Hicks, Jelks, et al. to Join Uggams in Signature’s The First Breeze of Summer

Full casting has been announced for the Signature Theatre Company’s production of Leslie Lee’s award-winning play The First Breeze of Summer, to run August 5-September 28, with an official opening slated for August 21.

The play, about three generations of an African-American family who get together on a single weekend, will be directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Additional cast and creative team will be announced shortly.

As previously announced, the production will star Tony Award winner Leslie Uggams. The cast will also feature Quincy Dunn Baker, Harvey Blanks, Yaya DaCosta, Sandra Daley, Crystal Anne Dickinson, Brandon Dirden, Jason Dirden, Marva Hicks, John Earl Jelks, Tuck Milligan, Gilbert Owuor, Brenda Pressley, and Keith Randolph Smith.

The creative team will include Michael Carnahan (set), Karen Perry (costumes), Marcus Doshi (lighting), David Margolin Lawson (sound), and Bill Sims, Jr. (arrangements and music direction).

Next up in the Signature season, which celebrates the historic Negro Ensemble Company, will be Samm-Art Williams’ Home (November 11-December 4) and Charles Fuller’s Zooman and the Sign (March 3-April 19), about a neighborhood terrorized by a murderous teen, to be directed by actor Stephen McKinley Henderson. In addition, there will be a staged reading of Douglas Turner Ward’s Day of Absence, as well as a series of Monday night readings.

For more information, visit www.signaturetheatre.org.