PAST PRODUCTION
Langston in Harlem is an exciting new musical about one of America’s most honored poets, Langston Hughes. Set in the African-American cultural capital of Harlem from the Harlem Renaissance through the Civil Rights movement, Langston in Harlem tells the story of Langston Hughes’ journey into manhood and his emergence as one of the most beloved and forward thinking artists of our time. This groundbreaking new musical is filled with Jazz, Gospel, Rhythm and Blues, Swing, dance and spoken-word that sings, jumps, stomps and shouts. Langston Hughes glorious words and poetry of love, loss, joy and the blues and the people of Harlem who inspired him, come gloriously to life, in Langston in Harlem and are once again universal and unforgettable!
Starring:
Josh Towers, Jordan Barbour, Jonathan Burke, Francesca Harper, LaTrisa Harper, Dell Howlett, Krisha Marcano, Kenita Miller, Okieriete Onaodowan, Gayle Turner, Glenn Turner, C. Kelly Wright
Creative Team:
Musical Direction: Barry Levitt
Choreographer: Byron Easley
Costume Designer: Austin K. Sanderson
Scenic Designer: Emily Beck
Lighting Designer: William H. Grant, III
Sound Designer: Jason Fitzgerald
Projections Designer: Alex Koch
Sound Mixer: Sean Hagerty
Ligting Operator: Lee Terry
Associate Choreographer: Daniel Watts
Assistant Director: Carl Cofield
photos by Ben Hilder
KENT GASH (Director)
Alliance Theatre: King Hedley II, Pacific Overtures (WinnerBest Musical '03-'04, Elliot Norton Award, Best Musical and Best Director,I.R.N.E. Awards), Shakespeare's R&J, ALovely Sunday for Creve Coeur. OFF-BROADWAY: Call The Children Home (Audelco AwardNominee, Best Musical & Best Director) for Primary Stages; Miss Ever's Boys (Audelco Award Nominee,Best Play &Best Director) and Homefor Melting Pot Theatre Company; and Beggar'sHoliday and Josephine's Song(Co-Librettist) for the York. REGIONAL: As Associate Artistic Director of theAlabama ShakespeareFestival, Mr. Gash directed and choreographed The Negro of Peter theGreat, A Night in Tunisia,Guys and Dolls, Godspell, Troilus and Cressida, Twelfth Night, Beehive!and Five Guys Named Moe.Otherproductions include Steel Magnolias, TheWild Party, Coriolanus, Private Lives, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof and Harriet's Return starring Debbie Allen.Mr. Gash has directed for the Geffen, the Kennedy Center, True Colors TheatreCompany, Trinity Rep, ATL, Arizona Theatre Company, Delaware Theatre Companyand others. He holds a BFA in Acting (Carnegie-Mellon) and an MFA in Directing(UCLA), and serves on the boards of the Non-Traditional Casting Project and theAtlanta Coalition of Performing Arts.
WALTER MARKS (Music)
is probably best known for his song“I’ve Gotta be Me,” recorded by Sammy Davis, Tony Bennett,and many others. He has also written songs recorded by Barbra Streisand, TheTemptations, Della Reese, LittleAnthony and the Imperials, Steve Lawrence,Eydie Gorme, and other artists. He wrote the songs for the Broadway musicals Bajour and Golden
Rainbow, the book, music and lyrics for theoff-Broadway musical Body Shop,the screenplay and songs for the motion picture The Wild Party (Merchant-Ivory Films - directed by JamesIvory). He also wrote the off-Broadway comedy-mystery The ButlerDid It. On television, he won an
Emmy award for his music on thePBS Series “Getting On”, and wrote songsfor the ABC series“That’s Life”, and the NBC Hallmark Hall of Fame productionof “Pinocchio.” Other current theatre projects include Dig Lenny Bruce a musical about thecontroversial comedian, and Black Jack,a show about Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion of the world.Walter Marks’ first novel — Dangerous Behavior, apsychological thriller, was recently published in hardcover by Carroll &Graf. The book was purchased by Scott Rudin/Disney Pictures, and is soon to bea
major motion picture. In addition, he has produced and written the musicalscore for a feature length documentary film on Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, which is directed by his wife,prizewinning documentary filmmaker, Joan Brooker-Marks.