Lia Chang Photos: All-Access Pass to August Wilson’s Two Trains Running with John Earl Jelks, Harvy Blanks,Chuck Cooper, Anthony Chisholm, Owiso Odera, Roslyn Ruff and James A. Williams

On Sunday, March 3, 2013, I took the NJ Transit train to Red Bank, NJ, with an all-access pass to document the closing night performance of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson at Two River Theater Company in the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater.

August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson had performances from February 2-March 3, 2013 at Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey. Photo by Lia Chang

Thanks to the Two Trains Running cast of seasoned award-winning August Wilson vets – John Earl Jelks, Harvy Blanks, Anthony Chisholm, Chuck Cooper, Owiso Odera, Rosalyn Ruff,James A. Williams, and director Ruben Santiago-Hudson – who welcomed me with open arms.

Owiso Odera, Roslyn Ruff, James A. Williams, Harvy Blanks, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, John Earl Jelks, Chuck Cooper and Anthony Chisholm. Photo by Lia Chang

Part of Wilson’s 10-play cycle about the African-American experience in the 20th century, Two Trains Running is set against the backdrop of social change and political upheaval in the 1960s. It is the seventh in Wilson’s 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle chronicling the lives of African-Americans in each decade of the 20th century.

Harvy Blanks, Chuck Cooper, James A. Williams, Owiso Odera, John Earl Jelks and Anthony Chisholm in costumes by Karen Perry. Photo by Lia Chang

The creative team includes composer Bill Sims Jr., scenic design by Michael Carnahan; costume design by Karen Perry; lighting design by Xavier Pierce; and sound design by Robert Kaplowitz.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson catches up with his Stick Fly co-star Dulé Hill. Photo by Lia Chang

Last season, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, a Tony Award-winning actor, director, and writer, directed Wilson’s Jitney to critical acclaim and an extended run at Two River. Santiago-Hudson recently directed the Off-Broadway revivals of Athol Fugard’s My Children!, My Africa! and August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at Signature Theatre Company. He made his directorial debut with Gem of the Ocean (McCarter Theatre and American Conservatory Theater). His directing credits include Things of Dry Hours (New York Theatre Workshop), Radio Golf (Kennedy Center), Seven Guitars and The First Breeze of Summer (for Signature Theatre Company, where he was an Associate Artist 2008-2009). Santiago-Hudson made his Broadway acting debut in Jelly’s Last Jam. His performance in Seven Guitars earned him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. won an Obie Award and critical acclaim for his solo show Lackawanna Blues, and his screenplay for the HBO adaptation received the Humanitas Prize, Christopher Award, National Board of Review Honors, and NAACP Image Award; and Emmy, Golden Globe, and Writers Guild of America nominations. His most recent theater performances include Stick Fly (Broadway) A Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare in the Park) and Gem of the Ocean (Broadway). His film credits include Their Eyes Were Watching God, American Gangster, Mr. Brooks, Shaft, Devil’s Advocate, Domestic Disturbance, and The Invention of Lying. He was most recently seen on TV in the ABC show “Castle” as Captain Roy Montgomery; his other TV credits include: “Person of Interest,” “Forgotten Genius,” “The Red Sneakers,” “American Tragedy,” “Solomon and Sheba,” “Rear Window,” “Michael Hayes,” “The West Wing,” and “Law & Order.” He has been honored with numerous awards, including an Obie, Outer Critics Circle, Dramalogue, Clarence Derwent, Glen G. Bartle, and Helen Hayes Awards, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Wayne State University, two AUDELCO Awards, a Black Filmmaker’s Award, a NAMIC Award, and an HBO Comedy Arts Festival Theater Award. Santiago-Hudson was honored with an NAACP Lifetime Achievement Theatre Award in 2009. He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Buffalo State College.

The history of August Wilson and Two Trains Running. Photo by Lia Chang

August Wilson grew up in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, the setting for all but one of his plays. His work has been seen across the United States, as well as on Broadway and all over the world. Two Trains Running -for which Wilson was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee-had its debut at Yale Repertory Theatre in 1990 and opened on Broadway in 1992. The other plays in the Pittsburgh Cycle (also known as the Century Cycle) are Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes (for Fences and The Piano Lesson), a Tony Award for Fences, and Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney.

John Earl Jelks, assistant director Awoye Timpo and director Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Photo by Lia Chang

John Earl Jelks as ‘Wolf’. Photo by Lia Chang

John Earl Jelks was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Sterling in August Wilson’s Radio Golf, which he also toured to the McCarter, Goodman, CENTERSTAGE, SeattleRep., Mark Taper and Yale Rep. Jelks also appeared with Phylicia Rashad on Broadway in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean as Citizen (after runs at the Goodman, Huntington and Mark Taper, where he won an NAACP Theatre Award and an L.A. Ovation Award). In 2008, Jelks won an AUDELCO Award for his work in the Off-Broadway revival of The First Breeze of Summer. Jelks also appeared Off-Broadway in MCC’s production of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon with David Duchovny, Amanda Peet and Tracee Chimo. Regional theatre: Fetch Clay, Make Man at the McCarter Theatre; the world stage premiere of The Shawshank Redemption at the Gaiety Theatre in Ireland; Magnolia at the Goodman Theatre; Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Penumbra Theatre Company and Missouri Repertory Theatre. Recently, Jelks appeared as Lt. Ike Murray in the film Snap, as the Man in the Desert in The Miraculous, a short film co-directed and co-written by Laurel Nakadate and Brent Stewart; as Jermaine Dansby Sr. in the Spike Lee helmed TV movie Da Brick. On TV, his guest starring roles include Mr. Achok on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and as Ray Bell on “Blue Bloods”.

‘Risa’ costume design sketches by Karen Perry. Photo by Lia Chang

Karen Perry, who recently designed the costumes for Signature Theatre Company’s critically acclaimed revival of The Piano Lesson starring Two Trains Running castmembers Roslyn Ruff, Chuck Cooper, James A. Williams, is on board for Two Trains Running. Her recent credits include the 10th Anniversary production of Crowns, written and directed by Regina Taylor (Goodman); Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky, dir. Sheldon Epps (Pasadena Playhouse); John Grisham’s A Time to Kill, dir. Ethan McSweeny (Arena); Regina Taylor’s Trinity River Plays, dir. McSweeny (Dallas Theater Center, Goodman); Walter Mosley’s The Fall of Heaven, dir. Marion McClinton (Cincinnati Playhouse); The Brother/Sister Plays by Pulitzer nominee Tarell McCraney, dir. Tina Landau (The Public) and Landau and Robert O’Hara (McCarter); Things of Dry Hours by Naomi Wallace, dir. Ruben Santiago-Hudson (NYTW); Having Our Say, written and directed by Emily Mann (McCarter); and Resurrection by Daniel Beaty, dir. Oz Scott (Arena). Her regional credits include six August Wilson productions: Gem of the Ocean, The Piano Lesson, King Hedley II, Radio Golf, Two Trains Running, and Seven Guitars. Honors include 2008 and 2006 AUDELCO Awards; the 2007 San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award; the 2006 “Woodie” Award; and the 2005 National Black Theatre Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award; as well as AUDELCO, Henry Hewes, and Lortel nominations. Select film/TV credits include: “Saturday Night Live” and The Brother from Another Planet by director John Sayles.

Harvy Blanks as ‘West’. Photo by Lia Chang

Harvy Blanks has been a member of the Denver Center Theater Company since 1985. Some of his credits at the Denver Center include Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Gem of the Ocean, King Hedley II, Jitney and The Piano Lesson (all by August Wilson), and A Streetcar Named Desire. In New York, Harvy received a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Oscar in Tabletop. Other noted New York productions include The First Breeze of Summer (Signature Theatre), The Guest of Central Park West (WorkShop Theater Company), and A Prophet Among Them (Blue Heron Theatre). Harvy was recently nominated for an Ovation award for a regional theater production of Driving Miss Daisy.

