Theater News

Ohio State Murders, Starring Audra McDonald, Completes Broadway Casting

Performances begin this November at the James Earl Jones Theatre.

Audra McDonald will lead the cast of Adrienne Kennedy's Ohio State Murders on Broadway.
Audra McDonald will lead the cast of Adrienne Kennedy's Ohio State Murders on Broadway.
(© David Gordon)

Complete casting has been announced for the Broadway premiere of Adrienne Kennedy's Ohio State Murders, starring six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald. The production will begin performances November 11 ahead of a December 8 opening at the newly renamed James Earl Jones Theatre.

As previously announced, Tony nominee Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder) and Drama Desk nominee Lizan Mitchell (On Sugarland) will join McDonald in the cast. Rounding out the company will be Mister Fitzgerald, Abigail Stephenson, Brett Diggs, Brooke Gardner, Christina Pedersen, and Gayle Samuels. Tony winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun) directs.

Ohio State Murders is described as follows: "When writer Suzanne Alexander (McDonald) returns to her alma mater as a guest speaker, in which she explores the violence in her works, a dark mystery unravels. Adrienne Kennedy's Ohio State Murders is an intriguing and unusual suspense play, as well as a socially pertinent look at the destructiveness of racism in our society." The play was first staged in 1992 at the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, and had its New York premiere at the Duke on 42nd Street in 2007, starring LisaGay Hamilton.

The production marks Kennedy's long-awaited Broadway debut at the age of 91.

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