Heather Alicia Simms Photo

From: Photo Flash: Leon's True Colors Theater Co.'s August Wilson Monologue Competition

Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theaters presented the fourth annual August Wilson Monologue Competition National finals Monday, May 3 at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre (245 W. 52nd Street). The finals featured performances of monologues from August Wilson's Century Cycle by twelve regional finalists from Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Chicago and New York. The evening also included performances by Blues musician Guy Davis (Finian's Rainbow), Chris Chalk (Fences), LaTanya Richardson (Joe Turner's Come and Gone), Keith Randolph Smith (Fences, King Hedley II), Heather Alicia Simms (Gem of the Ocean, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) and Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Gem of the Ocean, Tony Award winner for Seven Guitars). The competition was judged by celebrity judges playwright Regina Taylor (Crowns and Drowning Crow), costume designer Constanza Romero (Fences, Gem of the Ocean, Seven Guitars, The Piano Lesson), and actors Russell Hornsby (Fences, Jitney), Mykelti Williamson (Fences, 'Forrest Gump,' '24') and Phylicia Rashad.