FENCES Wins Drama Desk Award for Best Music for a Play!

Brandford Marsalis is this year's recipient of the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Best Original Music for a Play.

Branford Marsalis, the three-time Grammy-winning saxophonist, has recorded 22 albums as a leader and is equally adept at performing jazz with his quartet, or in a classical setting as the featured soloist with some of the world's most acclaimed orchestras. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans native joined forces with friend Harry Connick, Jr. to conceive the Habitat Musicians' Village, a community of houses for musicians, surrounding a performance and educational center in the Upper Ninth Ward. As an instrumentalist, composer, educator and the founder of Marsalis Music, Branford is committed to keeping music at the forefront. This is his Broadway debut.

FENCES, directed by Tony Award nominee Kenny Leon, is currently playing a strictly limited 13-week engagement at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street). The first Broadway revival of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning FENCES is nominated for TEN 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play.

In addition to Denzel Washington as Troy Maxson and Viola Davis as Rose Maxson, the cast features Chris Chalk as Cory, Tony Award-nominee Stephen McKinley Henderson as Jim Bono, Russell Hornsby as Lyons, Mykelti Williamson as Gabriel, and with Eden Duncan-Smith and SaCha Stewart-Coleman alternating in the role of Raynell.

FENCES is produced by Carole Shorenstein Hays (who produced the original Broadway production) and Scott Rudin.

The original Broadway production of FENCES opened on March 26, 1987 at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre). FENCES was one of the most critically acclaimed and successful plays of the 1980s, winning four Tony Awards including Best Play, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, three Drama Desk Awards, including Best Play and the NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play.

Two-time Academy Award(r) winner Denzel Washington returns to Broadway, alongside Academy Award nominee and Tony Award(r) winner Viola Davis, in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Both a monumental drama and an intimate family portrait, FENCES tells the story of Troy Maxson, a man torn between the glory of his past and the uncertainty of his future. Emboldened by pride and embittered by sacrifice, Troy is determined to make life better for future generations, even as he struggles to embrace the dreams of his own son.

The production team includes Branford Marsalis (Original Music), Santo Loquasto (Set Design), Constanza Romero (Costume Design), Brian MacDevitt (Lighting Design), ACME Sound Partners (Sound Design).

Ticketing Information:
Tickets for FENCES are available by calling Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area, online at Telecharge.com or in person at the Cort Theatre box office (138 West 48th Street). Box office hours are Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Tickets on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday range in price from $61.50 to $121.50. Tickets on Friday, Saturday & Sunday range in price from $61.50 to $126.50.

Performance Schedule:
Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday & Saturday at 2:00 p.m. & Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Added Performance: Monday, June 28th at 8 p.m.; No Performance: Sunday, July 4th at 3 p.m.

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