LaChanze, Zachary Booth & More Join Playwrights Horizons Season

LaChanze will return to the New York stage for the first time since her Tony-Award winning performance in The Color Purple in Playwrights Horizons’ world premiere production of Christina Anderson’s Inked Baby. The off-Broadway company announced cast members for three of its upcoming productions, as follows:

LaChanze, Obie Award winner Nikkole Salter In the Continuum, Angela Lewis Hoodoo Love and Nana Mensah will headline Inked Baby, which begins previews on March 5, 2009, at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, directed by Kate Whoriskey. Opening night has been set for March 23, and the limited engagement will continue through April 5.

In Inked Baby, Gloria LaChanze enlists the aid of her sister to make the child that she and her husband can’t. As they uneasily await the baby’s arrival, a mysterious contamination spreads outside. But consumed by their own struggles, is anyone paying attention?

LaChanze originated the leading role of Ti Moune in the musical Once on This Island at Playwrights Horizons in 1990 and received a Tony nomination when the show transferred to Broadway. She also starred in the company’s 2001 musical The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds her Chameleon Skin. In addition to The Color Purple, her theater credits include Dessa Rose, Ragtime, Company and The Vagina Monologues.

Zachary Booth will complete the cast of Craig Lucas’ Prayer for My Enemy, joining previously announced stars Victoria Clark, Michele Pawk, Jonathan Groff, Cassie Beck and Skipp Sudduth. Directed by Bartlett Sher, the play will begin previews on November 14 at the Mainstage Theater and open on December 9, running through December 21. Booth, who appeared in six episodes of the TV series Damages, is featured in the hit film Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist and is currently filming Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock, which also features Groff.

In Prayer for My Father, father Austin Noone Sudduth is watching his nature shows and trying to keep from falling off the wagon, mother Karen Pawk is keeping an eye on Austin, son Billy Groff is just back from Iraq, and pregnant daughter Marianne Beck is upset about the state of her marriage to Tad Booth, Billy’s childhood friend who may still harbor a crush on him. As an enigmatic outsider, Dolores Clark, relates a tale of taking responsibility for her ailing mother, an American family’s long-held secrets are dragged to the fore in what may be its final reckoning.

Reed Birney Blasted, Stuff Happens and Kellie Overbey Betty’s Summer Vacation Good Boys and True will complete the cast of Evan Smith’s The Savannah Disputation, joining previously announced stars Dana Ivey and Marylouise Burke. Directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie Chicago, the play will begin previews on February 6, 2009, at Playwrights Horizons’ Mainstage Theater and open on March 3. The limited engagement will continue through March 15.

When susceptible Catholic spinster Margaret Burke politely admits door-to-door Pentecostal missionary Melissa Overbey into her home, her seemingly-solid faith starts to waver—much to the chagrin of her feisty sister Mary Ivey. But who’s the blasphemer and who’s the believer? Before long, the God-fearing sisters have ambushed their steadfast “guest” with the aid of an unsuspecting local priest Birney, setting the scene for a showdown of truly biblical proportions.

Also announced are dates for the final production of the season, the New York premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s Our House. Directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer Spring Awakening, the production will begin with previews on May 15, 2009, at the Mainstage Theater. Opening night is set for June 9 for this limited engagement through June 21.

Complete casting for Our House and additional casting for Inked Baby will be announced in the coming weeks.