'Chicken & Biscuits' To Premiere On Broadway This Fall at Circle in the Square Theatre, Starring Norm Lewis & Michael Urie
(L to R: Douglas Lyons, Zhailon Levingston, Norm Lewis, Michael Urie)
Producers Pamela Ross, Hunter Arnold, E. Clayton Cornelious and Leah Michalos are thrilled to announce that the play CHICKEN & BISCUITS, a new comedy written by Douglas Lyons and directed by Zhailon Levingston will have its Broadway premiere this fall at Circle in the Square Theatre (235 West 50th Street.) Beginning previews Thursday, September 23, 2021, the play will celebrate its Opening Night on Sunday, October 10, 2021, for a limited engagement through Sunday, January 2, 2022. Tickets are on sale today at Telecharge.com/212-239-6200.
CHICKEN & BISCUITS features a dynamic ensemble cast, which on Broadway will include Tony Award nominee Norm Lewis (Porgy and Bess, Da 5 Bloods) as Reginald, and Drama Desk Award winner Michael Urie (Torch Song, “Ugly Betty”) as Logan. Additional casting will be announced in the coming weeks.
CHICKEN & BISCUITS is a raucous family comedy so full of laughter and love, it’ll leave you begging for seconds. The Jenkins family is coming together to celebrate the life of their father—hopefully without killing each other! But any hopes for a peaceful reunion unravel when a family secret shows up at the funeral…
Lyons and Cornelious – known to Broadway audiences for their acting roles in several hit Broadway musicals – will make their debuts as playwright and lead producer, respectively. Zhailon Levingston, currently the Associate Director of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, will become the youngest black director in Broadway history when he takes the helm of CHICKEN & BISCUITS this fall, at age 27. Pamela Ross and Leah Michalos also make their Broadway debuts as lead producers.
“I am beyond thrilled to be making my Broadway playwriting debut, ten years and one block away from the very stage where I made my acting debut in The Book of Mormon,” said playwright Douglas Lyons. Chicken & Biscuits is a story of love, messiness, and healing. This opportunity to bring our comedically complex Black family to the Broadway stage is a complete gift. Our batter is full of laughter, and I can’t wait to witness audiences of all backgrounds fellowshipping together. I’ll see y’all at the church—I mean, theater."
CHICKEN & BISCUITS had its world premiere on February 28, 2020 at Queens Theatre, but the engagement was cut short less than two weeks later, when the theater industry suspended operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Douglas and I began talking about our dreams in our dressing room backstage at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, while performing together in Beautiful,” said producer E. Clayton Cornelious, whose other onstage credits include Ain’t Too Proud, Wonderland, The Scottsboro Boys, and The Lion King. “As we developed our talents over the next few years, I saw a reading of Chicken & Biscuits and felt completely driven by its heart and joy. I asked to hop on as producer and the magic began! When our world premiere run at Queens Theatre was cut short by the pandemic, we were completely crushed – so being blessed to bring it back on an even bigger platform now, a Broadway stage, is beyond a dream come true.”
“Chicken & Biscuits is a play that makes you feel at home, and it felt so clear to me that its home was a Broadway theater,” said Hunter Arnold, Tony-winning producer of Hadestown, The Inheritance and the hit Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors. “This incredibly talented team of young artists is serving up exactly what theater audiences crave right now – a place to laugh and commune with one another, over a hilarious-yet-touching story about the unparalleled (and often infuriating) bond of family…whether it’s the one you were born into, or the one you chose!”
Tickets & Performance Schedule
Tickets for the Broadway production of CHICKEN & BISCUITS are available now from $49.50, and can be purchased at www.Telecharge.com, 212-239-6200 (outside NY metro area: 800-432-7250), or in person beginning August 26 at Circle in the Square Theatre Box Office on 50th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue in NYC. The regular playing schedule for CHICKEN & BISCUITS is: Tuesdays at 7:00PM, Wednesdays at 2:00PM & 7:00PM, Thursdays at 7:00PM, Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 2:00PM & 8:00PM, and Sundays at 3:00PM. The evening preview performances on Sept 23rd, 28th, 29th and 30th will begin at 8:00pm.