Anthony Chisholm as ‘Hambone’. Photo by Lia Chang

Anthony Chisholm won Obie and Drama Desk Awards for his performance as Fielding in the original Off-Broadway production of Jitney; he also played the role at the Mark Taper Forum and in London at the Royal National Theatre (Olivier Award for Best Play). He received a Tony nomination for his performance as Elder Joseph Barlow in August Wilson’s Radio Golf; his other Broadway credits include Wilson’s Two Trains Running and Gem of the Ocean. He is the recipient of NAACP, AUDELCO, Ovation, and IRNE Awards; he has also received nominations for Drama Desk, Drama League, Joseph Jefferson, Ovation, NAACP, and AUDELCO Awards. Mr. Chisholm appeared in The Tracers, Ice Bridge, and King Lear for The Public/NYSF. Other theater credits include The Mighty Gents, Back in the World, Melvin Van Peebles’ Ain’t Supposed To Die a Natural Death (first national tour), and Charles Gordone’s No Place to Be Somebody, as well as Tracers at London’s Royal Court and in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. Regional credits include The Train Driver (Long Wharf), I Am a Man (Goodman), I Just Stopped By to See the Man (Steppenwolf), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Denver Center Theatre Company, Cleveland Play House), Fences (Indiana Rep) and Driving Miss Daisy (Portland Stage). His film/TV credits include 13, Blackout, Reign Over Me, Langhorne in Beloved, “100 Center Street” (Emmy consideration), “Hack” (recurring role), “Law & Order: SVU”, “Vietnam War Stories” (Cable Ace nomination), “Third Watch,” and HBO’s “Oz” as series regular Burr Redding.

Chuck Cooper as ‘Memphis’. Photo by Lia Chang

Chuck Cooper is a veteran of 10 Broadway plays and musicals, and numerous television and film guest lead appearances over the span of his 30 years as a professional actor. He won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a musical for his portrayal of Memphis in The Life. Other Broadway credits include: Finian’s Rainbow; Lennon; Caroline, or Change (AUDELCO Award, Best Featured Actor); Chicago; Passion; Someone to Watch Over Me; Rumors; Amen Corner; Getting Away With Murder. Off-Broadway: Lost In the Stars (Encores); On the Levee (LCT3); Thunder Knocking on the Door (Minetta Lane, AUDELCO nomination); Colored People’s Time (Negro Ensemble Co.); and more. Regional credits include: All My Sons (Intiman); Dance of the Holy Ghosts (Yale Rep); Robeson (Passage Theatre); Othello (New Jersey Shakespeare Festival); Julius Caesar (Philadelphia Drama Guild); Hamlet, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare Theatre, DC); Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Two Trains Running (San Diego Critics Circle Award, The Old Globe); and more. Television: “Gossip Girl”; “Nurse Jackie”; “Hack”; 1″00 Centre Street”; “Law & Order SVU”; “Oz”;” NYPD Blue”; “Cosby”; “New York Undercover”; “I’ll Fly Away”; and more. Film credits: Boy Wonder; Noise; Evening; American Gangster; Find Me Guilty; Three Days of Rain; The Hurricane; The Opportunists; Gloria; The Juror; North. Mr. Cooper is a Beinecke Fellow at the Yale School of Drama. Favorite role: Eddie, Alex, and Lilli’s father. www.chuckcooper.net.

Owiso Odera as ‘Sterling’. Photo by Lia Chang

Owiso Odera Off-Broadway: US premiere of The Overwhelming (Roundabout Theatre Company), Romeo and Juliet (the Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival). Regional theater credits include, August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (A.C.T, San Francisco), Directed by Mr. Santiago-Hudson; The title role in Othello (Folger Theatre, Washington DC); the world premiere of Samuel J. & K. at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (Williamstown, MA); Groundswell, Titus Andronicus, Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Merry Wives of Windsor (The Old Globe, San Diego); Love of Three Oranges (La Jolla Playhouse); Macbeth (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Boston). Television: “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Numb3rs” (CBS), “The Unit” (CBS), “FlashForward” (ABC), recurring roles on “Three Rivers” (CBS) and “DIRT” (FX). Film: The Thirst (Blood Wars), Relative Obscurity, Acholiland and the upcoming Orenthal, the Musical and H4. Training: The Acting Studio, New York. MFA; University of California – San Diego.

Scars are applied to Roslyn Ruff’s legs before each show for her character. Photo by Lia Chang

Roslyn Ruff Broadway: Fences (standby). Off-Broadway: The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre Company); Love, Loss, and What I Wore; Macbeth (TFANA); The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter; Things of Dry Hours; Seven Guitars; Killa Dilla; The Cherry Orchard; Macbeth (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Pudd’nhead Wilson; The Taming of the Shrew. Regional work includes: Berkeley Rep, Long Wharf, The Kennedy Center, Indiana Rep, Geva Theatre, Old Globe, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alliance Theatre, McCarter Theatre, ACT, Yale Rep, People’s Light & Theatre Co. International: 2004 Bonn Biennale Festival and Shakespeare Festival of Neuss; 2003 Athens Festival. Film: Detachment, The Help, Salt, Life During Wartime, Rachel Getting Married, In the Blood. TV: “A Gifted Man” (Nurse Sulla), “The Big C,” “The Good Wife,” “The Jury,” “The Sopranos.” Awards: 2010 Drama League nomination for Distinguished Performance, 2007 Obie Award for Performance, 2003 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play. MFA: IATT at Harvard University.

James A. Williams as ‘Holloway’. Photo by Lia Chang

James A. Williams has worked in regional theaters across the country as an actor and educator. Nationally, he has an extensive performing history with Center Stage, Goodman Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, McCarter, Seattle Rep, and Yale Rep culminating on Broadway in August Wilson’s Radio Golf. Williams performed multiple roles in The Kennedy Center’s August Wilson’s Century Cycle, and Off-Broadway in August Wilson’s Jitney, The Piano Lesson, Athol Fugard’s My Children!, My Africa!, and Marion McClinton’s Walkers. A founding company member of Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, he is Director of Teen Programming at Pillsbury House Theatre. He is also Artistic Director for the Hennepin County Home School Theatre Project and a teaching artist with the International Theatre and Literacy Project. He has led performance workshops at University of Minnesota, Brown University, Macalester College, Colby College, the International School of Kenya, and Akeri and Nshupu Secondary Schools in Tanzania. A 2005 NAACP Image Award nominee, he was awarded the St. Paul Companies Leadership Initiative in the Neighborhoods Grant. He was named Actor of the Year by City Pages Magazine and Artist of the Year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He is a TCG New Generations Fellow.

Two Trains Running pre-show prayer. Photo by Lia Chang

Two Trains Running pre-show prayer. Photo by Lia Chang

Two Trains Running pre-show hug. Photo by Lia Chang

TWO RIVER THEATER COMPANY, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, is dedicated to producing great classics from the American and world stage, creating new plays and musicals for the American theater, and serving its diverse and multigenerational community through unique partnerships and education programs. Founded in 1994 by Joan and Dr. Robert M. Rechnitz, the theater supports the most exceptional and adventurous artists in the American theater and provides opportunities for its audiences to be part of the creative process. Two River Theater is a member of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT), Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and ArtPride New Jersey, and has been designated a “Major Arts Institution” by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Two River Theater Company artistic director John Dias and Two Trains Running director Ruben Santiago-Hudson toast the final performance. Photo by Lia Chang

Chuck Cooper and James A. Williams. Photo by Lia Chang

Anthony Chisholm, Marianne Plunkett, Jay O. Sanders and Sharon Washington. Photo by Lia Chang

Jade King Carroll, John Earl Jelks, Charles Richard Barboza, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Xavier Pierce. Photo by Lia Chang

Anthony Chisholm and John Earl Jelks. Photo by Lia Chang

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Two Trains Running cast, crew and friends at Danny’s in Red Bank, NJ, after the March 2, 2013 performance. Photo by Lia Chang

Anthony Chisholm, Lia Chang, John Earl Jelks, James A. Williams, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Owiso Odera. Photo by Lia Chang

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.

