Award-winning Broadway director Kenny Leon will be in Pittsburgh Saturday to tout his new memoir, “Take You Wherever You Go,” and a career that includes Tony Award nominations for the revivals of “A Raisin in the Sun” (a win) and August Wilson’s “Fences,” and live television broadcasts of “Hairspray” and “The Wiz.”
“Cocktails and Conversation with Kenny Leon” will include a Q&A led by Pittsburgh designer and entrepreneur Kiya Tomlin, wife of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. Mr. Leon will talk about his journey from a dirt-road house without electricity to Broadway and TV triumphs. He also leads the True Colors Theatre in Atlanta, with a mission of providing “a safe space for discussion, and being a catalyst for conversations around race, diversity, inclusion and cultural understanding.”
New works he has helped develop include the Tupac musical “Holler If You Hear Me” with a book by Todd Kreidler, a Duquesne University grad, and the upcoming “American Son” by newcomer Christopher Demos-Brown and co-produced by Pittsburgh CLO’s Van Kaplan. “American Son” opens on Broadway in October, with a cast including Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale, Jeremy Jordan and Eugene Lee, seen here in productions by Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company.
The event from 7-9 p.m. Saturday is at Senti Restaurant & Wine Bar, 3473 Butler St., Lawrenceville. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Tickets are $25 at www.showclix.com, with proceeds going to support the Bill Nunn Theatre Outreach Project.
Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: @SEberson_pg.
First Published: July 19, 2018, 9:53 p.m.
