For 50 years, the elite boarding school Charles R. Drew Prep has stood by its traditions and prepared young black men to lead. But times and finances have changed, and the pressure on Drew’s legendary gospel choir is high. So when Pharus, an ambitious and talented student, is told to ignore a gay slur to take his place as the choir’s leader, he has to decide who he is and what he’s willing to fight for. A music-filled story of masculinity, tradition, coming of age, and speaking your truth from the writer of The Brother/Sister Trilogy (The Brothers Size, In the Red and Brown Water, Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet).
Runtime: This performance will run approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission.
Choir Boy is funded in part by the D. C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Studio Theatre is also grateful to the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation for its generous support of this production.
Studio Theatre thanks the National Endowment for the Arts, John Horman, and Toni Ritzenberg for their support of Choir Boy.
Tarell Alvin McCraney is best known for his acclaimed trilogy, The Brother/Sister Plays: The Brothers Size, In the Red and Brown Water, and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet. They have been performed at McCarter Theater in Princeton, The Public Theater in New York, Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, at a trio of theaters in the Bay Area: Marin Theatre Company, ACT, and Magic Theatre, as well as the Young Vic in London (Olivier Award nomination) and around the world. Other plays include The Breach (Southern Rep, Seattle Rep), Wig Out! (Sundance Theatre Institute, Royal Court, and Vineyard Theatre - GLAAD Award for Outstanding Play), and American Trade (Royal Shakespeare Company/Hampstead Theatre). Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where he is an ensemble member, will produce the world premiere of his commissioned play, Head of Passes in the spring of 2013.
Tarell was the Royal Shakespeare Company’s International Playwright in Residence in 2009-2011, where he co-edited and directed the Young People's Shakespeare production of Hamlet which toured throughout the UK and was presented at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. He is the recipient of the prestigious Whiting Award and Steinberg Playwright Award, as well as London's Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, the inaugural New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, and the inaugural Paula Vogel Playwriting Award.
He is a graduate from the New World School of the Arts High School, the Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, and the Yale School of Drama. He is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and a member of Teo Castellanos/D-Projects in Miami.
(As of July 2014)
Kent Gash returns to Studio for Wig Out! after directing Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy (2015) at Studio Theatre and as a result of that production has been the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Artist in Residence for 2016-17. Mr. Gash is the founding director of the NYU Tisch New Studio on Broadway. New York credits include the World Premiere production of Barbecue at The Public Theater, Broke-Ology at the Juilliard School, the Off Broadway premiere of Miss Ever’s Boys for the Melting Pot Theatre Company, the world premiere musical Call the Children Home for Primary Stages, the York Theatre concert presentation of Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday, and Samm-Art William’s Home. Future projects include Gem of the Ocean at South Coast Rep and The Wiz at Ford’s Theatre. Mr. Gash has numerous regional credits across the country including Signature Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Marin Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Play House, Denver Center Theatre Company, McCarter Theater, Sundance Theatre Institute, Intiman Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, The Kennedy Center, Arizona Theatre Company, San Jose Rep, Trinity Rep, Hartford Stage Company, and Maltz-Jupiter Theatre. Mr. Gash formerly served as the Associate Artistic Director for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and as the Associate Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre. Mr. Gash holds a BFA in acting from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA in directing from UCLA.
(As of July 2017)
Darius Smith is pleased to return to Studio Theatre, where he served as music director on Carrie the Musical. His New York theatre credits include Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds Off Broadway and his original song cycle Songs in the Key of Chocolate at 54 Below. His local work as a music director includes productions of Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Once on This Island at Olney Theatre Center, Dreamgirls at Signature Theatre as Associate Music Director, and Glimpses of the Moon at MetroStage, among others. As a composer/lyricist, he has provided music and lyrics for The Snowy Day at Adventure Theatre MTC (Helen Hayes Award nomination, Outstanding TYA Production) and U.G.L.Y. at The Kennedy Center. His upcoming projects include Petit Rouge at Adventure Theatre MTC and Soon at Signature Theatre.
