Cynthia Erivo Joins Producing Team for ‘Fat Ham’ Ahead of Broadway Opening Night (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Angelique Jackson Tony, Emmy and Grammy-winner and Oscar-nominee Cynthia Erivo has joined the producing team of “Fat Ham” as the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy heads to Broadway. “Fat Ham” will begin performances on Tues., March 21, and officially open on Wed., April 12, at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway for a strictly limited 14-week engagement through Sun., June 25. “Almost 10 years ago, I was introduced to the Broadway community in a musical that shook my world and changed my life irrevocably,” Erivo said in a statement to Variety. “I have been waiting for the right opportunity to return to the theater community and am thrilled to be back, this time as a first-time producer with ‘Fat Ham.’” Written by James Ijames and directed by Saheem Ali, the reinvention of William Shakespeare’s masterpiece “Hamlet” centers on a queer Southern college student named Juicy (played by Marcel Spears), who, according to the official synopsis, is “already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder.” “But here’s the rub!” the synopsis continues. “Revenge doesn’t come easy to Juicy, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man in search of his own happiness and liberation.

From an uproarious family cookout emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy.” The complete original off-Broadway cast returns, including Nikki Crawford (Tedra), Chris Herbie Holland (Tio), Billy Eugene Jones (Rev and Pap), Adrianna Mitchell (Opal), Calvin Leon Smith (Larry) and Benja Kay Thomas (Rabby).

Erivo joins a producing team which includes Rashad V. Chambers, No Guarantees and Public Theater Productions. Andy Jones and Dylan Pager