Other articles by Lia Chang:
Signature Theatre’s 2013-14 Season Features New Works by Albee, Hwang, Enos, Taylor, Wilson, Clarke and Jacobs-Jenkins
Signature Theatre’s Revival of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Set for Wuzhen Theatre Festival in Wuzhen, China, May 9-12, 2013
Dian Kobayashi, Emily Kuroda, Sharon Omi, and Jeanne Sakata Set for East West Players’ Reading of A Cage of Fireflies by Daniel Akiyama at Tateuchi Democracy Forum on March 21, 2013
Philadelphia Young Playwrights & The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre Collaborate to Bring The Othello Project with Award-winning Othello Star Forrest McClendon, to Local High Schools
Paul Giamatti Leads Yale Rep’s Production of Hamlet, March 15-April 13, 2013
Photos: David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Opening Night
Hold These Truths Opening Night at Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s Tenney Theatre with Daniel Dae Kim, Joel de la Fuente and Jeanne Sakata
Ron Domingo, Francis Jue and Jon Norman Schneider Join the Cast of the World Premiere of Paper Dolls at the Tricycle Theatre, February 28 – April 13, 2013
Jelks, Blanks, Chisholm, Cooper, Odera, Ruff and Williams Set for Two Trains Running, Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson at Two River Theater Company, February 2 – March 3, 2013
Signature’s Off-Broadway Revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, helmed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, runs October 30 -December 9, 2012
Denise Burse as Claretha Jenkins in House of Payne’s “Payneful Visit”
Geffen Playhouse Production Photos of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon starring Kevin Anderson, Tracee Chimo, Catherine Dent and John Earl Jelks
Kevin Anderson, Catherine Dent, Tracee Chimo, John Earl Jelks in Neil La Bute’s The Break of Noon at the Geffen
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet,Tracee Chimo opening night of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon
John Earl Jelks is featured in MCC Theater’s world premiere of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon at the Lucille Lortel
Denise Burse, Rocky Carroll, Anthony Chisholm, John Earl Jelks and James A. Williams in Radio Golf by August Wilson at The Pearlstone Theater in Baltimore
Costume Designer Karen Perry- Audelco Nod for The Public Theatre’s Brother/Sister Trilogy by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Harlem Nights with Lorey Hayes, Actress, Director and Award-Winning Playwright of Power Play and Massinissa
Manu Narayan Dazzles as Richard Roma in La Jolla Playhouse’s Revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross
Photos: All-Access Pass to Disney’s Aladdin at The Muny with Thom Sesma, Francis Jue, Robin De Jesus, John Tartaglia, Jason Graae, Curtis Holbrook, Eddie Korbich, Samantha Massell and Ken Page
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

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Lia Chang: Two Trains Running at Two River Theater Company through March 3, 2013

Signature alums Coleman Domingo (Blood Knot), James A. Williams (My Children!My Africa!, The Piano Lesson), Lia Chang (Chicago) and John Earl Jelks (The First Breeze of Summer) at the opening night party for Signature’s revival of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad at The Pershing Square Signature Center on February 25, 2013.

On Monday night, I attended the opening night performance of Signature Theatre’s revival of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance at the Railroad with John Earl Jelks and James A. Williams, who are currently appearing in the critically-acclaimed production of the Ruben Santiago-Hudson helmed production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running at Two River Theater Company in the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater, 21 Bridge Avenue in Red Bank, NJ.

John Earl Jelks and Owiso Odera in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running at Two River through March 3, 2013. Photo by Mischal Daniel

A cast of seasoned award-winning August Wilson vets – Harvy Blanks, Anthony Chisholm, Chuck Cooper, Owiso Odera and Rosalyn Ruff are also featured in Two Trains Running, which began previews on February 2, 2013 and has been extended through March 3, 2013. The remaining performances are Friday, March 1 at 8pm, Saturday, March 2 at 3pm and 8pm, and I’ll be catching the final performance on Sunday, March 3 at 3pm. Click here for tickets.

Part of Wilson’s 10-play cycle about the African-American experience in the 20th century, Two Trains Running is set against the backdrop of social change and political upheaval in the 1960s. It is the seventh in Wilson’s 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle chronicling the lives of African-Americans in each decade of the 20th century.

The creative team includes scenic designer Michael Carnahan; costume designer Karen Perry; lighting designer Xavier Pierce; sound designer Robert Kaplowitz; and composer Bill Sims Jr. The casting is by Heidi Griffiths and the stage manager is Amanda Michaels.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Last season, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, a Tony Award-winning actor, director, and writer, directed Wilson’s Jitney to critical acclaim and an extended run at Two River. Santiago-Hudson recently directed the Off-Broadway revivals of Athol Fugard’s My Children!, My Africa! and August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at Signature Theatre Company. He made his directorial debut with Gem of the Ocean (McCarter Theatre and American Conservatory Theater). His directing credits include Things of Dry Hours (New York Theatre Workshop), Radio Golf (Kennedy Center), Seven Guitars and The First Breeze of Summer (for Signature Theatre Company, where he was an Associate Artist 2008-2009). Santiago-Hudson made his Broadway acting debut in Jelly’s Last Jam. His performance in Seven Guitars earned him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. won an Obie Award and critical acclaim for his solo show Lackawanna Blues, and his screenplay for the HBO adaptation received the Humanitas Prize, Christopher Award, National Board of Review Honors, and NAACP Image Award; and Emmy, Golden Globe, and Writers Guild of America nominations. His most recent theater performances include Stick Fly (Broadway) A Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare in the Park) and Gem of the Ocean (Broadway). His film credits include Their Eyes Were Watching God, American Gangster, Mr. Brooks, Shaft, Devil’s Advocate, Domestic Disturbance, and The Invention of Lying. He was most recently seen on TV in the ABC show “Castle” as Captain Roy Montgomery; his other TV credits include: “Person of Interest,” “Forgotten Genius,” “The Red Sneakers,” “American Tragedy,” “Solomon and Sheba,” “Rear Window,” “Michael Hayes,” “The West Wing,” and “Law & Order.” He has been honored with numerous awards, including an Obie, Outer Critics Circle, Dramalogue, Clarence Derwent, Glen G. Bartle, and Helen Hayes Awards, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Wayne State University, two AUDELCO Awards, a Black Filmmaker’s Award, a NAMIC Award, and an HBO Comedy Arts Festival Theater Award. Santiago-Hudson was honored with an NAACP Lifetime Achievement Theatre Award in 2009. He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Buffalo State College.

August Wilson grew up in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, the setting for all but one of his plays. His work has been seen across the United States, as well as on Broadway and all over the world. Two Trains Running -for which Wilson was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee-had its debut at Yale Repertory Theatre in 1990 and opened on Broadway in 1992. The other plays in the Pittsburgh Cycle (also known as the Century Cycle) are Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes (for Fences and The Piano Lesson), a Tony Award for Fences, and Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney.

John Earl Jelks. Photo by Lia Chang

John Earl Jelks was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Sterling in August Wilson’s Radio Golf, which he also toured to the McCarter, Goodman, CENTERSTAGE, SeattleRep., Mark Taper and Yale Rep. Jelks also appeared with Phylicia Rashad on Broadway in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean as Citizen (after runs at the Goodman, Huntington and Mark Taper, where he won an NAACP Theatre Award and an L.A. Ovation Award). In 2008, Jelks won an AUDELCO Award for his work in the Off-Broadway revival of The First Breeze of Summer. Jelks also appeared Off-Broadway in MCC’s production of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon with David Duchovny, Amanda Peet and Tracee Chimo. Regional theatre: Fetch Clay, Make Man at the McCarter Theatre; the world stage premiere of The Shawshank Redemption at the Gaiety Theatre in Ireland; Magnolia at the Goodman Theatre; Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Penumbra Theatre Company and Missouri Repertory Theatre. Recently, Jelks appeared as Lt. Ike Murray in the film Snap, as the Man in the Desert in The Miraculous, a short film co-directed and co-written by Laurel Nakadate and Brent Stewart; as Jermaine Dansby Sr. in the Spike Lee helmed TV movie Da Brick. On TV, his guest starring roles include Mr. Achok on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and as Ray Bell on “Blue Bloods”.

