One of Pittsburgh’s two contestants in the national August Wilson Monologue Competition reached the final round Monday during the finals at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre.
She was Amani Howze, a junior from Pittsburgh CAPA, playing Mattie Campbell in “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” Also representing Pittsburgh was Jay Chapman, a CAPA senior, playing Youngblood in “Jitney.”
The three winners were: 1. Trajan Clayton from Atlanta (Citizen in “Gem of the Ocean”), 2. Katara Willis from Buffalo (title role in “King Hedley II”) and 3. Abad Viquez from Chicago (Lymon in “The Piano Lesson”).
A panel of celebrity judges selected the winners. The evening included performances by well-known Wilsonian veterans and musical guests.
The Pittsburgh competition is a project of the Bill Nunn Theatre Outreach Project, named for its founder, now deceased, a well-known Wilsonian actor. Amani is the granddaughter of Sala Udin, a childhood friend of August Wilson who acted in the premiere of “Jitney,” the first of the famed playwright’s 10 American Century Cycle plays.
Other cities included in the competition, now in its 11th year, were Boston, Dallas, Seattle, New York City, New Haven, Conn., and Greensboro, N.C.
First Published: May 7, 2019, 1:18 p.m.
