Khandi Alexander, Jason Bowen and Kathleen Chalfant Set for A.R.T.'s 'WEDDING BAND' Reading Today

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University and the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research (formerly known as the Du Bois Institute), in conjunction with Hilton Als of The New Yorker, will present a staged reading of Alice Childress's Wedding Band: A Love-Hate Story in Black and White, co-directed by Hilton Als and A.R.T. Artistic Associate Shira Milikowsky. It takes place at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, starting at 7:30pm, and will be followed by a post-reading discussion. The ticketed event is free and open to the public. Tickets can be obtained on line at www.americanrepertorytheater.org.

"Trouble in Mind: Lost Masterpieces from the African American Theatre Canon" is a new joint venture between the A.R.T. and the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. Curated by Hilton Als, writer and theater critic for The New Yorker magazine, this series brings exceptional actors to staged readings of under-produced and long-neglected plays by brilliant, and often over-looked African American Playwrights. Aimed at reviving these lost masterpieces and bringing them, newly, to a contemporary audience, the series will launch with Wedding Band: A Love-Hate Story in Black and White, Alice Childress' stunning 1962 depiction of inter-racial love in the American South during the first World War. The reading includes the participation of Khandi Alexander, Jason Bowen, and Kathleen Chalfant.

Khandi Alexander (actress/choreographer/dancer) is known for her long running roles on "CSI: Miami," "Newsradio," and "ER," as well as for her compelling work on HBO's "The Corner" and the critically acclaimed series Her films include CB4, Menace II Society, Poetic Justice, and Sugar Hill. Alexander won the NAACP Image Award for her work on "CSI: Miami" and the Vision Award for her performance on "Treme." She was nominated for seven additional Image Awards for her extensive body of work. Khandi will next be seen on ABC's hit series "Scandal."

Jason Bowen's regional credits include Orsino in Twelfth Night, the title role of Othello, Antonio in The Duchess of Malfi, Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice, Ferdinand in The Tempest, Berowne in Love's Labour's Lost, and Fortinbras in Hamlet (Actors' Shakespeare Project); Joseph Asagai in A Raisin In The Sun, Levee in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2013 IRNE Award- Best Actor), Fortune in Ruined, Tom in Prelude To A Kiss, Walker Lewis in A Civil War Christmas (The Huntington Theatre); Thami in Groundswell (Lyric Stage Co.); Little Monk in Life of Galileo (Underground Railway Theatre); and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Commonwealth Shakespeare Co.) Jason was named Best Actor in Boston Magazine's Best of Boston 2012 issue.

Kathleen Chalfant's Broadway credits include Angels in America (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), Racing Demon, and Dance With Me; Off-Broadway she was seen in Wit (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, Connecticut Critics Circle, and Obie Awards), which she also performed in London (Ovation Award), Somewhere Fun, Red Dog Howls, Painting Churches, Family Week, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Bloomer Girl, Nine Armenians (Drama Desk nomination), Far Away, Twelve Dreams, Henry V. Her other New York credits include The Vagina Monologues, Iphigenia and Other Daughters, Endgame, The Party, Sister Mary Ignatius... The Investigation of the Murder in El Salvador. She appeared at The Guthrie, Yale Rep, Long Wharf, Yale Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Hartford Stage, Mark Taper Forum, ATL, and the Sundance Lab. Her films and television include Lackawanna Blues, Perfect Stranger, Dark Water, Kinsey, The Laramie Project, Random Hearts, A Price Below Rubies, and she had recurring roles on "The Americans," "House of Cards," "Rescue Me," "The Guardian," "Law and Order; and was seen in "Elementary," "Mercy," "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight" (HBO), "Georgia O'Keeffe," "Voices from the White House" (PBS), "A Death in the Family" (PBS), and "Storm of the Century." She received the 1996 OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence, and the 2004 Lortel Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance.