(As of December 2014)
Marty Austin Lamar appeared in Miss Ever’s Boys in New York. His regional credits include Ragtime at Portland Center Stage; Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Hairspray at Weathervane Theatre; Big River at Mill Mountain Theatre; La Traviata, Hamlet, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Godspell at the University of Florida; and Dreamgirls and Five Guys Named Moe at Florida A&M University. Mr. Lamar also toured Greece with the University of Florida’s production of Lysistrata. His television work includes Law & Order: SVU. He received his undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University and his MFA from the University of Florida. He is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association.
(As of December 2014)
Jelani Alladin makes his Studio Theatre debut. His New York credits include Madame Infamy as a part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival and Macbeth at the Park Avenue Armory (Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh, dir.). Other roles include Phil D’Armano in The Wild Party, Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime, Mr. Franklin/Joop/Venus in Passing Strange, and the title role in Julius Caesar at NYU. Mr. Alladin is a recent graduate from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ New Studio on Broadway.
(As of December 2014)
Alan Wade previously appeared at Studio Theatre as Michael in Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me and The Astronaut in Imagine Drowning. He appeared last summer as Gonzalo in The Tempest at Olney Theatre where he has appeared in and directed numerous productions over the last three decades. He has also appeared locally at Arena Stage, Metro Stage, Washington Stage Guild, Horizons Theatre, and the Potomac Theatre Project, and Off Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company. His film and television credits include The Pelican Brief, Major League II, Homicide, and A Man Called Hawk. A professor at The George Washington University for almost four decades, Mr. Wade now serves as Interim Director of the University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design.
(As of December 2014)
Eric Lockley makes his Studio Theatre debut. Recent stage credits include How We Got On at Cleveland Play House and the world premiere of Black Odyssey at Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Lockley has also written, performed, and produced his own solo shows, including Asking For More, a show that encourages diet and fitness education in urban communities, which he most recently performed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Mr. Lockley is the recipient of a Theater Hall of Fame Award and an OBIE Award. His work in film and television has been showcased on HBO, MTV, and BET. He can be seen in the upcoming short film Knockout Game. Mr. Lockley is a Baltimore native and graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
(As of December 2014)
Jaysen Wright returns to Studio for Wig Out! after performances in Choir Boy and The Rocky Horror Show. Selected credits include Smart People at Arena Stage; Choir Boy at Marin Theater Company; A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theater; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and Looking for Roberto Clemente at Imagination Stage; Sons of the Prophet at Theater J; Now Comes the Night and Take Me Out at 1st Stage; and Measure for Measure, Wallenstein, and Coriolanus at Shakespeare Theatre Company. He recently had a supporting role in the independent feature film Saints Rest. Mr. Wright holds an MFA in acting from Indiana University.
(As of July 2017)
Keith Antone makes his Studio Theatre debut. Mr. Antone was last seen Off Broadway in For Vixens Who’ve Considered Homicide…. His regional credits include Passing Strange with Counter Productions and The Color Purple and Hair at White Plains Performing Arts Center. Mr. Antone has also toured nationally with Nickelodeon.
(As of December 2014)
Jonathan Burke is pleased to make his Studio Theatre debut. A Baltimore native and graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts, Mr. Burke was most recently seen in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His other national tours include Mary Poppins, A Christmas Story: The Musical, and Cats. Mr. Burke was seen Off Broadway in the world premiere of Langston in Harlem as well as in Jazz A La Carte at the Apollo Theatre with Savion Glover. Regionally, his work includes Amazing Grace at Goodspeed Opera House, Hairspray at Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Rent at the Hangar Theatre, Goddess at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Dreamgirls at Portland Center Stage, and The Wiz at Center Stage. He has been seen on television in the TV Land Awards, on video in The Broadway Warm-Up and in commercials for Daffy’s Dance and Joe’s Crab Shack. Mr. Burke holds a BFA from Ithaca College.
