NYTW Presents FETCH CLAY, MAKE MAN Starring Nikki M James, Ray Fisher, K. Todd Freeman & More, 8/23

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola has announced that Fetch Clay, Make Man, written by Will Power and directed by Des McAnuff, will begin performances Friday, August 23 at NYTW, 79 East 4 Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue. Opening night is set for Thursday, September 12 at 7pm. Fetch Clay, Make Man is scheduled to run through Sunday, October 13; tickets are on sale now.

In the days leading up to one of Cassius Clay's most anticipated fights, the heavyweight boxing champion forms an unlikely friendship with the controversial Hollywood star Stepin Fetchit. With a script by award-winning performer and playwright Will Power, who received rave reviews for his plays Flow and The Seven at NYTW, and direction by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff (The Who's Tommy, Jersey Boys), Fetch Clay, Make Manexplores the improbable bond that forms between two drastically different and influential cultural icons. One a vibrant and audacious youth, the other a resentful and almost forgotten relic, they fight together to form their public personas and shape their legacies amidst the struggle of the civil rights movement of the mid-1960s. This true story is as powerful and poetic as Clay himself while also humorous and irreverent like Fetchit's signature act. Finding commonality in contradiction, Fetch Clay, Make Man examines the true meanings of strength, resilience, and pride.

The cast of Fetch Clay, Make Man includes Ray Fisher, K. Todd Freeman, Anthony Gaskins, Nikki M James, John Earl Jelks, Sekou Laidlow, and Richard Masur.

The scenic design for Fetch Clay, Make Man is by Riccardo Hernandez; costume design is by Paul Tazewell; lighting design is by Howell Binkley; projection design is by Peter Nigrini, soundscape is by Darron L West; original music is by Justin Ellington; the production stage manager is Megan Smith. The boxing consultant is former boxing champion Michael Olajide, Jr.

Will Power is an award-winning playwright and performer. Power's adaptation of the Greek tragedy Seven Against Thebes retitled The Seven, and his solo show Flow enjoyed a successful run at NYTW and La Jolla Playhouse. Power's numerous awards include a United States Artist Prudential Fellowship, a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, the TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award, a Jury Award for Best Theatre Performance at the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival, a Drama Desk Award nomination, and the Trailblazer Award from The National Black Theater Network. Power's numerous film and television appearances include The Steven Colbert Report (Comedy Central) and Bill Moyers on Faith and Reason (PBS). Presently, Power is in the process of developing new works for The Dallas Theatre Center, The Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, Hartford Stage and The Royal Shakespeare Company.

Des McAnuff is a two-time Tony Award-winning director and the immediate past Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival. He is also Artistic Director Emeritus of La Jolla Playhouse, where during his tenure he directed more than 30 productions of classics, new plays and musicals including Rex Pickett's Sideways, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Wiz, Dr. Zhivago, Palm Beach, Aaron Sorkin's The Farnsworth Invention, Tartuff andJesus Christ Superstar. Under his leadership, The Playhouse received more than 300 theatre awards including the 1993 Tony Award as America's Outstanding Regional Theater. This past year he was awarded Canada's esteemed Governor General's National Arts Center Award and the Order of Canada. In June 2011 he was honored with a doctorate from Ryerson University and in 2005 he received the prestigious Julia Hansen Award for lifetime achievement in directing. McAnuff's Broadway credits include Jesus Christ Superstar (2012); Guys and Dolls (2009); Aaron Sorkin's The Farnsworth Invention (2007); Jersey Boys (2006, four Tony Awards including Best Musical); Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays (2004, Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event); Dracula the Musical (2004); How to Succeed...(1995); The Who's Tommy (1993 Tony Award for Best Director; 1997 London Olivier Award for Best Director/Best Musical); A Walk in the Woods (1988); Big River (1985, seven Tony Awards including Best Director, Best Musical). Stratford: A Word or Two, The Tempest, and Caesar and Cleopatra (all starring Christopher Plummer), Tommy, Jesus Christ Superstar, Twelfth Night andA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. His opera credits include Faust at the Met & ENO, Wozzeck at San Diego Opera.

