Photos: KING JAMES Celebrates Opening Night at Center Theatre Group
Kenny Leon directs this new play from the Pulitzer Prize-short lister Rajiv Joseph.
By: A.A. Cristi Jun. 10, 2022
The World premiere production of Rajiv Joseph's new work "King James," celebrated its opening night at Center Theatre Group / Mark Taper Forum this week. Go inside opening night below!
Tony and Obie Award-winning director Kenny Leon directs this new play from the Pulitzer Prize-short lister co-commissioned by Center Theatre Group and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
The cast features Glenn Davis as Shawn and Chris Perfetti as Matt. The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Samantha C. Jones (costume design), Lee Fiskness (lighting design), Rob Milburn (sound design) and Michael Bodeen (sound design). Casting is by JC Clementz, CSA and the production stage manager is David S. Franklin.
Basketball great "King" LeBron James' reign in Cleveland brings promise, prosperity and renewal to a city in desperate need of all three. His legacy brings together two friends who communicate best when they are talking and arguing about sports. "King James" is an intimate exploration of the place that sports and athletes occupy in our emotional lives and relationships. It explores the star player's impact on Cleveland, from his rookie season to the city's historic championship, and the lives of these two unlikely friends whose turbulent relationship is best navigated through their shared love of the sport in a verbal game of one-on-one. Though he is never seen in the show, LeBron James serves as a symbol for the hopes, desires and fears that these two characters have bottled up since childhood.
Kenny Leon is a Tony and Obie Award-winning; Emmy-nominated; Broadway and television director. Most recently, he directed Lifetime's Emmy-nominated "Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia." Last year, he directed the Tony Award-winning Broadway premiere of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece, "A Soldier's Play," for which he also received a nomination for Best Director.
"King James" is the new play from Cleveland native Rajiv Joseph who burst onto the American theatre scene with Pulitzer finalist "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo," which had its World premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2009 before being produced at the Taper and then on Broadway. Joseph's play "Archduke" had its World premiere at the Mark Taper Forum in 2017 as part of the Taper's 50th season. He has won the Obie Award for Best New American Play twice, in 2016 for "Guards at the Taj" (also a 2016 Lortel Winner for Best Play) and then in 2018 for "Describe the Night."
Photo Credit: Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging
Chris Pefetti and Glenn Davis
Glenn Davis, Kenny Leon, Rajiv Joseph and Chris Perfetti
Glenn Davis, Rajiv Joseph and Chris Perfetti
Tyrone Davis , Glenn Davis, Rajiv Josep, Chris Perfetti and Center Theatre Group Managing Director/CEO
Rajiv Joseph and Chris Perfetti
Glenn Davis, Khloe Janel and Chris Perfetti
Glenn Davis, Khloe Janel and Chris Perfetti
Glenn Davis, Meghan Pressman and Chris Perfetti
William Stanford Davis, Tyler James Williams, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti with Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph
Chris Perfetti and Lisa Ann Walter and William Stanford Davis
Behzad Dabu, Rajiv Joseph and Emily Swallow
Clare Barron, King James. Rajiv Joseph and Meghan Pressman
Meghan Pressman and Glenn Davis
Curtis Edward Jackson, Tyrone Davis and Dante Alexander
Curtis Edward Jackson, Rajiv Joseph and Dante Alexander
Sophia Nayar and Kenny Leon
Sophia Nayar and Kenny Leon
Behzad Dabu and Sana Afzal
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Tyler James Williams and Janelle James
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Janelle James
William Stanford Davis
Sam Daly
Newton Mayenge
Dante Alexander
Henri Lubatti
Dominique Toney and Adrienne Rose White
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