Leslie Odom, Jr. may have gotten raves for his performance in the Broadway revival of Ossie Davis' Purlie Victorious, but the Tony winner's six-year-old daughter, Lucy, may be his biggest supporter, according to his October 12 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. That support isn't all-encompassing, however.
"Oh, my daughter loves it!," Odom, Jr. shared, telling Fallon that she would be at the show every weekend if he and his wife would allow it. "But the first time she saw it, she saw me—I have to kiss another woman in the show, and the whole cast was watching for her reaction. And she was just properly horrified! She thought I was ending my marriage in front of her. Just ruining our family right in front of her little face."
Thankfully, Lucy was just old enough to comprehend the difference between reality and play once it was explained to her after the show. She's since come back several times, much to her father's good humor.
While on the air, Odom, Jr. and Fallon reflected on Hamilton as its 10-year anniversary looms, and Odom, Jr. announced the good news of Purlie Victorious's extension, which adds a full month onto the limited run's Broadway engagement, now continuing through February 4, 2024. The revival was previously scheduled to complete its run January 7.
Under the direction of Kenny Leon, the current production is the Ossie Davis play's first-ever Broadway revival. The work follows a traveling preacher, Purlie, who returns to his Georgia hometown to save the local church and the cotton pickers working on Ol' Cap'n Cotchiepee's plantation.
Starring—and co-producing, in his Broadway producer debut—is Odom, Jr., taking on the title role opposite Kara Young as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins. They're joined by Heather Alicia Simms as Missy Judson, Billy Eugene Jones as Gitlow Judson, Noah Robbins as Charlie Cotchipee, Vanessa Bell Calloway as Idella Landy, Jay O. Sanders as Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee, Bill Timoney as The Sheriff, and Noah Pyzik as The Deputy.
Davis both wrote and starred in the 1961 original Broadway production, appearing alongside his wife, Ruby Dee. Davis and Dee would go on to reprise their performances in a 1963 film adaptation titled Gone Are the Days! A musical adaptation premiered on Broadway in 1970, making Melba Moore a star (and a Tony winner) for her performance as Lutiebelle, singing the Gary Geld-Peter Udell score's most enduring hit, "I Got Love."
Kara Young, Heather Alicia Simms, Leslie Odom, Jr., Vanessa Bell Calloway, Billy Eugene Jones, and Noah Robbins in Purlie Victorious
Leslie Odom, Jr. and Kara Young in Purlie Victorious
Leslie Odom, Jr. and Kara Young in Purlie Victorious
Jay O. Sanders, Billy Eugene Jones, Kara Young, and Leslie Odom, Jr. in Purlie Victorious
Noah Robbins and Vanessa Bell Calloway in Purlie Victorious
Kara Young in Purlie Victorious
Leslie Odom, Jr. in Purlie Victorious
Kara Young and Heather Alicia Simms in Purlie Victorious
Heather Alicia Simms and Billy Eugene Jones in Purlie Victorious
Leslie Odom, Jr. in Purlie Victorious
Cast of Purlie Victorious
