Kenny Leon
Encyclopedia
Kenny Leon is an African-American director notable for his work on Broadway and in regional theater. His success on Broadway has made him one of its foremost African-American directors.
He gained prominence in 1988 when he became one of the few African-Americans to head a notable nonprofit theater company as the artistic director
of Atlanta's Alliance Theatre Company
. During Leon's tenure, the company staged premieres of Pearl Cleage
's Blues for an Alabama Sky, Alfred Uhry
's The Last Night of Ballyhoo
, and Elton John
and Tim Rice
's musical Aida
, which went on to Broadway
. The Alliance's endowment also rose from $1 to $5 million during his time there.
Leon resigned from the Alliance in 2000 to take on other projects. These included being the co-founder and artistic director of True Colors Theater Company, a group based in both Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
He also took his talents to Broadway. In the spring of 2004 he directed a revival of Lorraine Hansberry
's A Raisin in the Sun
, starring Sean Combs
, Phylicia Rashad
and Audra McDonald
in his Broadway debut. At the end of that year, he directed the Broadway premiere of August Wilson
's Gem of the Ocean
. In Spring 2007, he directed August Wilson's "Radio Golf". All three plays were nominated for Tony award
s, and Leon was a Drama Desk Award
nominee for A Raisin in the Sun
. He also directed the television version of A Raisin in the Sun, which aired on ABC
in February 2008. Leon was nominated for a Tony Award in 2010 for Best Director for his work on August Wilson
's Fences
starring Denzel Washington
and Viola Davis
, earning them both nominations and wins for Best Performance for Male and Female in a Play.
In November 2010, Leon directed Phylicia Rashad
in the world premiere stage play Every Tongue Confess written by Marcus Gardley running at the Arena Stage
in Washington, D.C.
Leon has also directed plays at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
, the Huntington Theater Company in Boston
, the New York Shakespeare Festival
, and the Goodman Theater in Chicago
among many others.
Leon was originally going to direct the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams
' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
with an all-African American cast. However, he resigned from the production.
Leon is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University
. In addition to his directing experience, he has extensive acting experience on stage and in television and film. He made an appearance in the Hollywood Black Film Festival winner Big Ain't Bad
, playing the role of Thomas Jordan, the Mayor of Atlanta. In 2004, People Magazine named him one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" of the year. In 2007, Leon was a recipient of the 2007 Georgia Arts and Entertainment Legacy Award for his contributions to Georgia
's cultural legacy.
He gained prominence in 1988 when he became one of the few African-Americans to head a notable nonprofit theater company as the artistic director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
of Atlanta's Alliance Theatre Company
Alliance Theatre Company
The Alliance Theatre is a theater company in Atlanta, Georgia based at the Alliance Theatre, part of the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center and is the winner of the 2007 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The company, originally the Atlanta Municipal Theatre, staged its first production at the Alliance in...
. During Leon's tenure, the company staged premieres of Pearl Cleage
Pearl Cleage
Pearl Cleage is an African-American author whose work, both fiction and non-fiction, has been widely recognized. Her novel, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day was a 1998 Oprah’s Book Club selection. Cleage is known for her feminist views, particularly regarding her identity as an...
's Blues for an Alabama Sky, Alfred Uhry
Alfred Uhry
Alfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright, screenwriter, and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He is one of very few writers to receive an Academy Award, Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing....
's The Last Night of Ballyhoo
The Last Night of Ballyhoo
-Plot:The comedy is set in the upper class German-Jewish community living in Atlanta, Georgia in December 1939. Hitler has recently conquered Poland, Gone with the Wind is about to premiere, and Adolph Freitag and his sister Boo and nieces Lala and Sunny - a Jewish family so highly assimilated...
, and Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
and Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
's musical Aida
Aida (musical)
Aida is a musical with music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang, and produced by Walt Disney Theatrical....
, which went on to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. The Alliance's endowment also rose from $1 to $5 million during his time there.
Leon resigned from the Alliance in 2000 to take on other projects. These included being the co-founder and artistic director of True Colors Theater Company, a group based in both Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He also took his talents to Broadway. In the spring of 2004 he directed a revival of Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright and author of political speeches, letters, and essays...
's A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes...
, starring Sean Combs
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
, Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashād is an American Tony Award winning actress and singer, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show....
and Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
in his Broadway debut. At the end of that year, he directed the Broadway premiere of August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
's Gem of the Ocean
Gem of the Ocean
Gem of the Ocean is a play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the first installment of his decade-by-decade, ten-play chronicle, The Pittsburgh Cycle, dramatizing the African-American experience in the twentieth century.-Plot :...
. In Spring 2007, he directed August Wilson's "Radio Golf". All three plays were nominated for Tony award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s, and Leon was a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nominee for A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes...
. He also directed the television version of A Raisin in the Sun, which aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in February 2008. Leon was nominated for a Tony Award in 2010 for Best Director for his work on August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
's Fences
Fences
Fences is a 1983 play by American playwright August Wilson. Set in the 1950s, it is the sixth in Wilson's ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle. Like all of the Pittsburgh plays, Fences explores the evolving African-American experience and examines race relations, among other themes...
starring Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
and Viola Davis
Viola Davis
Viola Davis is an American actress.Known primarily as a stage actress, Davis won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and a Drama Desk Award for her role in King Hedley II . She won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role in the...
, earning them both nominations and wins for Best Performance for Male and Female in a Play.
In November 2010, Leon directed Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashād is an American Tony Award winning actress and singer, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show....
in the world premiere stage play Every Tongue Confess written by Marcus Gardley running at the Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
in Washington, D.C.
Leon has also directed plays at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
The was founded in 1959 by college student Gerald Covell and was one of the first regional theatres in the United States. Located in Eden Park, the first play that premiered at the Playhouse on October 10, 1960, was Meyer Levin's Compulsion...
, the Huntington Theater Company in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, the New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
, and the Goodman Theater in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
among many others.
Leon was originally going to direct the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955...
with an all-African American cast. However, he resigned from the production.
Leon is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University is a private, historically black university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University...
. In addition to his directing experience, he has extensive acting experience on stage and in television and film. He made an appearance in the Hollywood Black Film Festival winner Big Ain't Bad
Big Ain't Bad
Big Ain't Bad is a romantic comedy film, directed by Ray Culpepper and written by Brian Poe . It stars Jade Jenise Dixon, Sean Blakemore, Reginald Ballard, Tico Wells, and Troy Medley. The film won the Audience Choice Award at the 2003 Hollywood Black Film Festival in Los Angeles, California...
, playing the role of Thomas Jordan, the Mayor of Atlanta. In 2004, People Magazine named him one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" of the year. In 2007, Leon was a recipient of the 2007 Georgia Arts and Entertainment Legacy Award for his contributions to Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
's cultural legacy.