Karen Perry, who recently designed the costumes for Signature Theatre Company’s critically acclaimed revival of The Piano Lesson starring Two Trains Running castmembers Roslyn Ruff, Chuck Cooper, James A. Williams, is on board for Two Trains Running. Her recent credits include the 10th Anniversary production of Crowns, written and directed by Regina Taylor (Goodman); Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky, dir. Sheldon Epps (Pasadena Playhouse); John Grisham’s A Time to Kill, dir. Ethan McSweeny (Arena); Regina Taylor’s Trinity River Plays, dir. McSweeny (Dallas Theater Center, Goodman); Walter Mosley’s The Fall of Heaven, dir. Marion McClinton (Cincinnati Playhouse); The Brother/Sister Plays by Pulitzer nominee Tarell McCraney, dir. Tina Landau (The Public) and Landau and Robert O’Hara (McCarter); Things of Dry Hours by Naomi Wallace, dir. Ruben Santiago-Hudson (NYTW); Having Our Say, written and directed by Emily Mann (McCarter); and Resurrection by Daniel Beaty, dir. Oz Scott (Arena). Her regional credits include six August Wilson productions: Gem of the Ocean, The Piano Lesson, King Hedley II, Radio Golf, Two Trains Running, and Seven Guitars. Honors include 2008 and 2006 AUDELCO Awards; the 2007 San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award; the 2006 “Woodie” Award; and the 2005 National Black Theatre Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award; as well as AUDELCO, Henry Hewes, and Lortel nominations. Select film/TV credits include: “Saturday Night Live” and The Brother from Another Planet by director John Sayles.

Harvy Blanks

Harvy Blanks has been a member of the Denver Center Theater Company since 1985. Some of his credits at the Denver Center include Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Gem of the Ocean, King Hedley II, Jitney and The Piano Lesson (all by August Wilson), and A Streetcar Named Desire. In New York, Harvy received a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Oscar in Tabletop. Other noted New York productions include The First Breeze of Summer (Signature Theatre), The Guest of Central Park West (WorkShop Theater Company), and A Prophet Among Them (Blue Heron Theatre). Harvy was recently nominated for an Ovation award for a regional theater production of Driving Miss Daisy.

Anthony Chisholm

Anthony Chisholm won Obie and Drama Desk Awards for his performance as Fielding in the original Off-Broadway production of Jitney; he also played the role at the Mark Taper Forum and in London at the Royal National Theatre (Olivier Award for Best Play). He received a Tony nomination for his performance as Elder Joseph Barlow in August Wilson’s Radio Golf; his other Broadway credits include Wilson’s Two Trains Running and Gem of the Ocean. He is the recipient of NAACP, AUDELCO, Ovation, and IRNE Awards; he has also received nominations for Drama Desk, Drama League, Joseph Jefferson, Ovation, NAACP, and AUDELCO Awards. Mr. Chisholm appeared in The Tracers, Ice Bridge, and King Lear for The Public/NYSF. Other theater credits include The Mighty Gents, Back in the World, Melvin Van Peebles’ Ain’t Supposed To Die a Natural Death (first national tour), and Charles Gordone’s No Place to Be Somebody, as well as Tracers at London’s Royal Court and in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. Regional credits include The Train Driver (Long Wharf), I Am a Man (Goodman), I Just Stopped By to See the Man (Steppenwolf), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Denver Center Theatre Company, Cleveland Play House), Fences (Indiana Rep) and Driving Miss Daisy (Portland Stage). His film/TV credits include 13, Blackout, Reign Over Me, Langhorne in Beloved, “100 Center Street” (Emmy consideration), “Hack” (recurring role), “Law & Order: SVU”, “Vietnam War Stories” (Cable Ace nomination), “Third Watch,” and HBO’s “Oz” as series regular Burr Redding.

Chuck Cooper

Chuck Cooper is a veteran of 10 Broadway plays and musicals, and numerous television and film guest lead appearances over the span of his 30 years as a professional actor. He won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a musical for his portrayal of Memphis in The Life. Other Broadway credits include: Finian’s Rainbow; Lennon; Caroline, or Change (AUDELCO Award, Best Featured Actor); Chicago; Passion; Someone to Watch Over Me; Rumors; Amen Corner; Getting Away With Murder. Off-Broadway: Lost In the Stars (Encores); On the Levee (LCT3); Thunder Knocking on the Door (Minetta Lane, AUDELCO nomination); Colored People’s Time (Negro Ensemble Co.); and more. Regional credits include: All My Sons (Intiman); Dance of the Holy Ghosts (Yale Rep); Robeson (Passage Theatre); Othello (New Jersey Shakespeare Festival); Julius Caesar (Philadelphia Drama Guild); Hamlet, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare Theatre, DC); Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Two Trains Running (San Diego Critics Circle Award, The Old Globe); and more. Television: “Gossip Girl”; “Nurse Jackie”; “Hack”; 1″00 Centre Street”; “Law & Order SVU”; “Oz”;” NYPD Blue”; “Cosby”; “New York Undercover”; “I’ll Fly Away”; and more. Film credits: Boy Wonder; Noise; Evening; American Gangster; Find Me Guilty; Three Days of Rain; The Hurricane; The Opportunists; Gloria; The Juror; North. Mr. Cooper is a Beinecke Fellow at the Yale School of Drama. Favorite role: Eddie, Alex, and Lilli’s father. www.chuckcooper.net.

Owiso Odera

Owiso Odera Off-Broadway: US premiere of The Overwhelming (Roundabout Theatre Company), Romeo and Juliet (the Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival). Regional theater credits include, August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (A.C.T, San Francisco), Directed by Mr. Santiago-Hudson; The title role in Othello (Folger Theatre, Washington DC); the world premiere of Samuel J. & K. at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (Williamstown, MA); Groundswell, Titus Andronicus, Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Merry Wives of Windsor (The Old Globe, San Diego); Love of Three Oranges (La Jolla Playhouse); Macbeth (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Boston). Television: “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Numb3rs” (CBS), “The Unit” (CBS), “FlashForward” (ABC), recurring roles on “Three Rivers” (CBS) and “DIRT” (FX). Film: The Thirst (Blood Wars), Relative Obscurity, Acholiland and the upcoming Orenthal, the Musical and H4. Training: The Acting Studio, New York. MFA; University of California – San Diego

Roslyn Ruff

Roslyn Ruff Broadway: Fences (standby). Off-Broadway: The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre Company); Love, Loss, and What I Wore; Macbeth (TFANA); The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter; Things of Dry Hours; Seven Guitars; Killa Dilla; The Cherry Orchard; Macbeth (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Pudd’nhead Wilson; The Taming of the Shrew. Regional work includes: Berkeley Rep, Long Wharf, The Kennedy Center, Indiana Rep, Geva Theatre, Old Globe, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alliance Theatre, McCarter Theatre, ACT, Yale Rep, People’s Light & Theatre Co. International: 2004 Bonn Biennale Festival and Shakespeare Festival of Neuss; 2003 Athens Festival. Film: Detachment, The Help, Salt, Life During Wartime, Rachel Getting Married, In the Blood. TV: “A Gifted Man” (Nurse Sulla), “The Big C,” “The Good Wife,” “The Jury,” “The Sopranos.” Awards: 2010 Drama League nomination for Distinguished Performance, 2007 Obie Award for Performance, 2003 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play. MFA: IATT at Harvard University.