Co-director Hilton Als became a staff writer at The New Yorker in October 1994, and a theatre critic in 2002. He began contributing to the magazine in 1989, writing pieces for The Talk of the Town. Als was a staff writer for the Village Voice and an editor-at-large at Vibe in previous years. He has also written articles for The Nation and collaborated on film scripts for "Swoon" and "Looking for Langston." He edited the catalogue for the Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition entitled "Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in Contemporary American Art," which ran from November 1994, to March 1995. His first book, "The Women," a meditation on gender, race, and personal identity, was published in 1996. In 1997, the New York Association of Black Journalists awarded Als first prize in both Magazine Critique/Review and Magazine Arts and Entertainment. He was awarded a Guggenheim for Creative Writing in 2000 and the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism for 2002-03. In 2009, Als worked with the performer Justin Bond on "Cold Water," an exhibition of paintings, drawings, and videos by performers, at La MaMa Gallery. In 2010, he co-curated "Self-Consciousness," at the Veneklasen Werner Gallery in Berlin, and published "Justin Bond/Jackie Curtis," his second book.

Als has taught at Yale University, Wesleyan, and Smith College. He lives in New York City.

Co-director Shira Milikowsky is the Artistic Associate at the A.R.T., where she directed the entirety of Taylor Mac's five-act epic, The Lily's Revenge (named one of the top ten theater events of 2012 by The Boston Globe) and Bob: A Life in Five Acts for the A.R.T. Institute. Her work has been seen at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (Big Money), The New York International Fringe Festival (Mourn The Living Hector, winner of a Fringe Excellence Award for overall production), and extensively at New York's Ars Nova, where she was the organization's first Director-in-Residence. Shira has received the Drama League Fellowship, the Boris Sagal Directing Fellowship, and a scholarship from the Henry Luce Foundation to serve as a visiting artist at the Seoul Metropolitan Theater in Seoul, South Korea. She holds a BA in theater studies from Yale, and an MFA in directing from Columbia.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of theater. Winner of the 2012 and 2013 Tony Awards for Best Musical Revival for its productions of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess and Pippin, the A.R.T. is a leading force in the American theater, producing groundbreaking work in Cambridge and beyond. The A.R.T. was founded in 1980 by Robert Brustein, who served as Artistic Director until 2002, when he was succeeded by RoBert Woodruff. In 2008, Diane Paulus became the A.R.T.'s Artistic Director. The A.R.T. is the recipient of numerous other awards including the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater, the Pulitzer Prize, and many Elliot Norton and I.R.N.E. Awards. Its recent premiere production of Death and The Powers: The Robots' Opera was a 2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist.

During its 33-year history, the A.R.T. has welcomed many major American and international theater artists, presenting a diverse repertoire that includes premieres of American plays, bold reinterpretations of classical texts and provocative new music Theater Productions. The A.R.T. has performed throughout the U.S. and worldwide in 21 cities in 16 countries on four continents. The A.R.T. is also a training ground for young artists. The Theater's artistic staff teaches undergraduate classes in acting, directing, dramatic literature, dramaturgy, voice, and design at Harvard University. In 1987, the A.R.T. founded the Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University. A two-year, five-semester M.F.A. graduate program that operates in conjunction with the Moscow Art Theater School, the Institute provides world-class professional training in acting, dramaturgy and voice.

Since becoming Artistic Director, Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus has enhanced the A.R.T.'s core mission to expand the boundaries of theater by continuing to transform the ways in which work is developed, programmed, produced and contextualized, always including the audience as a partner. Productions such as Pippin, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, Sleep No More, The Donkey Show, Gatz, The Blue Flower, and Prometheus Bound have engaged audiences in unique theatrical experiences. The A.R.T.'s club theater, OBERON, which Paulus calls a Second Stage for the 21st century, has become an incubator for local and emerging artists, and has also attracted national attention for its innovative programming model.

The Loeb Drama Center, located at 64 Brattle Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge, is fully accessible. ASL interpreted and audio described performances are available at select productions. Visit americanrepertorytheater.org/access for more information.

For information about the A.R.T.'s 2013-14 Season and special events call 617-547-8300 or visit us on line at americanrepertorytheater.org.

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