Danielle Brooks to Star in Shakespeare in the Park's Much Ado About Nothing

Danielle Brooks will spend this summer in Central Park. The Tony-nominated stage-and-screen star will take on the role of Beatrice in Tony winner Kenny Leon's new staging of Much Ado About Nothing. The previously announced production will run from May 21 through June 23 in the outdoor Delacorte Theater.

Currently credited as a producer on Broadway's Ain't Too Proud, Brooks earned a Tony nomination for her turn as Sofia in The Color Purple. She is a Screen Actors Guild Award winner for her ensemble work as Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson on Orange Is the New Black.

The cast will also include Tony winner Chuck Cooper (Choir Boy) as Leonato, Grantham Coleman (Buzzer) as Benedick, Jeremie Harris (King Liz) as Claudio, Erik Laray Harvey (White Chocolate) as Antonio/Verges, Daniel Croix Henderson (Such Things as Vampires) as Balthasar, Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk) as Friar Francis/Sexton, Tiffany Denise Hobbs (Waitress) as Ursula, Lateefah Holder (Modern Family) as Dogberry, Billy Eugene Jones (A Raisin in the Sun) as Don Pedro, Margaret Odette (The Convent) as Hero, Hubert Point-Du Jour (Tiny Beautiful Things) as Don John, Jaime Lincoln Smith (Holler If Ya Hear Me) as Borachio, Khiry Walker (At Night Only) as Conrade and Olivia Washington (The Glass Menagerie) as Margaret.

The ensemble will feature Latra A. Wilson, Jamar Brathwaite, Javen Crosby, Denzel Fields, Tayler Harris, Kai Heath, LaWanda Hopkins and Jazmine Stewart.

In Much Ado About Nothing, the community of Messina is celebrating a break from an ongoing war—but not all is peaceful amid the revelry, as old rivals engage in a battle of wits, unexpected foes plot revenge and young lovers are caught in a tumultuous courtship—until love proves the ultimate trickster and undoes them all.