James A. Williams. Photo by Lia Chang

James A. Williams has worked in regional theaters across the country as an actor and educator. Nationally, he has an extensive performing history with Center Stage, Goodman Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, McCarter, Seattle Rep, and Yale Rep culminating on Broadway in August Wilson’s Radio Golf. Williams performed multiple roles in The Kennedy Center’s August Wilson’s Century Cycle, and Off-Broadway in August Wilson’s Jitney, The Piano Lesson, Athol Fugard’s My Children!, My Africa!, and Marion McClinton’s Walkers. A founding company member of Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, he is Director of Teen Programming at Pillsbury House Theatre. He is also Artistic Director for the Hennepin County Home School Theatre Project and a teaching artist with the International Theatre and Literacy Project. He has led performance workshops at University of Minnesota, Brown University, Macalester College, Colby College, the International School of Kenya, and Akeri and Nshupu Secondary Schools in Tanzania. A 2005 NAACP Image Award nominee, he was awarded the St. Paul Companies Leadership Initiative in the Neighborhoods Grant. He was named Actor of the Year by City Pages Magazine and Artist of the Year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He is a TCG New Generations Fellow.

TWO RIVER THEATER COMPANY, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, is dedicated to producing great classics from the American and world stage, creating new plays and musicals for the American theater, and serving its diverse and multigenerational community through unique partnerships and education programs. Founded in 1994 by Joan and Dr. Robert M. Rechnitz, the theater supports the most exceptional and adventurous artists in the American theater and provides opportunities for its audiences to be part of the creative process. Two River Theater is a member of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT), Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and ArtPride New Jersey, and has been designated a “Major Arts Institution” by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Other articles by Lia Chang:
Photos: David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Opening Night
Hold These Truths Opening Night at Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s Tenney Theatre with Daniel Dae Kim, Joel de la Fuente and Jeanne Sakata
Ron Domingo, Francis Jue and Jon Norman Schneider Join the Cast of the World Premiere of Paper Dolls at the Tricycle Theatre, February 28 – April 13, 2013
Jelks, Blanks, Chisholm, Cooper, Odera, Ruff and Williams Set for Two Trains Running, Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson at Two River Theater Company, February 2 – March 3, 2013
Signature’s Off-Broadway Revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, helmed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, runs October 30 -December 9, 2012
Geffen Playhouse Production Photos of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon starring Kevin Anderson, Tracee Chimo, Catherine Dent and John Earl Jelks, 1/25-3/6/11
Kevin Anderson, Catherine Dent, Tracee Chimo, John Earl Jelks in Neil La Bute’s The Break of Noon at the Geffen 1/25-3/6
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet,Tracee Chimo opening night of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon
John Earl Jelks is featured in MCC Theater’s world premiere of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon at the Lucille Lortel
Denise Burse, Rocky Carroll, Anthony Chisholm, John Earl Jelks and James A. Williams in Radio Golf by August Wilson at The Pearlstone Theater in Baltimore
Costume Designer Karen Perry- Audelco Nod for The Public Theatre’s Brother/Sister Trilogy by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Good Night | Good Morning starring Manu Narayan and Seema Rahmani on J. Hurtado’s Top Ten Indian Films of 2012
Ruy Iskandar and Yuekun Wu Set for Signature Theatre’s Production of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad, February 5 – March 17, 2013
Manu Narayan, Mark Bennett, Lea Salonga, Michael K. Lee and Stafford Arima Among 2012 Craig Noel Award Nominees
Harlem Nights with Lorey Hayes, Actress, Director and Award-Winning Playwright of Power Play and Massinissa
Manu Narayan Dazzles as Richard Roma in La Jolla Playhouse’s Revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross
Photos: All-Access Pass to Disney’s Aladdin at The Muny with Thom Sesma, Francis Jue, Robin De Jesus, John Tartaglia, Jason Graae, Curtis Holbrook, Eddie Korbich, Samantha Massell and Ken Page
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

John Earl Jelks, Lia Chang and Ruben Santiago-Hudson at the opening night party for MCC's Break of Noon in New York on November 22, 2010. Photo by Charles Richard Barboza

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2012 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com

Lia Chang: Jelks, Blanks, Chisholm, Cooper, Odera, Ruff and Williams Set for Two Trains Running, Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson at Two River Theater Company, February 2 – March 3, 2013

John Earl Jelks. Photo by Lia Chang

Tony award nominee John Earl Jelks is featured as Wolf in the Ruben Santiago-Hudson helmed production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running at Two River Theater Company, along with seasoned award-winning August Wilson vets – Harvy Blanks as West, Anthony Chisholm as Hambone, Chuck Cooper as Memphis, Owiso Odera as Sterling, Rosalyn Ruff as Risa and James A. Williams as Holloway. Preview performances begin February 2, 2013,and the production has been extended through March 3, 2013 in the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater, 21 Bridge Avenue in Red Bank, NJ. The opening night performance is Friday, February 15, 2013 at 8pm.

Part of Wilson’s 10-play cycle about the African-American experience in the 20th century, Two Trains Running is set against the backdrop of social change and political upheaval in the 1960s. It is the seventh in Wilson’s 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle chronicling the lives of African-Americans in each decade of the 20th century.

The creative team includes scenic designer Michael Carnahan; costume designer Karen Perry; lighting designer Xavier Pierce; sound designer Robert Kaplowitz; and composer Bill Sims Jr. The casting is by Heidi Griffiths and the stage manager is Amanda Michaels.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Last season, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, a Tony Award-winning actor, director, and writer, directed Wilson’s Jitney to critical acclaim and an extended run at Two River. Santiago-Hudson recently directed the Off-Broadway revivals of Athol Fugard’s My Children!, My Africa! and August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at Signature Theatre Company. He made his directorial debut with Gem of the Ocean (McCarter Theatre and American Conservatory Theater). His directing credits include Things of Dry Hours (New York Theatre Workshop), Radio Golf (Kennedy Center), Seven Guitars and The First Breeze of Summer (for Signature Theatre Company, where he was an Associate Artist 2008-2009). Santiago-Hudson made his Broadway acting debut in Jelly’s Last Jam. His performance in Seven Guitars earned him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. won an Obie Award and critical acclaim for his solo show Lackawanna Blues, and his screenplay for the HBO adaptation received the Humanitas Prize, Christopher Award, National Board of Review Honors, and NAACP Image Award; and Emmy, Golden Globe, and Writers Guild of America nominations. His most recent theater performances include Stick Fly (Broadway) A Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare in the Park) and Gem of the Ocean (Broadway). His film credits include Their Eyes Were Watching God, American Gangster, Mr. Brooks, Shaft, Devil’s Advocate, Domestic Disturbance, and The Invention of Lying. He was most recently seen on TV in the ABC show “Castle” as Captain Roy Montgomery; his other TV credits include: “Person of Interest,” “Forgotten Genius,” “The Red Sneakers,” “American Tragedy,” “Solomon and Sheba,” “Rear Window,” “Michael Hayes,” “The West Wing,” and “Law & Order.” He has been honored with numerous awards, including an Obie, Outer Critics Circle, Dramalogue, Clarence Derwent, Glen G. Bartle, and Helen Hayes Awards, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Wayne State University, two AUDELCO Awards, a Black Filmmaker’s Award, a NAMIC Award, and an HBO Comedy Arts Festival Theater Award. Santiago-Hudson was honored with an NAACP Lifetime Achievement Theatre Award in 2009. He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Buffalo State College.

August Wilson grew up in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, the setting for all but one of his plays. His work has been seen across the United States, as well as on Broadway and all over the world. Two Trains Running -for which Wilson was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee-had its debut at Yale Repertory Theatre in 1990 and opened on Broadway in 1992. The other plays in the Pittsburgh Cycle (also known as the Century Cycle) are Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes (for Fences and The Piano Lesson), a Tony Award for Fences, and Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney.

