Anika Noni Rose to Star in Classic Stage's CARMEN JONES

Classic Stage Company announced today that Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose will play the title role in the company's new production of the musical CARMEN JONES beginning performances Friday, June 8 at CSC (136 East 13th Street). Directed by CSC's Tony Award-winning Artistic Director John Doyle and choreographed by Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones, CARMEN JONES features book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and music by Georges Bizet.

The first major New York revival of the musical since its Broadway debut 75 years ago, CARMEN JONES will play a limited engagement through Sunday, July 29. CARMEN JONES will mark the finale of CSC's 50th Anniversary Season. Joining Rose in the cast of CARMEN JONES are David Aron Damane (Husky Miller), Erica Dorfler (Myrt), Andrea Jones-Sojola (Sally), Justin Keyes (Rum), Lindsay Roberts (Cindy Lou), Soara-Joye Ross (Frankie), Lawrence E. Street (Dink) and Tramell Tillman (Sergeant Brown). (The role of Joe will be cast shortly.)

Anika Noni Rose (Carmen Jones) received a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her 2004 performance in Caroline, or Change, and a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actress in Play for A Raisin In the Sun in 2014, co-starring Denzel Washington. She co-starred in the smash hit film version of Dreamgirls as Lorelle Robinson. She also starred opposite James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad in the Broadway revival of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. She received wide acclaim for her performance as Kizzy in the recent History Channel remake of Roots, for which she received an NAACP Image Award nomination as Best Actress. She recently starred in the BET television series The Quad.

Set in the South as World War II rages overseas, CARMEN JONES tells the story of a tempestuous parachute factory worker who ignites her own battle in a tragic love triangle with an airman and a prizefighter. Adapted from Bizet's legendary opera Carmen, Hammerstein shifted the story from Spain to World War II America, featuring an all African-American cast. CARMEN JONES premiered on Broadway in 1943 and ran for over 500 performances. A 1954 film version, directed by Otto Preminger, starred Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte.

Scenic design for CARMEN JONES is by Tony Award winner Scott Pask, costumes by Tony Award winner Ann Hould-Ward, lighting by Adam Honoré, sound by Dan Moses Shreier and casting by Telsey + Company. Music supervision and orchestrations are by Joseph Joubert.

CARMEN JONES will perform Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7 pm; Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 3 and 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm. Tickets are $65 ($55 during previews). Prime seats are $125. For tickets, visit classicstage.org, call (212) 352-3101 or (866) 811-4111, or in person at the box office (136 East 13th Street).

Classic Stage Company, CSC, is committed to re-imagining classic stories for contemporary audiences. the company has been a home for New York's finest established and emerging artists to grapple with the great works of the world's repertory that speak directly to the issues of today. CSC serves an average of 35,000 audience members annually, including more than 4,000 students through its nationally recognized education programs. Productions have been cited repeatedly by all the major Off-Broadway theater awards including the Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work.

Anika Noni Rose (Carmen Jones) most recently starred in the BET's series The Quad, which premiered season 2 in January 2018. She will soon be seen in the upcoming thriller, Assassination Nation alongside Suki Waterhouse which debuted at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Anika was most recently seen in the film, Everything, Everything based off the popular young adult novel of the same name by Nicola Yoon. The film also starred Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson. Previously Anika starred in History Channel's adaption of Rootsas Kizzy. Her performance received a nomination for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Actress. She had a guest arc in the Starz hit series Power as LaVerne "Jukebox" Thomas this past summer and quickly became a fan favorite. Anika has starred alongside Denzel Washington in the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun. Her outstanding performance not only earned her numerous rave reviews, but also a Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle nominations.

On the big screen, Anika starred as 'Lorell Robinson' in Dreamgirls which went on to receive an AFI ensemble award, as well as SAG award nomination for outstanding cast. In addition, the Dreamgirls soundtrack received a Grammy Award nomination. Anika voiced 'Princess Tiana' in Disney's The Princess and The Frog, featuring the first African American Disney 'Princess.' The film received three Oscar nominations and Anika became the youngest inductee to ever be honored as a Disney Legend. She appeared as Whoopi Goldberg's daughter in the Lifetime movie, A Day Late and a Dollar Short as well as the feature film Half of a Yellow Sun. Anika's many film credits include: Imperial Dreams, For Colored Girls and the comedy feature Just Add Water, Additional film credits include, As Cool As I Am and the animated feature Khumba, where she voiced the character Lungisa.

Anika's television credits include the Hallmark special The Watsons Go to Birmingham and appeared on some of the networks highest rated shows including her re-occurring roles on CBS's The Good Wife and ABC's Private Practice. In addition she guest starred on CBS's Elementary and FOX's The Simpsons (voice of Abie's long lost wife). Other TV credits include: the A&E mini-series Stephen King's Bag of Bones opposite Pierce Brosnan, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency for HBO/BBC/Weinstein Company, where she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series."

Anika won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Caroline, or Change. She starred in in Deborah Allen's Broadway revival of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, opposite James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad. She also starred in Footloose and the Off-Broadway production of the Laura Nyro musical Eli's Comin', Stephen Sondheim's Company for the NY Philharmonic and PBS. Other stage work includes Juliet opposite Orlando Bloom with Gustavo Dudamel conducting Tchaikovsky live with the LA Philharmonic. In addition to the winning the Tony Award, Anika has also received The Theater World Award, The Clarence Derwent Award, a Drama Desk nomination, the Los Angeles Critics' Circle Award, an Ovation Award and an Obie Award. She has also received NAACP Image nominations for her work on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC), and Hallmark Hall of Fame: Mitch Albom's Have A Little Faith (ABC).

For further information on Classic Stage Company, call 212-677-4210, visit the theatre in person at 136 East 13th Street, or go to www.classicstage.org.

Photo by Nathan Johnson