Ray Fisher appeared regionally in King Lear,Cymbeline, As You Like It (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), To Kill a Mockingbird (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ) and Fetch Clay, Make Man (McCarter).

K. Todd Freeman has been a member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company since 1993. Freeman performed at New York Theatre Workshop last season in Paula Vogel's A Civil War Christmas. Broadway credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Song of Jacob Zulu (Tony nomination). Off-Broadway credits include Intelligent Homosexual... andSpunk at The Public Theater, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Freeman's regional theatre credits includeGood People The Brother/Sister Plays, The Tempest, Topdog/Underdog, Clockwork Orange and more all at Steppenwolf in Chicago, Miss Evers' Boys and Angels in Americaat the Mark Taper Forum. TV/Film: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, NYPD Blue, A Gifted Man, The Dark Knight, The Cider House Rules andGross Pointe.

Anthony Gaskins was last seen Off-Broadway as Michael in the HERE Arts Center World Premiere, You Are Dead. You Are Here. Gaskins also was also featured in Thomas Hodge in the Urban Stages World Premiere and New York Times Critics Pick, "Honky," The Porter in The Mint Theater's, "A little Journey," and "For Black Boys Who Consider Homicide When The Streets Are Too Much." Film Credits include the Award Winning short film, "Crazy Beats Strong Everytime," "The Jerk Theory," "Inside" and "Weight Classes." A graduate of the American Repertory Theater, Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.

Nikki M. James is currently starring in the Broadway hit musical, The Book of Mormon, in the role of Nabalungi, which she originated and won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. James most recently performed a one woman cabaret show to a sold out audience at 54 Below in New York City. She just wrapped filming the movie, Lucky Stiffalongside Jason Alexander and will also appear in the film The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby starring James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain. No stranger to Broadway, she has starred in the productions of All Shook Up and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Other theatre productions include Romeo and Juliet, Caesar and Cleopatra alongside Christopher Plummer, The Wiz, Bernarda Alba, House of Flowers and Walmartopia. James' theatre workshops include Lizzie in Baby (Papermill/NJPAC) and Beehive. James has appeared in a variety of TV shows such as 30 Rock, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Third Watch andThe Jury. She resides in New York City and holds a BFA in Drama from NYU.

John Earl Jelks was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Sterling in August Wilson's Radio Golf. Jelks also appeared with Phylicia Rashad on Broadway in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean as Citizen (after runs at the Goodman, Huntington and Mark Taper, where he won a NAACP Theatre Award and an L.A. Ovation Award). In 2008, Jelks won an AUDELCO Award for his work in the Off-Broadway revival of The First Breeze of Summer. Jelks also appeared Off-Broadway in MCC's production of Neil LaBute's The Break of Noon with David Duchovny, Amanda Peet and Tracee Chimo. Regional theatre credits include Two Trains Running at Two River Theater Company; Fetch Clay, Make Man at the McCarter Theatre; the world stage premiere of The Shawshank Redemption at the Gaiety Theatre in Ireland; Magnolia at the Goodman Theatre; Joe Turner's Come and Gone at the Penumbra Theatre Company and Missouri Repertory Theatre. Jelks is currently working on a developmental workshop for a new musical inspired by the work of Tupac Shakur, titled Holler if Ya Hear Me, directed by Kenny Leon. This Fall, Jelks will be among the actors to take part in the historical recording of the ten plays in August Wilson's American Century Cycle in the 20th Century, to be presented as live dramatic readings under the artistic direction of Ruben Santiago-Hudson, at The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WNYC and WQXR.

Sekou Laidlow's regional theatre credits include The Mountaintop (Philadelphia Theater Co.), Of Mice and Men (Pioneer Theater Co.), Runaway Home (Studio Theater), Stonewall Country (Theater at the Lime Kiln), My Children! My Africa! (Jonathan Rosenberg),Broke-ology (Kent Gash) TV & Film credits include "Smash," "The Wire," "Law & Order," and "Pop Foul." He is a graduate of The Juilliard School's Drama Division.

