Norm Lewis Will Lead CEREMONIES IN DARK OLD MEN Off-Broadway
Performances will begin April 11, at Theatre at St. Clements.
By: Stephi Wild Mar. 06, 2025
Norm Lewis will return to the stage in a new production of Lonnie Elder III's Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, directed by Clinton Turner Davis. The production - the first in New York City in nearly 40 years - will play a strictly limited six-week engagement, beginning April 11, at Theatre at St. Clements. Opening night is Friday, April 18 at 7PM.
It's New York in the 1950s. Russell Parker, a ne'er-do-well barber and the widowed father of three adult children, spends his days playing checkers and reminiscing about his life in vaudeville as an old-style song and dance man. His two sons, Theo and Bobby, are dreamers of a different sort – a pair of petty criminals looking for a “score" in the form of ill-conceived and dangerous bootlegging and numbers schemes. Russell's daughter, Adele, the only gainfully employed member of the family, eventually threatens to walk out, refusing to work herself into an early grave like her mother. When Adele's long-simmering resentments boil over and the boys' criminal enterprise falls apart, tragic consequences ensue for the whole family.
In addition to Norm Lewis, the cast of Ceremonies in Dark Old Men features Jeremiah Packer, Calvin M. Thompson and Bryce Michael Wood.
The scenic design is by Harry Feiner; costume design by Isabel Rubio; and lighting design by Jimmy Lawlor. Co-producers include Willette and Manny Klausner, David S. Stone, Linda Powell, Jamie deRoy, Annaleise Loxton, and Jamila Ponton Bragg.
Negro Ensemble Company premiered Ceremonies in Dark Old Men in 1969, Off-Broadway at St. Mark's Playhouse. The production moved on to an award-winning, long-running commercial production. A runner-up for the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men was adapted as a television movie in 1975, and was subsequently revived in two Off-Broadway productions, as well as regional productions around the country. Now regarded as an American Theater classic, productions have featured the talents including Denzel Washington, Billy Dee Williams, Keith David and Laurence Fishburne.
About Norm Lewis
Emmy, Tony, and SAG Award nominee, Norm Lewis (Russell Parker) was recently seen onstage starring in the national tour of the Tony Award-winning production of A Soldier's Play and in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End Concert of Love Never Dies. He starred in Spike Lee's critically acclaimed, "Da 5 Bloods," and in the groundbreaking FX series, Pose. Additionally, Mr. Lewis can be seen starring opposite Hilary Swank in the feature "The Good Mother," Amazon Prime's newest series, Swarm, and Hulu's, Up Here. He was also seen as 'Caiaphas' in the award-winning NBC television special, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!,” alongside John Legend, Sara Bareilles, and Alice Cooper. Mr. Lewis returned to Broadway in the Fall of 2021, starring in Chicken and Biscuits at the Circle In The Square Theatre. He previously appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island and as Sweeney Todd in the Off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Barrow Street Theatre, receiving the AUDELCO Award for his performance. In May of 2014, he made history as The Phantom of the Opera's first African American Phantom on Broadway. He has been seen on PBS in the Live From Lincoln Center productions of Showboat with Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis: Who Am I?, New Year's Eve: A Gershwin Celebration with Diane Reeves, as well as American Voices with Renée Fleming and the PBS Specials First You Dream – The Music of Kander & Ebb and Ella Wishes You A Swingin' Christmas. He can be seen recurring in the VH1 series, Daytime Divas, also alongside Vanessa Williams. His additional television credits include Women of The Movement, Law & Order, Dr. Death, Mrs. America, Better Things, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Bull, Chicago Med, Gotham, The Blacklist, and Blue Bloods, as well as in his recurring role as Senator Edison Davis on the hit drama Scandal. Mr. Lewis is a proud, founding member of Black Theatre United, an organization which stands together to help protect Black people, Black talent and Black lives of all shapes and orientations in theatre and communities across the country. He received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production of The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess. Other Broadway credits include Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, and The Who's Tommy. In London's West End he has appeared as Javert in Les Misérables and Les Misérables: The 25th Anniversary Concert, which aired on PBS. Off-Broadway Mr. Lewis has performed in Dessa Rose (Drama Desk nomination, AUDELCO Award), Shakespeare in the Park's The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama League nomination), Captains Courageous, and A New Brain. His regional credits include Porgy in The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (A.R.T.), Ragtime, Dreamgirls (with Jennifer Holliday), First You Dream, Sweeney Todd, and The Fantasticks. His additional film credits include Christmas In Tune (starring opposite Reba McEntire), Magnum Opus, Winter's Tale, Sex and the City 2, Confidences, and Preaching to the Choir. Norm's albums "The Norm Lewis Christmas Album" & "This is The Life" can be found on Amazon.com as well as cdbaby.com.
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