The headliners of Broadway's Superior Donuts, now playing at The Music Box Theater, have been billed as stage and screen vet Michael McKean and the play's scribe, Tracey Letts, of Pulitzer Prize fame for her recent August: Osage County. Yet, The New York Times reveals that immersed in the shows ensemble is another star in Jon Michael Hill, a big name in the Chicago theater scene (where Donuts originated), though relatively unknown to the New York and L.A. worlds.
In Superior Donuts, Arthur Przybyszewski (Michael McKean) owns a decrepit donut shop in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. The provocative comedy, set in the heart of one of Chicago's most diverse communities, explores the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive power of friendship.
A Steppenwolf member for three years, in Donuts, Hill plays Franco, the down-and-out African American teen who strives to leave his mark in the world despite economic and social hardships brought on by poverty. He serves as the donut shop assistant to McKean's character, who spends his free time filling notebooks with script he believes will be American's next great novel.
According to the Times, it was Hill's participation that sealed the deal for the show's famed director, Tina Landau.
Writes the Times: "Jon was one reason I said, ‘Count me in,' " said Tina Landau, a Steppenwolf ensemble member who directed the play in Chicago and New York. "He's completely mercurial. He can do everything and its opposite. That's so exciting to see in a young actor."
To read the full profile in the Times, click here.
Jon Michael Hill made his Steppenwolf debut as Etienne in The Unmentionables, and reprised his role at Yale Repertory Theatre. Jon is a graduate of the acting program at the University of Illinois where he appeared in productions of King Lear, Brecht on Brecht, Six Degrees of Separation and A Flea in Her Ear. Jon played Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream for The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park in New York.
He and McKean are joined on Broadway in Donuts by Steppenwolf ensemble members, Yasen Peyankov and James Vincent Meredith with Jane Alderman, Kate Buddeke, Cliff Chamberlain, Michael Garvey, Robert Maffia and Michael McKean. "Superior Donuts" is written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning ensemble member Tracy Letts and directed by ensemble member Tina Landau. The play enjoyed a sold-out, world-premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company last summer. The production is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian and Jerry Frankel.
"Superior Donuts" follows Letts' Tony Award-winning play "August: Osage County" (which had also its sold-out, world-premiere at Steppenwolf) into The Music Box Theatre. Tickets for "Superior Donuts" are on sale through Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200. "Superior Donuts" will perform Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m.