(As of December 2014)
Jason Sherwood returns to Studio Theatre for Wig Out! after previously designing Choir Boy. Mr. Sherwood recently designed the stage adaptation of Frozen for Disney Creative Entertainment. His Off Broadway design for the new musical The View UpStairs was honored with Drama Desk Award and Lucille Lortel Award nominations. Other recent credits include designs for Saturday Night Live, New York Theatre Workshop, the Old Globe, Signature Theatre, Denver Center, 5th Avenue Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, the Alliance, Studio Theatre, Ford’s Theater, and Kansas City Rep. He is an NYU graduate, a repeat guest artist at Yale, a Henry Hewes Design Award nominee, and was named a “Designer to Watch” by LiveDesign Magazine.
(As of July 2017)
Dawn Chiang was previously the lighting designer for Wig Out! and Choir Boy at Studio Theatre. On Broadway, Dawn designed Zoot Suit and was co-designer for Tango Pasion. Off Broadway, she has designed for Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, and the Encores! concert musicals. Dawn was Resident Lighting Designer for New York City Opera. She has designed for Arena Stage, Denver Center Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Mark Taper Forum, and the Guthrie Theater. Awards include two Lighting Designer of the Year Awards (Syracuse) and two Drama-Logue Awards (Los Angeles).
(As of August 2019)
Kathleen Geldard returns to Studio Theatre after designing Cry It Out, Curve of Departure, Animal, Choir Boy, Jumpers for Goalposts, Tribes, and Invisible Man. Other recent regional credits include Macbeth at Shakespeare Theatre Company; Misery and Shakespeare in Love at Cincinnati Playhouse; and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime; and Humana Festivals 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Other regional credits include Arena Stage, Portland Center Stage, Huntington Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Signature Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, The Kennedy Center, Round House Theatre, Imagination Stage, and Folger Theatre. She is an artistic associate for Signature Theatre.
(As of January 2019)
Kenny Neal returns to Studio for Straight White Men after having designed Jumpers for Goalposts and Choir Boy. Other credits include The Gulf for Signature Theatre; Floyd Collins, Old Wicked Songs (2016 Helen Hayes nomination for Sound Design), and Bat Boy for 1st Stage; Cancun for GALA Hispanic Theatre; Caesar & DADA for WSC Avant Bard; Over Her Dead Body, The Last Burlesque, and Bondage for Pinky Swear Productions; Cherry Smoke for Round House Theatre; and Happiness (and Other Reasons To Die) for The Welders. He regularly designs for Adventure Theatre MTC, The Smithsonian’s Discovery Theater, Signature in the Schools, Georgetown University, and American University.
(As of October 2016)
Lauren Halvorsen is in her ninth season as Studio’s Associate Literary Director. Her dramaturgy credits here include Doubt, P.Y.G. or the Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle, Admissions, Kings, If I Forget, Vietgone, The Wolves, Skeleton Crew, The Father, Three Sisters, The Hard Problem, Hand to God, Moment, Between Riverside and Crazy, Chimerica, The Wolfe Twins, Belleville, Water by the Spoonful, Tribes, The Real Thing, The Motherfucker with the Hat, The Aliens, Bachelorette, The Big Meal, and Time Stands Still. Previously, Lauren spent three seasons as Literary Manager of The Alley Theatre. She was the Artistic Associate of the WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory for six years and has worked in various artistic capacities for The Kennedy Center, City Theatre Company, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, First Person Arts Festival, and The Wilma Theater. Lauren is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College.
(As of December 2019)
John Keith Hall's DC credits include many productions at Studio Theatre including Bad Jews, Choir Boy, Water by the Spoonful, Tribes, Torch Song Trilogy, 4000 Miles, Sucker Punch, In The Red And Brown Water, The History Boys, Adding Machine: A Musical, and The Road To Mecca; Hir, The Nether, and An Octoroon at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Soon, SCKBSTD, and West Side Story at Signature Theatre; Sweeney Todd, Mary Poppins, and The Producers at Olney Theatre Center. Regional credits include several seasons as a Resident Stage Manager at The Barter Theatre in Virginia where he supervised over 40 productions, Shadowland Stages in New York, and Virginia Musical Theatre in Virginia Beach. A graduate of Virginia’s Longwood University, Mr. Hall is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association.
(As of September 2017)