John Earl Jelks was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Sterling in August Wilson’s Radio Golf, which he also toured to the McCarter, Goodman, CENTERSTAGE, SeattleRep., Mark Taper and Yale Rep. Jelks also appeared with Phylicia Rashad on Broadway in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean as Citizen (after runs at the Goodman, Huntington and Mark Taper, where he won an NAACP Theatre Award and an L.A. Ovation Award). In 2008, Jelks won an AUDELCO Award for his work in the Off-Broadway revival of The First Breeze of Summer. Jelks also appeared Off-Broadway in MCC’s production of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon with David Duchovny, Amanda Peet and Tracee Chimo. Regional theatre: Fetch Clay, Make Man at the McCarter Theatre; the world stage premiere of The Shawshank Redemption at the Gaiety Theatre in Ireland; Magnolia at the Goodman Theatre; Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Penumbra Theatre Company and Missouri Repertory Theatre. Recently, Jelks appeared as Lt. Ike Murray in the film Snap, as the Man in the Desert in The Miraculous, a short film co-directed and co-written by Laurel Nakadate and Brent Stewart; as Jermaine Dansby Sr. in the Spike Lee helmed TV movie Da Brick. On TV, his guest starring roles include Mr. Achok on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and as Ray Bell on “Blue Bloods”.

Karen Perry, who recently designed the costumes for Signature Theatre Company’s critically acclaimed revival of The Piano Lesson starring Two Trains Running castmembers Roslyn Ruff, Chuck Cooper, James A. Williams, is on board for Two Trains Running. Her recent credits include the 10th Anniversary production of Crowns, written and directed by Regina Taylor (Goodman); Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky, dir. Sheldon Epps (Pasadena Playhouse); John Grisham’s A Time to Kill, dir. Ethan McSweeny (Arena); Regina Taylor’s Trinity River Plays, dir. McSweeny (Dallas Theater Center, Goodman); Walter Mosley’s The Fall of Heaven, dir. Marion McClinton (Cincinnati Playhouse); The Brother/Sister Plays by Pulitzer nominee Tarell McCraney, dir. Tina Landau (The Public) and Landau and Robert O’Hara (McCarter); Things of Dry Hours by Naomi Wallace, dir. Ruben Santiago-Hudson (NYTW); Having Our Say, written and directed by Emily Mann (McCarter); and Resurrection by Daniel Beaty, dir. Oz Scott (Arena). Her regional credits include six August Wilson productions: Gem of the Ocean, The Piano Lesson, King Hedley II, Radio Golf, Two Trains Running, and Seven Guitars. Honors include 2008 and 2006 AUDELCO Awards; the 2007 San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award; the 2006 “Woodie” Award; and the 2005 National Black Theatre Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award; as well as AUDELCO, Henry Hewes, and Lortel nominations. Select film/TV credits include: “Saturday Night Live” and The Brother from Another Planet by director John Sayles.

Harvy Blanks

Harvy Blanks has been a member of the Denver Center Theater Company since 1985. Some of his credits at the Denver Center include Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Gem of the Ocean, King Hedley II, Jitney and The Piano Lesson (all by August Wilson), and A Streetcar Named Desire. In New York, Harvy received a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Oscar in Tabletop. Other noted New York productions include The First Breeze of Summer (Signature Theatre), The Guest of Central Park West (WorkShop Theater Company), and A Prophet Among Them (Blue Heron Theatre). Harvy was recently nominated for an Ovation award for a regional theater production of Driving Miss Daisy.

Anthony Chisholm

Anthony Chisholm won Obie and Drama Desk Awards for his performance as Fielding in the original Off-Broadway production of Jitney; he also played the role at the Mark Taper Forum and in London at the Royal National Theatre (Olivier Award for Best Play). He received a Tony nomination for his performance as Elder Joseph Barlow in August Wilson’s Radio Golf; his other Broadway credits include Wilson’s Two Trains Running and Gem of the Ocean. He is the recipient of NAACP, AUDELCO, Ovation, and IRNE Awards; he has also received nominations for Drama Desk, Drama League, Joseph Jefferson, Ovation, NAACP, and AUDELCO Awards. Mr. Chisholm appeared in The Tracers, Ice Bridge, and King Lear for The Public/NYSF. Other theater credits include The Mighty Gents, Back in the World, Melvin Van Peebles’ Ain’t Supposed To Die a Natural Death (first national tour), and Charles Gordone’s No Place to Be Somebody, as well as Tracers at London’s Royal Court and in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. Regional credits include The Train Driver (Long Wharf), I Am a Man (Goodman), I Just Stopped By to See the Man (Steppenwolf), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Denver Center Theatre Company, Cleveland Play House), Fences (Indiana Rep) and Driving Miss Daisy (Portland Stage). His film/TV credits include 13, Blackout, Reign Over Me, Langhorne in Beloved, “100 Center Street” (Emmy consideration), “Hack” (recurring role), “Law & Order: SVU”, “Vietnam War Stories” (Cable Ace nomination), “Third Watch,” and HBO’s “Oz” as series regular Burr Redding.

Chuck Cooper

Chuck Cooper is a veteran of 10 Broadway plays and musicals, and numerous television and film guest lead appearances over the span of his 30 years as a professional actor. He won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a musical for his portrayal of Memphis in The Life. Other Broadway credits include: Finian’s Rainbow; Lennon; Caroline, or Change (AUDELCO Award, Best Featured Actor); Chicago; Passion; Someone to Watch Over Me; Rumors; Amen Corner; Getting Away With Murder. Off-Broadway: Lost In the Stars (Encores); On the Levee (LCT3); Thunder Knocking on the Door (Minetta Lane, AUDELCO nomination); Colored People’s Time (Negro Ensemble Co.); and more. Regional credits include: All My Sons (Intiman); Dance of the Holy Ghosts (Yale Rep); Robeson (Passage Theatre); Othello (New Jersey Shakespeare Festival); Julius Caesar (Philadelphia Drama Guild); Hamlet, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare Theatre, DC); Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Two Trains Running (San Diego Critics Circle Award, The Old Globe); and more. Television: “Gossip Girl”; “Nurse Jackie”; “Hack”; 1″00 Centre Street”; “Law & Order SVU”; “Oz”;” NYPD Blue”; “Cosby”; “New York Undercover”; “I’ll Fly Away”; and more. Film credits: Boy Wonder; Noise; Evening; American Gangster; Find Me Guilty; Three Days of Rain; The Hurricane; The Opportunists; Gloria; The Juror; North. Mr. Cooper is a Beinecke Fellow at the Yale School of Drama. Favorite role: Eddie, Alex, and Lilli’s father. www.chuckcooper.net.

Owiso Odera

Owiso Odera Off-Broadway: US premiere of The Overwhelming (Roundabout Theatre Company), Romeo and Juliet (the Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival). Regional theater credits include, August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (A.C.T, San Francisco), Directed by Mr. Santiago-Hudson; The title role in Othello (Folger Theatre, Washington DC); the world premiere of Samuel J. & K. at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (Williamstown, MA); Groundswell, Titus Andronicus, Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Merry Wives of Windsor (The Old Globe, San Diego); Love of Three Oranges (La Jolla Playhouse); Macbeth (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Boston). Television: “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Numb3rs” (CBS), “The Unit” (CBS), “FlashForward” (ABC), recurring roles on “Three Rivers” (CBS) and “DIRT” (FX). Film: The Thirst (Blood Wars), Relative Obscurity, Acholiland and the upcoming Orenthal, the Musical and H4. Training: The Acting Studio, New York. MFA; University of California – San Diego

Roslyn Ruff

Roslyn Ruff Broadway: Fences (standby). Off-Broadway: The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre Company); Love, Loss, and What I Wore; Macbeth (TFANA); The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter; Things of Dry Hours; Seven Guitars; Killa Dilla; The Cherry Orchard; Macbeth (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Pudd’nhead Wilson; The Taming of the Shrew. Regional work includes: Berkeley Rep, Long Wharf, The Kennedy Center, Indiana Rep, Geva Theatre, Old Globe, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alliance Theatre, McCarter Theatre, ACT, Yale Rep, People’s Light & Theatre Co. International: 2004 Bonn Biennale Festival and Shakespeare Festival of Neuss; 2003 Athens Festival. Film: Detachment, The Help, Salt, Life During Wartime, Rachel Getting Married, In the Blood. TV: “A Gifted Man” (Nurse Sulla), “The Big C,” “The Good Wife,” “The Jury,” “The Sopranos.” Awards: 2010 Drama League nomination for Distinguished Performance, 2007 Obie Award for Performance, 2003 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play. MFA: IATT at Harvard University.

