Skeleton Crew (play)

Last updated
Skeleton Crew
Written by Dominique Morisseau
Date premieredJanuary 6, 2016 (2016-01-06)
Place premiered Atlantic Theater Company
Series The Detroit Project
Setting Detroit, Michigan, 2008

Skeleton Crew is a play written by Dominique Morisseau about an auto factory on the brink of closure in 2008 Detroit, Michigan. It is the third part of Morisseau's Detroit Project, inspired by African-American playwrights, which also includes Paradise Blue and Detroit '67 . [1]

Contents

Productions

Skeleton Crew ran Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company in 2016 and subsequently at the Detroit Public Theatre in 2017. [2] [3] [4] The Atlantic production was also directed by Santiago-Hudson. [5]

It ran on Broadway as a limited-run engagement at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre from December 2021 through February 2022 under the direction of Ruben Santiago-Hudson and starred Phylicia Rashad as Faye. [6] [7] It was one of a series of Broadway shows in the 2021–2022 season written by Black playwrights, and parallels were identified between the play's story and the Omicron surge under which its run fell. [8] [9]

Skeleton Crew premiered in the United Kingdom at the Donmar Warehouse in July 2024 for a one-month run, directed by Matthew Xia. [10]

Awards and nominations

Original off-Broadway production

YearAward CeremonyCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2016 Obie Awards Special Citation: Collaboration Dominique Morisseau and Ruben Santiago-Hudson Won [11]
Drama League Awards Outstanding Production of a PlayNominated [12]
Distinguished PerformanceLynda GravattNominated

Original Broadway production

YearAward CeremonyCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2022 Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding New Broadway PlayNominated [13]
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Brandon J. Dirden Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Chanté Adams Nominated
Phylicia Rashad Nominated
Outstanding Director of a Play Ruben Santiago-Hudson Nominated
Drama League Awards Outstanding Revival of a PlayNominated [14]
Distinguished PerformancePhylicia RashadNominated
Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Revival of a Play Nominated [15] [16]
Outstanding Actor in a Play Brandon J. DirdenNominated
Outstanding Actress in a Play Phylicia RashadWon
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Joshua BooneNominated
Tony Awards Best Play Nominated [17]
Best Featured Actress in a Play Phylicia RashadWon
Best Scenic Design in a Play Michael Carnahan and Nicholas HussongNominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drama Desk Award</span> New York theater awards

The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Following the 1964 renaming as the Drama Desk Awards, Broadway productions were included beginning with the 1968–69 award season. The awards are considered a significant American theater distinction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phylicia Rashad</span> American actress (born 1948)

Phylicia Rashad is an American actress. She was most recently dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University before her three year contract ended in May 2024. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992) which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations in 1985 and 1986. She also played Ruth Lucas on Cosby (1996–2000).

The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by The Village Voice newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after the 2014 ceremony, the American Theatre Wing became the joint presenter and administrative manager of the Obie Awards. The Obie Awards are considered off-Broadway's highest honor, similar to the Tony Awards for Broadway productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Clark</span> American musical theatre actress (born 1959)

Victoria Clark is an American actress, musical theatre soprano, and director. Clark has performed in numerous Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television works. Her voice can also be heard on various cast albums and in several animated films. In 2008, she released her first solo album titled Fifteen Seconds of Grace. A five-time Tony Award nominee, Clark won her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical in 2005 for her performance in The Light in the Piazza. She also won the Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and the Joseph Jefferson Award for the role. She won a second Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical in 2023 for her performance in Kimberly Akimbo.

Celia Keenan-Bolger is an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for portraying Scout Finch in the play To Kill a Mockingbird (2018). She has also been Tony-nominated for her roles in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005), Peter and the Starcatcher (2012), The Glass Menagerie (2014), and Mother Play (2024).

Lisa D'Amour is a playwright, performer, and former Carnival Queen from New Orleans. D'Amour is an alumna of New Dramatists. Her play Detroit was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruben Santiago-Hudson</span> American actor and screenwriter

Ruben Santiago-Hudson is an American actor, playwright, and director who has won national awards for his work in all three categories. He is best known for his role of Captain Roy Montgomery from 2009 to 2011 on ABC's Castle. In November 2011, he appeared on Broadway in Lydia R. Diamond's play Stick Fly. In 2013, he starred in the TV series Low Winter Sun, a police drama set in Detroit. In 2021, he was nominated for best adaptation by the Screen Writers Guild for the film version of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">60th Tony Awards</span> 2006 awards ceremony

