Screen Star Corey Hawkins Signs on for Broadway's SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION

Just announced, Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton, "24: Legacy") will join Allison Janney and John Benjamin Hickey in the Broadway revival of John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation. Hawkins will play Paul, the young con man whose trail of deceit lies at the heart of the play.

Directed by Trip Cullman, the production will begin previews on Wednesday, April 5 before opening at the Barrymore Theatre on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 for a 15-week run through Sunday, July 16.

Corey Hawkins first gained recognition with his breakout performance as iconic music producer and hip hop legend Dr. Dre in F. Gary Gray's N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. Produced by Legendary and distributed by Universal Pictures, the film spent three consecutive weeks in the #1 spot at the box office and is the highest-grossing music biopic in history, making over $201 million worldwide. Hawkins will next star as Eric Carter in the new iteration of Fox's "24" franchise, "24: Legacy," alongside Miranda Otto and Jimmy Smits. The series will have a mid-season premiere immediately following the Super Bowl on February 5, 2017 before moving to a regular Monday-night time slot. Hawkins recently wrapped production on the King Kong prequel tentpole Kong: Skull Island with director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Re-teaming with Legendary, Hawkins will star opposite Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, John C. Reilly, and Samuel L. Jackson. Warner Bros. will distribute the film, which is scheduled to be released on March 10, 2017. In 2015, Hawkins joined the cast of the AMC hit show "The Walking Dead" as Heath, a major character in the comic series. Hawkins' film credits include Universal Pictures' Non-Stop as well as Winter's Tale for Warner Bros. and Marvel Studios' Iron Man 3. On stage, Hawkins most recently starred on Broadway as Tybalt in David Leveaux's revival of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, opposite Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad. He also starred in Hurt Village at Signature Theatre, and Suicide Incorporated at The Roundabout. Hawkins is a graduate of The Juilliard School and is a recipient of the prestigious John Houseman Prize, given to one Juilliard student that has demonstrated an exceptional ability in classical theatre.

The design team will include Mark Wendland (sets), Ben Stanton (lighting), and Darron L West (sound).

Inspired by a true story, the play follows the trail of a young black con man, Paul (Hawkins), who insinuates himself into the lives of a wealthy New York couple, Ouisa and Flan Kittredge (Janney and Hickey), saying he knows their son at college. Claiming he's the son of actor Sidney Poitier, Paul tells them he has just been mugged and all his money is gone. Captivated by Paul's intelligence (and the possibility of appearing in his father's new movie), the Kittredges invite him to stay overnight. After finding him in bed with a hustler, their picture of Paul changes, and Ouisa and Flan turn detective trying to piece together the connections that gave him access to their lives. Meanwhile, Paul's cons unexpectedly lead him into darker territory as his lies begin to catch up with him.

John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation premiered off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on May 16, 1990 before moving to the Vivian Beaumont Theater on November 8, 1990. The play received the 1991 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, an Obie award for the playwright, and the 1993 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. It was a finalist for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Play.

The Broadway revival is produced by Stuart Thompson and Tim Levy.

Photo by Eric Hobbs