Brandon J. Dirden | |
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 Photo: [1] | |
| Born | 1978or1979(age 45–46) |
| Alma mater | Morehouse College University of Illinois |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Brandon J. Dirden (born 1978or1979) is an American actor, best known for portraying Martin Luther King Jr. in the Broadway production of Robert Schenkkan's All the Way . [2]
A Morehouse College and University of Illinois graduate, Dirden made his Broadway debut in Prelude to a Kiss. He has since appeared regularly both on and off Broadway in plays such as Clybourne Park, The First Breeze of Summer and Detroit 67.[ citation needed ]
He played Dennis Aderholt in The Americans .
In 2012, he received an OBIE Award, [3] AUDELCO VIV Award [4] and a Theater World Award [5] and was nominated for The Drama League and Lucille Lortell awards for his portrayal of Boy Willie in the Signature Theatre's revival of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson . In 2017 he appeared in August Wilson's Jitney at Manhattan Theatre Club, and in 2022, appeared on Broadway in both Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew and the revival of Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out . Dirden was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Actor in a Play for his role as Reggie in Skeleton Crew. [6]
Dirden made his directorial debut in September 2015 directing August Wilson's Seven Guitars [7] at Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey. In 2024, he starred in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, also at the Two River Theater.[ citation needed ]
Dirden has guest-starred in TV series such as The Big C, The Good Wife , and Ed Burns' Public Morals .
Dirden is married to actress Crystal A. Dickinson, [8] whom he met while in graduate school at The University of Illinois. They have one son, Chase Ari Dirden. His brother is Jason Dirden, [9] also an actor. They frequently appear in plays together.[ citation needed ]
Nathan Lane is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been seen on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. Lane has received numerous awards, including three Tony Awards, seven Drama Desk Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, three Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Lane received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2010, The New York Times hailed Lane as "the greatest stage entertainer of the decade".
Robert Frederic Schenkkan Jr. is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1992 for his play The Kentucky Cycle and his play All the Way earned the 2014 Tony Award for Best Play. He has three Emmy nominations and one WGA Award.
Lewis Jefferson Mays is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Obie Awards.
Take Me Out is a play by American playwright Richard Greenberg. After a staging at the Donmar Warehouse in London, it premiered Off-Broadway on September 5, 2002 at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. It made its Broadway debut on February 27, 2003 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 355 performances and won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Play. A Broadway revival opened at the Hayes Theater on April 4, 2022.
Melvin Richard "Dakin" Matthews is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and theatrical scholar. Best known as Herb Kelcher in My Two Dads (1987–1989), Hanlin Charleston in Gilmore Girls (2000–2007), Joe Heffernan in The King of Queens (1998-2007), and as Reverend Sikes in Desperate Housewives (2004–2012).
André Robin De Shields is an American actor, singer, dancer, director, and choreographer. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, and Tony Award.
King Hedley II is a play by American playwright August Wilson, the ninth in his ten-part series, The Pittsburgh Cycle. The play ran on Broadway in 2001 and was revived Off-Broadway in 2007.
Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly working-class people who are Black. She has received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice: in 2009 for her play Ruined, and in 2017 for her play Sweat. She was the first woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama two times.
Lloyd George Richards was a Canadian-American theatre director, and actor. While head of the National Playwrights Conference, he helped cultivate many of the most famous theater writers of the 20th century. He was also the dean of the Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1991, and was the first Black director on Broadway.
Bill Rauch is an American theatre director. He was named the inaugural artistic director of the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center (PACNYC) at the World Trade Center in 2018. The Perelman was the final piece of the plan to revitalize the World Trade Center site.
Kenny Leon is an American actor, director and producer. He is notable for his extensive work on Broadway, on television, and in regional theater. He has received a Tony Award and a Drama League Award as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Drama Desk Award.
Jean Isabel Smith, credited professionally as J. Smith-Cameron, is an American actress. She gained prominence for her roles as Janet Talbot in the Sundance TV series Rectify (2013–2016) and Gerri Kellman in the HBO series Succession (2018–2023), the latter of which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
Norm Lewis is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway, in the West End, film, television, recordings and regional theatre. He’s also noted for his wide vocal range. Lewis was the second African-American actor after Robert Guillaume to perform in the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and the first one to do so in the Broadway production. In 2023, he reprised the role in the show's sequel, Love Never Dies, in London's West End.
Jason D. Danieley is an American actor, singer, concert performer and recording artist. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and was married to fellow performer Marin Mazzie.
Signature Theatre Company is an American theatre based in Manhattan, New York. It was founded in 1991 by James Houghton and is now led by Artistic Director Paige Evans. Signature is known for their season-long focus on one artist's work. It has been located in the Pershing Square Signature Center since 2012.
Marion Isaac McClinton was an American theatre director, playwright, and actor. He was nominated for the Tony Award for King Hedley II. He won the 2000 Vivian Robinson Audelco Black Theatre Awards, Director/Dramatic Production and the 1999–2000 Obie Awards, Direction, for Jitney, and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award.
Andy Sandberg is an American director, writer, actor, and producer. A 2005 graduate of Yale College, his Off-Broadway directing credits include Straight, Application Pending, Shida, Craving for Travel, Operation Epsilon, and The Last Smoker in America. He is also known as a producer of the Broadway (2009) and West End (2010) revivals of the musical Hair.
Arian Moayed is an Iranian-American actor, screenwriter, and director. Moayed received two Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performances in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (2011) and A Doll's House (2023), and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his role as Stewy Hosseini in HBO's Succession.
All the Way is a play by Robert Schenkkan, depicting President Lyndon B. Johnson's efforts to maneuver members of the 88th United States Congress to enact, and civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr. to support, the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The play takes its name from Johnson's 1964 campaign slogan, "All the Way with LBJ."
Crystal Anne Dickinson is an American actress. She made her Broadway debut in the play Clybourne Park written by Bruce Norris and directed by Pam MacKinnon.
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