Performances run from May 29 to June 23.
Watch a teaser for Jelly's Last Jam at Pasadena Playhouse in the video here!
The Tony Award-winning musical Jelly’s Last Jam, featuring a book by George C. Wolfe, music by Jelly Roll Morton, and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead with musical adaptation and additional music composed by Luther Henderson, will run at Pasadena Playhouse from May 29 to June 23.
The cast of Jelly’s Last Jam is led by previously announced John Clarence Stewart as Jelly Roll Morton, Cress Williams as Chimney Man, and Jasmine Amy Rogers as Anita.
The production will also include Karole Foreman as Gran Mimi/Ensemble, Wilkie Ferguson III as Jack the Bear, Grasan Kingsberry as Buddy Bolden/Ensemble, Summer Nicole Greer as Miss Mamie, Doran Butler as Young Jelly/Ensemble, Cyd Charisse Glover-Hill as Hunnie, Naomi C. Walley as Hunnie, Janaya Jones as Hunnie, Hannah Yosef as Too Tight Nora/Ensemble, Joe Aaron Reid as Foot-In-Yo-Ass Sam/Ensemble, and Eric B. Anthony as Three Finger Jake/Ensemble.
The cast is rounded out by Davon Rashawn, Amber Liekhus, and Chante Carmel as Ensemble.
Jelly’s Last Jam will be directed by Kent Gash, with music direction by Darryl Archibald, and choreography by Dell Howlett.
The creative team includes Edward E. Haynes, Jr. (Scenic Designer), Samantha Jones (Costume Designer), Rui Rita (Lighting Designer), Danny Erdberg and Ursula Kwong Brown (Sound Designers), Kendrick Lawson-Knight (Assistant Scenic Designer), Caylyn Dabney (Assistant Costume Designer), Omar Madkour (Assistant Lighting Designer) with Casting by RBT Casting (Ryan Bernard Tymensky, CSA). The Stage Management team includes lark hackshaw (Production Stage Manager) and David S. Franklin (Assistant Stage Manager).
When legendary musician Jelly Roll Morton’s soul is forced to face the music, the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz” is left at the ultimate crossroads. Follow Jelly from the back alleys of New Orleans to the sparkling stages of New York, as his remarkable journey unfolds in a stunning display of song, dance, and music. With soulful melodies, electrifying tap dancing, and fiery tunes that will leave you breathless, get your groove on with this dazzling musical masterpiece.
Recipient of three Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards, and three 1992 Outer Critics Circle Awards including Best Broadway Musical, Jelly’s Last Jam “makes the invention of jazz a miraculous, eruptive theatrical event… not merely an impressionistic biography of the man who helped ignite the 20th-century jazz revolution, but also a sophisticated attempt to tell the story of the birth of jazz in general and, through that story, the edgy drama of being black in the tumultuous modern America that percolated to jazz's beat” (New York Times)
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