Keystrokes By KimberlyMarch 6, 2017
For Immediate Release
Contact: Brenda Moorer, Marketing & Sales Manager
404.523.1901 x201; bmoorer@truecolorstheatre.org
Tony Award-Winning Director Kenny Leon Hosts Town Hall Meeting on the Importance of Theatre in the Community
March 6, 2017 (Atlanta, GA) – Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre hosts a town hall meeting on the importance of theatre in our community on Thursday March 16 at 7 PM at Fulton County’s Southwest Arts Center. Immediately following the meeting, attendees are invited to stay for True Colors Theatre production of Exit Strategy at 8PM. Exit Strategy runs one hour and thirty minutes with no intermission. All town hall attendees receive $10 Exit Strategy tickets with the promo code TOWNHALL (Cannot be combined with other offers. Valid Thursday March 16 only). Please purchase tickets to the show in advance.
KENNY LEON is a Tony Award-winning Broadway and film director. His Broadway credits include the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun (Tony Award Winner for Best Direction of a Play and Best Revival), The Mountaintop starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett, Stick Fly produced by Alicia Keys, August Wilson’s Fences (which garnered ten Tony nominations and won three Tony Awards including Best Revival), the 2004 revival of A Raisin in the Sun with Sean P. Diddy Combs, Gem of the Ocean, Radio Golf and the 2014 premiere of Holler if You Hear Me, a new musical created using the music of Tupac Shakur. Leon’s recent film and tv work includes “The Wiz LIVE!” for NBC, “In My Dreams” for Hallmark Hall of Fame, “The Watsons go to Birmingham” for Walden Media and Hallmark, and the Sony and Lifetime TV adaptation of “Steel Magnolias”. Leon was awarded the 2010 Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing by the Drama League of New York. Prior to co-founding True Colors Theatre Company, he served 11 years as Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre, where he produced the premieres of Disney’s Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida, Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky and Alfred Uhry’s The Last Night of Ballyhoo. Other directorial credits include Toni Morrison’s opera Margaret Garner, the world premiere of Flashdance: The Musical, and the complete August Wilson Century Cycle at the Kennedy Center. He has directed extensively throughout the US, including Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, Boston’s Huntington Theatre, Baltimore’s Center Stage, Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group and New York’s Public Theatre. He served as the 2014 Denzel Washington Endowed Chair of Theatre at Fordham University. Mr. Leon is an alumni of Clark Atlanta University. Up next Leon is directing “Hairspray LIVE!” for NBC which aired on December 7, 2016 at 8 PM.
Exit Strategy is a hilarious comedy with an honest view point, centering on a Chicago public high school that is slated for closure at the end of the year. The impending shut-down causes tensions in the school’s already volcanic neighborhood to rise to the breaking point. As a small group of teachers launch a last-minute battle to save the school, they put their careers, future, and safety in the hands of a fast-talking administrator who comes on strong; but might actually have no clue what he’s doing. With our education system at the forefront of discussions in our community, Exit Strategy is timely, relevant, and relatable. Contains Adult Language.
More than a play about a failing school, Holter has written a play about people, about community, about what matters to them, and the lengths they are willing to go to when they believe in something deeply. Starring Tracey Bonner (Sadie), Diany Rodriguez (Jania), Ralph Del Rosario (Luce), Laurie Roach (Donnie), Matthew Busch (Ricky), Tess Malis Kincaid (Pam) and Bill Murphey (Arnold).
“Exit Strategy is at once poetic, political, sad, funny, timely, complex and compassionate, Ike Holter’s thrilling, beautiful new play…” Chicago Tribune
CALENDAR LISTING:
Kenny Leon’s Town Hall Meeting on the Importance of Theatre in the Community
Southwest Arts Center
915 New Hope Rd
Atlanta, GA 30331
Thursday March 16 @ 7 PM
Tickets and Season Subscriptions are available by contacting Ticket Alternative at 1.877.725.8849 or www.ticketalternative.com or through the True Colors website at www.truecolorstheatre.org
Group Sales are available by contacting True Colors’ Group Sales department at 404.523.1901 ext. 201.
MEDIA
Interviews with the cast and design team can be arranged through Brenda Moorer: Bmoorer@truecolorstheatre.org, 404-532.1901 x. 201. Photos are available upon request.
TRUE COLORS SEASON SPONSORS
Delta Air Lines, AT&T, Metro Atlanta Arts Fund, Bank of America, Georgia Power, Turner Broadcasting, Georgia Pacific, The Coca-Cola Company, Macy’s, National Endowment for the Arts Art Works, Time Warner, The Zeist Foundation, Radio One Atlanta, WCLK Jazz 91.9, The Shubert Foundation, Fulton County Arts Council, City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, Georgia Council for the Arts.
ABOUT TRUE COLORS THEATRE COMPANY
True Colors Theatre Company is a national theatre company based in Atlanta, GA. Lead by Artistic Director Kenny Leon, and Managing Director Jennifer Dwyer McEwen, True Colors mission is grounded and centered in the rich canon of African American classics with a strong commitment to diverse new voices. True Colors strives to be an important voice in the American discussion of diversity including plays and playwrights from various times, cultures and perspectives. True Colors’ next shows are Ike Holter’s Exit Strategy directed in February 2017 and Between Riverside and Crazy playing in July 2017.