James Duke Walker Joins Staged Reading of GUNPOWDER at the Kraine Theater

New York City construction worker turned actor James Duke Walker has joined the cast of the staged reading of Gunpowder at the Kraine Theater on Wednesday December 27.

The reading is part of the 2017 Winter Burlesque Blitz, presented by indie theater company FRIGID New York@ Horse Trade.

Gunpowder is a work in progress written and directed by Natalie Stringer .The piece was developed in residency as part of the Rising Sun Performance Company's "Laboratorium" on Governors Island.

Set in the American west of the 1800's, the play is based on the lives of pioneering burlesque and vaudeville stars Lillian Russell and Kitty "Klondike Kate" Rockwell. It follows their adventures as they took the young nation by storm, commanding respect, power, and autonomy at a time when the women's vote was still illegal and even showing a hint of leg came at a risk of physical and moral attack. Using everything burlesque had to offer, these ladies would eventually define their own freedom when everything in their society was designed to break or control them.

Walker will play the characters 'Billy' and 'Boone,' two very different gentlemen of the west who play vital roles in the story of the two women.

It is the latest professional achievement for the new thespian, who until just a few months ago was a unionized iron worker and electrician who had never acted professionally in his life.

A chance meeting with Playwright, Actor and Producer David Heron, CEO of Sure Thing PR - lead to a professional photo shoot and ultimately to Walker signing with Heron's entity in March.

Since then, Walker has appeared in the Adidas summer basketball commercial Mi Adidas and landed his first leading role in a feature film- Roadside Assistance- an independent short directed by Ali Matlock and due to hit the festival circuit in 2018.

Since the story broke regarding his casting in the film and his remarkable journey from construction site to film set, demand for the young actor has been steadily on the rise.

According to Heron "There is a great deal of interest in James right now and there are some pretty exciting things in store for him in 2018, which we will announce in due course."

The staged reading of Gunpowder on Wednesday December 27 begins at 7pm. The Kraine Theater is located at 85 E. 4th St., between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in Manhattan. Tickets are $10 and available online at www.horsetrade.info.

To post a comment, you must register and login.