James A. Williams. Photo by Lia Chang

James A. Williams has worked in regional theaters across the country as an actor and educator. Nationally, he has an extensive performing history with Center Stage, Goodman Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, McCarter, Seattle Rep, and Yale Rep culminating on Broadway in August Wilson’s Radio Golf. Williams performed multiple roles in The Kennedy Center’s August Wilson’s Century Cycle, and Off-Broadway in August Wilson’s Jitney, The Piano Lesson, Athol Fugard’s My Children!, My Africa!, and Marion McClinton’s Walkers. A founding company member of Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, he is Director of Teen Programming at Pillsbury House Theatre. He is also Artistic Director for the Hennepin County Home School Theatre Project and a teaching artist with the International Theatre and Literacy Project. He has led performance workshops at University of Minnesota, Brown University, Macalester College, Colby College, the International School of Kenya, and Akeri and Nshupu Secondary Schools in Tanzania. A 2005 NAACP Image Award nominee, he was awarded the St. Paul Companies Leadership Initiative in the Neighborhoods Grant. He was named Actor of the Year by City Pages Magazine and Artist of the Year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He is a TCG New Generations Fellow.

New this season, Two River has introduced a limited number of $20 tickets for every performance throughout the season, with no restrictions on when or by whom the tickets can be purchased. Patrons are encouraged to buy early in order to take advantage of this price point. Patrons 30 and under can purchase $24 tickets for every performance, with no restrictions on seating. Other tickets range from $37 to $65. Click here for tickets or call 732.345.1400.

Celebration of August Wilson with Cast Members from Two Trains Running
Tuesday, February 12 at 7pm at the Middletown Township Public Library, 55 New Monmouth Road
Two River Theater will present its second annual tribute to the great writer August Wilson, as cast members from Two Trains Running share stories and memories of working with him, and talk about the enduring legacy of his plays. This event is free to the public at the Middletown Township Public Library; call 732.671.3700 ext. 320 or visit http://hip.mtpl.org/evanced/lib/eventcalendar.asp for reservations or more information.

TwiNight at the River, in partnership with BLACKNJ
Thursday, January 24 from 6pm-8pm at Two River Theater
This special networking event will include an opportunity to meet artists from Two Trains Running, live music, light appetizers, and a cash bar. Tickets are $10 in advance, available from www.blacknj.org, or $20 at the door.

AUDIENCE EXTRAS
Before Play
Awoye Timpo, the Assistant Director of Two Trains Running, will discuss the culture and politics of the 1960s as the host of Two River’s Before Play series. This free lecture will take place in the lobby 45 minutes before the start of every performance.

Lobby Display
Words and images will illuminate the work of August Wilson and the world of this production.

Post-Play Discussions
Audiences are invited to share their questions and responses to the play with members of the cast after the following performances: Wednesday, February 13 at 7pm; Sunday, February 17 at 3pm; and Wednesday, February 20 at 1pm.

Accessibility
Two River Theater is fully wheelchair accessible and offers assisted-listening devices and large-print programs at every performance. Audio-described performances are scheduled for Wednesday, February 20 at 1pm and Saturday, February 23 at 8pm. Tickets to this performance are offered at the discounted rate of $25 for patrons needing audio description. An open-captioned performance is scheduled for Saturday, February 23 at 3pm. Tickets to this performance are offered at the discounted rate of $25 for patrons needing open captions. To reserve wheelchair-accessible seating or tickets for a performance listed above, patrons should call 732.345.1400.

Calendar
Saturday, February 2 at 8pm
Sunday, February 3 at 3pm
Tuesday, February 5 at 8pm
Wednesday, February 6 at 7pm
Thursday, February 7 at 8pm
Friday, February 8 at 8pm
Saturday, February 9 at 3pm and 8pm
Sunday, February 10 at 3pm
Wednesday, February 13 at 1pm and 7pm
Thursday, February 14 at 8pm
Friday, February 15 at 10am (student matinee) and 8pm (Press Opening)
Saturday, February 16 at 3pm and 8pm
Sunday, February 17 at 3pm
Wednesday, February 20 at 1pm and 7pm
Thursday, February 21 at 10am (student matinee) and at 8pm
Friday, February 22 at 8pm
Saturday, February 23 at 3pm and 8pm
Sunday, February 24 at 3pm
Thursday, February 28 at 10am (student matinee) and at 8pm
Friday, March 1 at 8pm
Saturday, March 2 at 3pm and 8pm
Sunday, March 3 at 3pm

TWO RIVER THEATER COMPANY, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, is dedicated to producing great classics from the American and world stage, creating new plays and musicals for the American theater, and serving its diverse and multigenerational community through unique partnerships and education programs. Founded in 1994 by Joan and Dr. Robert M. Rechnitz, the theater supports the most exceptional and adventurous artists in the American theater and provides opportunities for its audiences to be part of the creative process. Two River Theater is a member of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT), Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and ArtPride New Jersey, and has been designated a “Major Arts Institution” by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Other articles by Lia Chang:
Signature’s Off-Broadway Revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, helmed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, runs October 30 -December 9, 2012
Geffen Playhouse Production Photos of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon starring Kevin Anderson, Tracee Chimo, Catherine Dent and John Earl Jelks, 1/25-3/6/11
Kevin Anderson, Catherine Dent, Tracee Chimo, John Earl Jelks in Neil La Bute’s The Break of Noon at the Geffen 1/25-3/6
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet,Tracee Chimo opening night of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon
John Earl Jelks is featured in MCC Theater’s world premiere of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon at the Lucille Lortel
Denise Burse, Rocky Carroll, Anthony Chisholm, John Earl Jelks and James A. Williams in Radio Golf by August Wilson at The Pearlstone Theater in Baltimore
Costume Designer Karen Perry- Audelco Nod for The Public Theatre’s Brother/Sister Trilogy by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Good Night | Good Morning starring Manu Narayan and Seema Rahmani on J. Hurtado’s Top Ten Indian Films of 2012
Ruy Iskandar and Yuekun Wu Set for Signature Theatre’s Production of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad, February 5 – March 17, 2013
Manu Narayan, Mark Bennett, Lea Salonga, Michael K. Lee and Stafford Arima Among 2012 Craig Noel Award Nominees
Harlem Nights with Lorey Hayes, Actress, Director and Award-Winning Playwright of Power Play and Massinissa
Manu Narayan Dazzles as Richard Roma in La Jolla Playhouse’s Revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross
Photos: All-Access Pass to Disney’s Aladdin at The Muny with Thom Sesma, Francis Jue, Robin De Jesus, John Tartaglia, Jason Graae, Curtis Holbrook, Eddie Korbich, Samantha Massell and Ken Page
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

John Earl Jelks, Lia Chang and Ruben Santiago-Hudson at the opening night party for MCC's Break of Noon in New York on November 22, 2010. Photo by Charles Richard Barboza

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2012 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com

Lia Chang Photos: Maurice Hines, Jonathan Groff, Mercedes Ellington, Charles Randolph Wright at The Laurie Beechman for André De Shields’s I PUT A SPELL ON YOU

Freida Williams, André De Shields and Marléne Danielle in concert at The Laurie Beechman on October 5, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

André De Shields in I Put a Spell on You at The Laurie Beechman on October 5, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

Following a sold-out engagement of his acclaimed theatrical concert BLACK BY POPULAR DEMAND at the Laurie Beechman Theatre last May, two-time Tony Award nominated and Emmy Award winning performer André De Shields returned to the cabaret stage for his latest theatrical concert, I PUT A SPELL ON YOU on Friday, October 5, at The Laurie Beechman Theatre Downstairs at The West Bank Café in New York.

