Tony and Emmy winner LaChanze will moderate the first post-show talk for Broadway's Fat Ham which has announced a series of community night performances and post-show talkbacks. National Black Theatre, which is one of the show's producers, will host the first such event March 31 at 8 PM with LaChanze moderating a conversation between members of the cast and NBT CEO Sade Lythcott and Executive Artistic Director Jonathan McCrory.
Fat Ham will also host Queer Youth Night March 24, Women's History Night March 30, Philly Phat Ham Night at the April 2 matinee, and a Community Night April 14. More events will be announced at a later date.
James Ijames' Pulitzer-winning play, directed by Saheem Ali, is the first National Black Theatre production (co-produced by The Public Theater) to transfer to Broadway. It began previews March 21 and will open April 12 in the American Airlines Theatre where it plays a strictly limited engagement.
Ijames reinvents Shakespeare's classic tragedy Hamlet, moving the setting to a Southern cookout as queer college kid Juicy has to grapple with identity questions, the ghost of his father, and a supernatural demand for vengeance. His choice? Whether to break or perpetuate cycles of trauma and violence.
Moving uptown from Off-Broadway's The Public Theater, where Fat Ham played an award-winning engagement, the show features the return of the full cast from the Off-Broadway run of The Public and National Black Theatre co-production. It stars Nikki Crawford as Tedra, Chris Herbie Holland as Tio, Billy Eugene Jones as Rev and Pap, Adrianna Mitchell as Opal, Calvin Leon Smith as Larry, Marcel Spears as Juicy, and Benja Kay Thomas as Rabby; Crawford, Holland, Mitchell, Smith, and Spears are all making their Broadway debuts.
Joining the Broadway cast as understudies are RJ Foster, Marquis D. Gibson, Alexandria Lewis, Matthew Elijah Webb, and Rema Webb.
WATCH: The Cast of Fat Ham Is Celebrating Queer, Black Joy. And They're Inviting You to the BBQ
Ali, who directed the Off-Broadway production, also makes his Main Stem debut. The creative team also features the return of scenic designer Maruti Evans, costume designer Dominique Fawn Hill, sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman, choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie, hair and wig designer Earon Chew Nealey, and illusions designer Skylar Fox. They are joined by lighting designer Bradley King, fight director Lisa Kopitsky, and singing coach Deborah Lapidus. Casting is by Kate Murray.
A rush policy was also announced earlier this week.
Fat Ham is produced on Broadway by the recently announced Cynthia Erivo, Rashad V. Chambers, No Guarantees and Public Theater Productions, while Andy Jones and Dylan Pager serve as executive producers. Tony nominee Colman Domingo serves as a co-producer.
For tickets to NBT Night, click here.
