LaChanze to Moderate Post-Show Conversation at FAT HAM With National Black Theatre

Fat Ham's producer National Black Theatre will host a special evening performance on Friday, March 31 at 8pm at the American Airlines Theatre (227 West 42nd Street). The evening will include special guest, Tony and Emmy Award-winner LaChanze/">LaChanze (Trouble in Mind, The Color Purple), who will moderate a post-show conversation with National Black Theatre CEO, Sade Lythcott and Executive Artistic Director, Jonathan McCrory as well as members of the cast. Fat Ham is the first NBT production to transfer to Broadway and the fifth play ever in the centuries-old history of Broadway to make the transfer from any Black theatre. Marking this momentous occasion, NBT is calling for all Black theatre institutions and creative practitioners to come celebrate the Broadway premiere of Fat Ham by attending this special evening.

Fat Ham producers have shared a list of additional community night performances with some having post-show talkbacks and special guests in attendance, including: Queer Youth Night taking place tonight, Friday, March 24; Women's History Night on Thursday, March 30; Philly Phat Ham Night on Sunday, April 2 (matinee), a Community Night on Friday, April 14 and more events to come.

Fat Ham is now in previews and officially opens on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at the American Airlines Theatre (227 West 42nd Street) on Broadway for a strictly limited 14-week engagement through Sunday, June 25, 2023.

The cast includes Nikki Crawford as "Tedra," Chris Herbie Holland as "Tio," Billy Eugene Jones as "Rev" and "Pap," Adrianna Mitchell as "Opal," Calvin Leon Smith* as "Larry," Marcel Spears as "Juicy," Benja Kay Thomas as "Rabby," RJ Foster (u/s Rev/Pap), Marquis D. Gibson (u/s Juicy/Larry/Tio), Alexandria Lewis (u/s Opal), Matthew Elijah Webb (u/s Juicy/Larry/Tio), and Rema Webb (u/s Tedra/Rabby).

Fat Ham by James Ijames made its New York premiere in a critically acclaimed sold-out run-May 12-July 31, 2022, including a six-week extension-at The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director), co-produced with National Black Theatre (Sade Lythcott, CEO; Jonathan McCrory, Executive Artistic Director), and hailed by The New York Times in its Critic's Pick review as an "outstanding transformation of Shakespeare's tragedy into a play about Black masculinity and queerness that both echoes Hamlet and finds a language beyond it." The play was commissioned by and received its world premiere as a filmed production at The Wilma Theater, Philadelphia; Ijames' play went on to win the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The creative team for Fat Ham includes, Maruti Evans (Scenic Design), Dominique Fawn Hill (Costume Design), Bradley King (Lighting Design), Mikaal Sulaiman (Sound Design), Darrell Grand Moultrie (Choreographer) Earon Chew Nealey (Hair and Wig Design), Skylar Fox (Illusions Design), Kamra A. Jacobs (Production Stage Manager), Kate Murray (Casting), and Baseline Theatrical (General Management).

Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. But here's the rub! Revenge doesn't come easy to Juicy, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man in search of his own happiness and liberation. From an uproarious family cookout emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy.

Fat Ham is produced on Broadway by No Guarantees, Public Theater Productions, and Rashad V. Chambers; co-producers are National Black Theatre, Tim Levy, Bob Boyett, Cynthia Stroum, Adam Cohen, Blake Devillier, The Forstalls, John Gore Organization, David Miner, The Wilma Theater, Colman Domingo and Cynthia Erivo. Andy Jones and Dylan Pager serve as Executive Producers.

The performance schedule for Fat Ham is: Tuesday through Saturday at 8PM, Sunday at 7PM, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2PM. Beginning Tuesday, April 18, the performance schedule is: Tuesday through Friday at 7PM, Saturday at 8PM, with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2PM, and Sunday at 3PM.