Larry Spivak, Freida Williams, André De Shields and Marléne Danielle in concert at The Laurie Beechman on October 5, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

The evening featured De Shields along with his longtime partners in crime, vocalists Freida Williams and Marléne Danielle, with accompaniment by pianist Larry Spivack, and special guest appearances by vocalist Ula Hedwig and composer Steve Margoshes.

Freida Williams, Ula Hedwig and Marléne Danielle in concert at The Laurie Beechman on October 5, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

Certainly no stranger to New York’s famed cabaret scene, De Shields reigned as King of Cabaret during the 1970s with the creation of his innovative theatrical concerts in such popular clubs as Reno Sweeney, Horn of Plenty, The Grand Finale, Les Mouches, The Club at La MaMa and many other venues around the world. The Hollywood Reporter dubbed De Shields “the most lethal pelvis since Elvis!”

Composer Steve Margoshes in concert at The Laurie Beechman on October 5, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

Maurice Hines, Jonathan Groff, Mercedes Ellington, Motown helmer Charles Randolph Wright, Mark Nadler, James Rado, Kimberly Grigsby were among the standing room audience that leapt to their feet at the end of the concert with wild applause.

Maurice Hines, André De Shields and Motown helmer Charles Randolph Wright
at The Laurie Beechman on October 5, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

James Rado, Jonathan Groff, Kimberly Grigsby and André De Shields at The Laurie Beechman on October 5, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

André De Shields in I Put a Spell on You at The Laurie Beechman on October 5, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

De Shields and Company will be performing one more show tonight at 11:00 PM. General admission tickets booked in advance are $25 plus $15 food/beverage minimum. Tickets are available at www.smarttix.com or by calling 212-868-4444. The Laurie Beechman Theatre Downstairs at The West Bank Café (407 West 42 Street) in New York.

André De Shields was recently awarded a Fox Foundation Fellowship Grant for Distinguished Achievement of $25,000 to support his work at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. De Shields will further develop his experimental methodology, The Golden Triangle and the 5W Stack/Inner Athlete System. He will deepen this unique style of Griot Performance Art that combines rigorous physical exertion, discipline and contemplation through a new, original work, Confessions of a P.I.M.P. (Positive Individual Making Progress). De Shields will also mentor artists and young people in Victory’s Poets Conservatory and school programs. De Shields’ residency at Victory Gardens will begin in the Spring, 2013.

André De Shields in I Put a Spell on You at The Laurie Beechman on October 5, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

In a career spanning more than forty years, De Shields has distinguished himself as an unparalleled actor, director, choreographer and educator. He is the recipient of the 2009 National Black Theatre Festival Living Legend Award, the 2009 AUDELCO Award for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Musical/Male (Archbishop Supreme Tartuffe), and the 2007 Village Voice OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance. De Shields is best known for his show stopping performances in the original Broadway productions of four legendary musicals: The Full Monty, for which he received Tony, Drama Desk and Astaire Award nominations, in addition to both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards; Play On! (Tony nomination), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Emmy Award) and The Wiz (title role). He recently performed a featured role in Chicago’s Goodman Theatre production of Camino Real and the New York Times had this to say “De Shields essentially walks off with the show, or rather slinks off with it!”

André De Shields as W.E.B. Du Bois in Charles Smith’s Knock Me A Kiss © Lia Chang

De Shields is currently in rehearsal to reprise his role as W.E.B. Du Bois in KNOCK ME A KISS (by Charles Smith) at Crossroads Theatre Company in New Brunswick, NJ. The show called “a dandy play…rollicking fun” by the New York Times, runs from October 25 through November 4.

For more information, visit www.andredeshields.com.

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Other articles by Lia Chang:
Photos: Tonya Pinkins, André De Shields, S. Epatha Merkerson, Billy Porter and George C. Wolfe at 54 Below
André De Shields Returns to The Laurie Beechman Theatre with I Put A Spell on You, October 5 and 12
Black By Popular Demand’s André De Shields on Seth Rudetsky’s Sirius XM radio show “Seth Speaks” & in person at Don’t Tell Mama for Chatterbox
André De Shields in BLACK BY POPULAR DEMAND at the Laurie Beechman, 5/4, 5/11 & 5/18
Multimedia: Manu Narayan Dazzles as Richard Roma in La Jolla Playhouse’s Revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross
Signature Theatre’s Production of Golden Child by David Henry Hwang has been extended through December 9, 2012
David Henry Hwang to Receive the 2012 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award at the 5th Annual Steinberg Playwright “Mimi” Awards on October 29, 2012
Photos: All-Access Pass to Disney’s Aladdin at The Muny with Thom Sesma, Francis Jue, Robin De Jesus, John Tartaglia, Jason Graae, Curtis Holbrook, Eddie Korbich, Samantha Massell and Ken Page
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2012 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com

André De Shields Returns to The Laurie Beechman Theatre with I Put A Spell on You, October 5 and 12

André De Shields Photo by Lia Chang

Following an SRO engagement of his acclaimed theatrical concert BLACK BY POPULAR DEMAND at the Laurie Beechman Theatre last May, two-time Tony Award nominated and Emmy Award winning performer André De Shields returns to the cabaret stage! His latest theatrical concert, I PUT A SPELL ON YOU will be performed for two shows only, Friday evenings October 5 and 12 at The Laurie Beechman Theatre Downstairs at The West Bank Café (407 West 42 Street). Showtime is 11:00 PM. General admission tickets booked in advance are $25 plus $15 food/beverage minimum. Tickets are available at www.smarttix.com or by calling 212-868-4444.

Certainly no stranger to New York’s famed cabaret scene, De Shields reigned as King of Cabaret during the 1970s with the creation of his innovative theatrical concerts in such popular clubs as Reno Sweeney, Horn of Plenty, The Grand Finale, Les Mouches, The Club at La MaMa and many other venues around the world. The Hollywood Reporter dubbed De Shields “the most lethal pelvis since Elvis!”

I PUT A SPELL ON YOU will feature De Shields along with his longtime partners in crime, vocalists Freida Williams and Marléne Danielle, with accompaniment by pianist Larry Spivack, and special guest appearance by composer Steve Margoshes.

In a career spanning more than forty years, André De Shields has distinguished himself as an unparalleled actor, director, choreographer and educator. He is the recipient of the 2009 National Black Theatre Festival Living Legend Award, the 2009 AUDELCO Award for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Musical/Male (Archbishop Supreme Tartuffe), and the 2007 Village Voice OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance. De Shields is best known for his show stopping performances in the original Broadway productions of four legendary musicals: The Full Monty, for which he received Tony, Drama Desk and Astaire Award nominations, in addition to both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards; Play On! (Tony nomination), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Emmy Award) and The Wiz (title role). He recently performed a featured role in Chicago’s Goodman Theatre production of Camino Real and the New York Times had this to say “De Shields essentially walks off with the show, or rather slinks off with it!” For more information go to www.andredeshields.com

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Black By Popular Demand’s André De Shields on Seth Rudetsky’s Sirius XM radio show “Seth Speaks” & in person at Don’t Tell Mama for Chatterbox
André De Shields in BLACK BY POPULAR DEMAND at the Laurie Beechman, 5/4, 5/11 & 5/18
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2012 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com