Tony & Grammy Award winner and Academy & Emmy Award nominee Leslie Odom, Jr. will star in a new Broadway production of the classic American comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch by the legendary Ossie Davis. Purlie Victorious will be staged by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon who directed the critically acclaimed productions of Ohio State Murders by Adrienne Kennedy and Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog earlier this season. This play, scheduled to begin in late summer 2023, will mark Odom’s return to Broadway after winning the Tony for his iconic performance as “Aaron Burr” in Hamilton.
Ossie Davis’s 1961 play—in which the actor and activist originally starred opposite Ruby Dee—may not seem a likely candidate for revival. Comedies often age badly, and comedies about race are even riskier. But Purlie Victorious doesn’t crack: Directed knowingly by Kenny Leon, the show’s new Broadway production is a joyous affair, broad in comedy and in spirit. Davis populates his play with deceptively familiar types (the simple-minded country girl, the loyal mammy, the villainous Confederate, the simpering Uncle Tom) who have more dimensions than expected; the actors who inhabit them take manifest delight in subverting stock figures from the inside out.
At the center of this prodigious cast and Leon’s clockwork staging—the pearl if you will—is Kara Young. With several Off Broadway and now three Broadway shows to her credit, Young (Cost of Living, Clyde’s) always astonishes. She’s a walking paradox: demure yet fiery; petite but imposing; seemingly naïve yet a conduit of deep, witchy wisdom. Her physical comedy is outrageous, especially when Lutiebelle, worked into a tizzy about facing Cotchipee, falls apart and reassembles right in front of us. Wobbling on heels, one hip jutted out in a burlesque of urbanity, arching neck and back 30 degrees upstage to catch prompts from Purlie as her eyelids alternate between dilated terror and fluttering on the verge of a fainting spell, Young seems to have packed the clowning of five virtuosi in one compact body. Purlie is victorious indeed; but anyone who gets to see Young in her comic glory is a winner.
Digital Lottery:
Price: $40
Where: rush.telecharge.com
When: The lottery will open at 12 AM on the day before the performance closing at 3 PM the day before the performance. Winners are drawn at 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Winners will be notified by email shortly after each drawing and have six hours to claim and purchase tickets online. Tickets will be emailed. Seats may be located in any section of the theater. While every effort will be made to seat pairs together with a full view, there is a chance that pairs may be split up and that your seat may have a partial view of the stage. Subject to daily availability.
1961 | Broadway |
Broadway |
2023 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Lead Performer in a Play | Leslie Odom, Jr. |
2024 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Ossie Davis |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play | Kenny Leon |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | Kara Young |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play | Leslie Odom, Jr. |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Purlie Victorious |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play | Derek McLane |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | Leslie Odom, Jr. |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | Kara Young |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Purlie Victorious |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Kenny Leon |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | Kara Young |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | Billy Eugene Jones |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Purlie Victorious |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Emilio Sosa |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Kenny Leon |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Leslie Odom, Jr. |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Kara Young |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Purlie Victorious |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Derek McLane |
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