PURLIE VICTORIOUS to Offer $15 Tickets to NYC High School Students Through Ticketing Initiative

The producers of the Broadway revival of the American comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch starring Leslie Odom, Jr. have announced a special subsidized ticket initiative in partnership with the New York City Schools Theater Program and Situation Project to offer $15 tickets for public high school students throughout the five boroughs.
 
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch officially opened at The Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th St.) on Wednesday, September 27 to critical acclaim. The 95-minute play returns to Broadway after 60 years, alive with love, rage, humor, and grace. The Pulitzer Prize finalist, written by the legendary Ossie Davis, is helmed by Tony Award®-winning director Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Fences, Topdog/Underdog.)
 
Given the significance of this revival, the producers are eager to welcome students to the show. The student ticket initiative is made possible through generous support from members of the Broadway community.
 
As part of the Purlie Victorious Education Initiative, Concord Theatricals and the Dee-Davis Family are graciously donating 2,000 copies of the published script to students. The production will be providing educators with a well-rounded study guide which includes background information on the play with insight from the Dee-Davis Family, interviews with the creative team, and an epilogue developed by the National Black Theatre. Additionally, student groups will be invited to engage with the show via talkbacks with members of the production. The initiative is being coordinated by Rachel Weinstein.
 
“The best of the American theater is: incredible literature, come to life!” said Leslie Odom, Jr. “Mr. Davis has given the generations an American classic in Purlie Victorious. I am thrilled beyond measure to be a part of this revival company and to revisit the life-affirming words of Mr. Davis with students and audiences at The Music Box Theatre.”
 
“High school students can come in here and learn their history,” said director Kenny Leon. “Purlie Victorious is urgent. Ossie Davis in 1961 wrote a love letter to us in 2023. They can come into this beautiful theater to laugh and feel good about being human.”
 
Purlie Victorious has been welcoming students and school groups since the show started performances. Most recently, on Sunday, October 8th, the show hosted a special High School Leadership Performance with a group of students ranging from 8th through 12th grade from the following schools: Basis Independent Manhattan, Berkeley Carroll, Brooklyn Friends, Dalton, Eastwoods, Kew Forest, School of the Blessed Sacrament, The Birch Wathen Lenox School.  The cast also hosted a special post-show talkback for this group of student leaders.
 
Tony & Grammy Award winner and Academy & Emmy Award nominee Leslie Odom, Jr. stars in the production as “Purlie Victorious Judson”, alongside Vanessa Bell Calloway (Dreamgirls) as “Idella Landy”, Billy Eugene Jones (Fat Ham) as “Gitlow Judson”, Noah Pyzik (Addy & Uno) as “Deputy”,  Noah Robbins (To Kill a Mockingbird) as “Charlie Cotchipee”, Jay O. Sanders (Primary Trust) as “Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee”, Heather Alicia Simms (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) as “Missy Judson”,  Bill Timoney (Network) as “Sheriff” and Tony Award nominee Kara Young (Cost of Living, Clyde’s) as “Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins,” Melvin Abston (u/s Gitlow Judson), Willa Bost (u/s Missy Judson/Idella Landy), Brandi Porter (u/s Luttiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins) and Donald Webber Jr. (standby Purlie Victorious Judson).
 
Purlie Victorious is produced by: Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Leslie Odom Jr., Louise Gund, Bob Boyett, Curt Cronin, John Joseph, Willette and Manny Klausner, Brenda Boone, Salman Moudy Al-Rashid, Creative Partners Productions,  Irene Gandy, Kayla Greenspan, Mark and David Golub Productions, Kenny Leon, Ken Greiner, John Gore Organization, W3 Productions, Morwin Schmookler, Van Kaplan, Ken Greiner, Patrick W. Jones, Nicolette Robinson, National Black Theatre, Alan Alda, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, Nnamdi Asomugha, Kerry Washington and The Shubert Organization.
 
The creative team features scenic design by Tony Award winner Derek McLane (Moulin Rouge, MJ), costume design by Tony Award nominee Emilio Sosa (Trouble in Mind, A Beautiful Noise), lighting design by Drama Desk Award nominee Adam Honoré (Ain’t No Mo’, Chicken & Biscuits), sound design by Peter Fitzgerald (American Son, KPOP), hair & wig & makeup design by J. Jared Janas, fight direction by Thomas Schnall, incidental music by Guy Davis and casting by The Telsey Office (Will Cantler, CSA and Destiny Lilly, CSA).
 
Leslie Odom, Jr. returns to Broadway for the first time since his Tony Award-winning performance in Hamilton.  Exuberant and outrageous, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch is the joyous comedy that finds inspiration and laughs in the story of a man with a mission.  Alive with love and hope, this timeless story by American Playwright laureate Ossie Davis is directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon.
 
Davis and Dee were named to the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame; were awarded the National Medal of Arts and were recipients of the 2004 Kennedy Center Honors. Davis was also inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994.
 

Photo credit: Marc J. Franklin