Sign in to your TheaterMania account

Casting has been announced for Court Theatre's production of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, to run September 17-October 18, with an opening set for September 27. Ron OJ Parson will direct.

The play is set on the South Side of Chicago, where a recording session for blues legend Ma Rainey and her band becomes a battle of wills. Greta Oglesby will play Ma Rainey, with the cast also including AC Smith (Slow Drag), Alfred Wilson (Toledo), Cedric Young (Cutler), Thomas J. Cox (Sturdyvant), Stephen Spencer (Irvin), Kristy Johnson (Dussie Mae), James T. Alfred (Levee), Kelvin Roston, Jr. (Sylvester), and David Chrzanowski (Policeman).

Oglesby understudied the role of Lena Younger in the recent Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun. Her Chicago credits include Gem of the Ocean, Amen Corner, A Raisin in the Sun, Goodbye Stranger, and Whispering City.

For more information, visit www.CourtTheatre.org.