Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad will star in the previously announced Broadway premiere of Skeleton Crew, written by Tony nominee Dominique Morisseau and directed by Broadway-bound Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Performances begin at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre December 21 ahead of a January 12, 2022, opening.
Rashad last appeared on Broadway in 2009 as matriarch Violet Weston in the Broadway production of August: Osage County. The year prior she appeared in Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by her sister, Debbie Allen. Previous Broadway credits include her Tony-winning performance in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun and her Tony-nominated performance in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, both directed by Kenny Leon. More recently, she took the stage in the Public Theater's A Midsummer Night's Dream (in Central Park) and Head of Passes.
In addition to her onstage work, Rashad was recently named dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, D.C. It was reported in February that Rashad will executive produce the new television series adaptation of Emily March's Eternity Springs. She is also slated to direct a revival of Charles Randolph Wright’s Blue in New York, previously scheduled to play at the Apollo but now postponed due to the pandemic.
Additional casting and creative team for Skeleton Crew will be announced at a later date.
MTC has also secured dates for its full 2021–2022 Broadway and Off-Broadway season. Completing the Broadway lineup with Skeleton Crew and the recently announced production of Broadway premiere of Santiago-Hudson’s Lackawanna Blues is Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive, starring Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse. The play, originally slated for spring 2020, will now begin previews March 29 and open April 19.
The Off-Broadway season at New York City Center – Stage I opens with Simon Stephen's Morning Sun this fall, followed by the world premiere of Prayer For The French Republic, written by Joshua Harmon and directed by Tony winner David Cromer, which starts performances January 11 and opens February 1. Anchuli Felicia King's Golden Shield begins previews April 26 with a May 17 opening night.
