First Broadway Revival of CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD to Open in 2015-16 Season; Kenny Leon to Direct

Producer Hal Luftig announced today the first-ever Broadway revival of the Tony Award-winning play Children of a Lesser God. Written by Tony Award-winner and Academy Award nominee Mark Medoff and directed by this year's Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon, Children of a Lesser God will open in the upcoming 2015-2016 Broadway season.

First produced on Broadway in 1980, Children of a Lesser God ran more than two years and went on to win three Tony Awards, including Best Play. Following its Broadway success, Children of a Lesser God became a major motion picture, receiving five Academy Award nominations and earning Marlee Matlin the 1987 Academy Award for Best Actress.

Children of a Lesser God tells the story of James Leeds, a new teacher at a school for the deaf, and Sarah Norman, the school's one-time star student who has stayed behind as its cleaning woman rather than venturing out into the hearing world. James immediately takes a keen interest in Sarah, and tries to persuade her to communicate orally by lip reading. They soon embark on an emotional journey that will teach them both new ways of communicating and loving and, in the process, they build a romance beyond words.

Mark Medoff (Playwright) is a playwright, screenwriter, and theater and film director. He received a Tony Award for Children of a Lesser God. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the film script of Children of a Lesser God and for an Emmy Award for his HBO Premiere movie, Apology. He received an OBIE Award for When You Comin Back, Red Ryder? Mark is the author of 30 plays and has written, produced, or directed 19 movies. He is a Distinguished Achievement Professor at New Mexico State University, where he began as an English Instructor in 1966. He was Head of Theater Arts from 1979-1988 and is one of the founding faculty of the Creative Media Institute for Film and Digital Arts. A film version of his play The Heart Outright will shoot in November in New Mexico, starring his daughter Jessica Medoff, directed by Mark's son-in-law, Ross Marks (Homage, Twilight of the Golds). A new play, Time and Chance, is looking for a home. He has recently accepted a commission to write a play and movie involving the friendship between Marilyn Monroe and Lena Pepitone. Mark has been married for forty-two years to Stephanie Medoff; they have three daughters and seven grandchildren.

Kenny Leon (Director) is an acclaimed Broadway and film director whose recent work includes the original musical Holler If Ya Hear Me and the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun (which earned him a Tony Award for Best Director). Other Broadway credits include The Mountaintop starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett, the Alicia Keys-produced Stick Fly, August Wilson's Fences, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis (which garnered ten Tony nominations, including Best Director), the 2004 Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun with Sean "P.Diddy" Combs, Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf. Off-Broadway, Mr. Leon has directed the Public Theater's productions of Everybody's Ruby and Emergency. TV and film work includes In My Dreams for Hallmark Hall of Fame for ABC, The Watsons Go to Birmingham for Hallmark Channel and the Lifetime TV adaptation of Steel Magnolias. Mr. Leon is the artistic director of True Colors Theatre in Atlanta, GA.

Hal Luftig (Producer). Winner of four Tony Awards and London's Olivier Award, Hal Luftig has worked on and off Broadway for the past 25 years. He is currently represented on Broadway with Kinky Boots and The Elephant Man, and Off-Broadway with Here Lies Love. Other Broadway credits include: Evita, Catch Me If You Can, Come Fly Away, West Side Story, All My Sons, Legally Blonde, The Times They Are A-Changin', Whoopi, Movin' Out, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Annie Get Your Gun, High Society, The Diary of Anne Frank, The King and I, Moon Over Buffalo, Angels in America, Jelly's Last Jam, The Secret Garden. Hal has an MFA from Columbia University.