James Ijames' Pulitzer Prize-Winning Fat Ham to Open on Broadway in the Spring

James Ijames Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham is coming to Broadway! The play, a queer adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, will begin performances at the American Airlines Theatre on March 21, 2023 and open on April 12. Fat Ham had its New York premiere at the Public Theater this year. The Public’s Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director Saheem Ali returns as director. Tickets are now on sale.

The entire original off-Broadway cast will return for the Broadway production. They are Marcel Spears as Juicy, Billy Eugene Jones as Rev and Pap, Nikki Crawford as Tedra, Chris Herbie Holland as Tio, Adrianna Mitchell as Opal, Calvin Leon Smith as Larry and Benja Kay Thomas as Rabby.

Juicy (Spears) is a queer, Southern college kid, 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! 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.

Fat Ham  was commissioned by and received its world premiere as a filmed production at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. It went on to win the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Broadway transfer of Fat Ham represents National Black Theatre’s first production on Broadway, and only the third play to be transferred by a Black theater in Broadway’s century-long history. 

Fat Ham features scenic design by Maruti Evans, costume design by Dominique Fawn Hill, lighting design by Bradley King, sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman, choreography by Darrell Grand Moultrie, hair and wig design by Earon Chew Nealey and lllusions by Skylar Fox.