Chester Gregory to Lead Reading of New Play About Lloyd Price

An industry only presentation of Lawdy Miss Clawdy, a new play by B. Jeffrey Madoff and Lloyd Price, will be presented March 1 - 2 at the Theatre Center in Manhattan.

Under the direction of Sheldon Epps (Play On!, Blues in the Night), the cast will feature Chester Gregory (Motown, Sister Act, Tarzan) as Lloyd Price, Stanley Wayne Mathis (The Book of Mormon) as Logan, John Michael Lyles as Young Lloyd, and Britney Coleman (Sunset Boulevard, Beautiful) as Emma, with Sharon Catherine Brown (Head Over Heels), Badia Farha (School of Rock), Alan H. Green (School of Rock, Sister Act), Crystal Kellogg (Finding Neverland), Mingo Long (Parade), Crystal Lucas Perry, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Doug Storm (The Scarlett Pimpernel), John Leonard Thompson (M. Butterfly), Curtis Wiley, and Devin Trey Campbell (Kinky Boots).

In 1952, a seventeen-year-old Lloyd Price went from digging trenches for septic tanks in Kenner, Louisiana to national stardom and riches in just eight months. His song "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" shattered the color lines in music and Lloyd was the first teenager to sell over a million records and the first teen idol. As the identity of the country changed, music became the catalyst of historical social change. "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" was the song heard around the world.

Shelton Becton (Shuffle Along, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill) serves as musical director.

Ana M. Garcia (Fiddler on the Roof, Once) is the production stage manager; Eric Cornell (Anastasia) serves as the executive producer with general management by Adam Hess/DR Theatrical Management. Casting is by Christine McKenna of Stewart/Whitely.

For more information about the show, please contact LawdyMissClawdyPlay@gmail.com

Chester Gregory Broadway credits include: Motown the Musical (Berry Gordy), Hairspray (Seaweed), Sister Act (Eddie), Tarzan (Terk), and Cry-Baby (Dupree). National tour: Motown (Berry Gordy), Sister Act (Eddie), Dreamgirls (James "Thunder" Early), and the title role in The Jackie Wilson Story. Regional: August Wilson's Fences and Two Trains Running at the Goodman and Kansas City Rep, respectively. Television: The Daily Show, The View, and The Tony Awards. Chester is the recipient of numerous accolades including Chicago's Jeff Award, the NAACP Theatre Award, the key to the city of his hometown of Gary, Indiana, as well as an honorary Doctorate Degree from Columbia College Chicago. He's currently producing his one-man show, The Eve of Jackie Wilson and has just released 2 albums.

B. JEFFREY MADOFF is the Founder & CEO of Madoff Productions, a New York based creative Production Company. He has directed award winning commercials, documentaries and web content around the world for some of the top names in fashion and education such as Ralph Lauren, Victoria's Secret, Tiffany, and Harvard University.

Madoff is a professor at Parsons, The New School for Design teaching a course he developed called "Creative Careers: Making a Living with Your Ideas". He is a sought-after speaker and consultant on how to create a brand, having produced the brand bibles for Ralph Lauren, Victoria's Secret, The Harvard School for Public Health, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and many others. He has been a keynote speaker at Wharton School, NYU Steinhardt, SXSW, Barclay's Bank Rise Innovation, Google Next, and New York City Economic Development Commission and Horizon Media to name a few.

LLOYD PRICE (born March 9, 1933) is an American R&B vocalist known as "Mr. Personality", after one of his million-selling hits. His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" was a hit in 1952. He continued to release records, and helped refine the New Orleans beat and later achieved a series of national hits. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Sheldon Epps conceived and directed the Duke Ellington musical Play On! which received three Tony Award nominations, and was produced at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, where it received four Jefferson Awards including Best Musical. The Pasadena Playhouse production was filmed by PBS for broadcast as part of the "Great Performances" series. He also conceived and directed the highly acclaimed musical revue, Blues in the Night. The Broadway production was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Musical of the Year, and the London production, which he also directed, was nominated for two Laurence Olivier Awards, and ran for over a year on the West End before being broadcast in Europe by Thames Television. He also directed the 25th Anniversary production of Blues In The Night in San Francisco, where it received rave reviews and several Bay Area Theatre Critics Awards.

Shelton Becton is a pianist, vocalist, composer, arranger, conductor, and vocal coach. He has served as the musical director for many heralded singers. His compositions have been featured on "The Cosby Show: and Roberta Flack's Christmas Album and with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. His Broadway credits include Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill with Audra McDonald, Shuffle Along..., The Wiz, Ain't Misbehavin', The Color Purple, Memphis, and Baby It's You! His debut CD is entitled Where Is God?

Eric Cornell (Executive Producer) has been in the entertainment field for over 15 years and has worked on the producing and management teams of various original Broadway, Off-Broadway, national tours, and regional shows. In 2016, Eric Cornell Productions was incorporated to further his producing interests in theatre, television, and digital media.