Actor and director Richard Masur has been well known to film and television audiences for 40 years. He studied at The Yale School of Drama. Subsequently, he appeared in productions at The Public Theater, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Yale Rep and The Long Wharf Theatre. He first appeared on Broadway in 1973 in the award-winning production of The Changing Room. Masur has starred in more than 50 feature films, including Risky Business, My Girl, Heaven's Gate, Forget Paris, Heartburn and Under Fire. Masur has starred in numerous popular TV series, including Picket Fences, Rhodaand One Day At A Time, and guest starred on countless TV comedy and drama series. He has most recently appeared on Broadway in the Tony nominated productions of Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy, starring Tom Hanks, and Michael Frayne's Democracy. Recent Off-Broadway credits include the Culture Project's production of The Exonerated; MTC's world premiere of Sarah, Sarah, by Daniel Goldfarb; The Public Theater's production of Rinne Groff's The Ruby Sunrise; Playwrights Horizon's world premiere of a feminine ending by Sarah Treem; The New Group's production of Mike Leigh's 2000 Years; Fetch Clay, Make Man at the McCarter, and Charles Busch's Olive and The Bitter Herbs at Primary Stages.

New York Theatre Workshop, now celebrating its 31th Season, is a leading voice in the world of Off-Broadway and within the theatre community in New York and around the world. NYTW has emerged as a premiere incubator of important new theatre, honoring its mission to explore perspectives on our collective history and respond to the events and institutions that shape our lives. In addition, NYTW is known for its innovative adaptations of classic repertory. Each season, from its home in New York's East Village neighborhood, NYTW presents three to five new productions, over 80 readings, and numerous workshop productions, for over 45,000 audience members. Over the past 28 years, NYTW has developed and produced over 100 new, fully staged works, including Jonathan Larson'sRent, Tony Kushner's Slavs! and Homebody/Kabul, Doug Wright's Quills, Claudia Shear'sBlown Sideways Through Life and Dirty Blonde, Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and Valhalla, Caryl Churchill's Mad Forest, Far Away, and A Number, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's Aftermath, and Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher. The 2002 remounting of Martha Clarke's seminal work, Vienna: Lusthaus and subsequent American tour was one of the longest-running productions in NYTW's history. NYTW's acclaimed production of Once is currently enjoying a Broadway run, and Peter and the Starcatcher, which made its New York Premiere at NYTW, has returned to Off-Broadway following a successful Broadway run. NYTW supports artists in all stages of their careers by maintaining a series of workshop programs including work-in-progress readings, summer residencies, and minority artist fellowships. NYTW's productions have received a Pulitzer Prize, seventeen Tony Awards and assorted Obie, Drama Desk, and Lucille Lortel Awards.

Fetch Clay, Make Man plays at New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street, between Second Avenue and Bowery. The regular performance schedule is Tuesday andWednesday at 7:00pm; Thursday and Friday at 8:00pm; Saturday at 3pm and 8pm; Sunday at 2pm and 7pm. Fetch Clay, Make Man runs through October 13. Tickets start at $70 and may be purchased online at www.ticketcentral.com, 24 hours a day, seven days a week or by phoning Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200, noon - 8pm daily. For exact dates and times of performance, visit www.nytw.org.

AfterWords post-performance discussions creative team members and experts will follow the performances on Tuesday, August 27; Tuesday, September 17; Tuesday, October 8 and Cucina Chats, post-show discussions with the audience accompanied by a glass of wine will follow the performances on Friday, September 27, Wednesday, October 2 and Thursday, October 10.

NYTW is pleased to make theatre accessible to everyone with its $20 CheapTix Sundays program. A dedicated number of tickets for Sunday evening performances at 7:00pm can be purchased in person at the NYTW Box Office for only $20. Tickets may be purchased in advance, payable in cash only and are available to all audience members.

NYTW also has $25 student tickets available for all performances. Student tickets may be purchased in advance from the NYTW Box Office with valid student identification, one ticket per id. A student matinee is scheduled for Wednesday, September 25 at 1pm.

In addition, NYTW offers discount ticket prices for adult and student groups of 10 or more. Please contact group sales at stephaniew@nytw.org.

The NYTW Box office is open 1:00pm to 6:00pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos