already attached to Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop, which Samuel L. Jackson, along with Angela Bassett, is already attached to star in as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Mountaintop will begin performances on Tuesday, September 22, 2011, with an official opening on Thursday, October 13, 2011.
