Broadway BUZZ

Nnamdi Asomugha is quickly making a name for himself as an actor, producer and creative. Early next year, Asomugha will make his Broadway debut in the first Broadway production of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama A Soldier's Play. The play, directed by Tony-winner Kenny Leon, will open on January 21, 2020 for a limited engagement at the American Airlines Theater. Asomugha will play "Private First Class Melvin Peterson" opposite a cast that includes David Alan Grier and Blair Underwood. The story follows a tenacious investigator who must race against his white leadership to unravel who murdered a black sergeant on a Louisiana Army base. Asomugha recently completed production on the film Sylvie, which he stars in opposite Tessa Thompson and produces through his iAm21 Entertainment banner. The film, written and directed by Eugene Ashe, is a love story set in the cool jazz era of New York City in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. Asomugha also recently finished filming a recurring role in the upcoming Quibi series When The Street Lights Go On opposite Queen Latifah, Mark Duplass and Tony Hale. The series is a coming-of-age murder mystery adapted from the Black List feature script by writers Chris Hutton and Eddie O’Keefe. In October 2018, Asomugha made his New York stage debut at the Vineyard Theater in Ngozi Anyanwu's play Good Grief, a first generation coming-of-age journey of love, loss and growing adulthood. He received critical praise for his performance and the play was hailed a The New York Times Critics’ Pick. In 2017, Asomugha produced and starred in the Amazon Studios film Crown Heights. His breakout performance, which was his first feature film lead role, earned him a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, as well as an NAACP Image Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film followed the true story of Colin Warner (played by LaKeith Stanfield), a young man from Trinidad who spent 20 years in prison for a 1980 murder in Brooklyn that he did not commit. Asomugha played Carl King, Colin’s best friend who dedicated his life to proving his innocence. Crown Heights won the Audience Award in the Dramatic Competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. As a producer, Asomugha has helped bring various projects to the stage and screen, such as the award-winning film Beasts of No Nation, as well as the Broadway stage production of American Son, and the upcoming films The Banker and Harriet. Prior to his film career, Asomugha played 11 seasons in the National Football League. He was considered one of the best defensive players in the league, receiving multiple All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections over the course of his career.