The 60th Annual Tony Awards were held at Radio City Music Hall on June 11, 2006. The award ceremony was broadcast live on the CBS television network in the United States. The 2006 Tony Awards did not feature a host, but instead over 60 stars presented awards at the ceremony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Timbers</span> American writer and director

Alex Timbers is an American writer and director best known for his work on stage and television. He has received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Drama Desk Award, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award. Timbers received the Drama League Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing and the Jerome Robbins Award for Directing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie Baker</span> American playwright and teacher

Annie Baker is an American playwright and teacher who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for her play The Flick. Among her works are the Shirley, Vermont plays, which take place in the fictional town of Shirley: Circle Mirror Transformation, Nocturama, Body Awareness, and The Aliens. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Kitt (musician)</span> American composer and musician

Thomas Robert Kitt is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and musician. For his score for the musical Next to Normal, he shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Brian Yorkey. He has also won two Tony Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Next to Normal, as well as Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations for If/Then and SpongeBob SquarePants. He has been nominated for eight Drama Desk Awards, winning one, and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for Jagged Little Pill in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmen Cusack</span> American actress

Carmen Cusack is an American musical theater actress and singer. She is known for playing Elphaba in the Chicago, North American Tour, and Melbourne productions of the musical Wicked and for originating the roles of Alice Murphy and Clare Boothe Luce in the Broadway musicals Bright Star and Flying Over Sunset, respectively.

Charles Randolph-Wright is an American film, television, and theatre director, television producer, screenwriter, and playwright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessie Mueller</span> American actress and singer

Jessica Ruth Mueller is an American actress and singer. She started her acting career in Chicago and won two Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2008 and 2011 for her roles as Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel and Amalia Balash in She Loves Me. In 2011, she moved to New York City to star in a Broadway revival of musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her performance as Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. She went on to receive two additional Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award nominations for her leading roles in Waitress (2016) and the Broadway revival of Carousel (2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon J. Dirden</span> American actor

Brandon J. Dirden is an American actor, best known for portraying Martin Luther King Jr. in the Broadway production of Robert Schenkkan's All the Way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel D. Hunter</span> American dramatist

Samuel D. Hunter is an American playwright living in New York City.

The Humans is a one-act play written by Stephen Karam. The play opened on Broadway in 2016 after an engagement Off-Broadway in 2015. The Humans was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play.

Dominique Morisseau is an American playwright and actress from Detroit, Michigan. She has written more than nine plays, three of which are part of a cycle titled The Detroit Project. She received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2018.

Cost of Living is a dramatic stage play written by Polish-born American playwright Martyna Majok. It premiered in Williamstown, Massachusetts, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival on June 29, 2016, and had an Off-Broadway engagement in 2017. The play won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as two Lucille Lortel Awards, including Outstanding Play.

Saheem Ali is a Kenyan theatre director. He is Associate Artistic Director at The Public Theater in New York City.

References

  1. ↑ Monaghan, John (2016-05-04). "A look at Dominique Morisseau's Detroit trilogy". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  2. ↑ "Skeleton Crew". Atlantic Theater Company. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  3. ↑ "Season Three". Detroit Public Theatre. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  4. ↑ Riefe, Jordan (2018-06-15). "'Skeleton Crew': Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  5. ↑ Brantley, Ben (2016-01-20). "Review: 'Skeleton Crew,' a Tale of Autoworkers in Hard-Hit Detroit". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  6. ↑ "Skeleton Crew". Manhattan Theatre Club. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  7. ↑ Green, Jesse (2022-01-27). "Review: In 'Skeleton Crew,' Making Quick Work of Hard Labor". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  8. ↑ White, Abbey (2022-02-19). "How 'Skeleton Crew' Addressed Broadway's Biggest Challenges During a Difficult Winter Season". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  9. ↑ Appler, Michael (2022-01-27). "'Skeleton Crew' Star Phylicia Rashad on Broadway's Return: 'Mastery Continues, and Theater Artists and Audiences Are Grateful for This'". Variety. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  10. ↑ "SKELETON CREW — BY DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU". www.donmarwarehouse.com. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  11. ↑ "2016". ObieAwards.com. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  12. ↑ "Drama League Awards 2016 - And the winners are..." New York Theatre Guide. 2016-05-20. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  13. ↑ Gans, Andrew (2022-04-26). "Nominees for 71st Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards Announced". Playbill. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  14. ↑ "2022 Drama League Award Winners announced". New York Theatre Guide. 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  15. ↑ Gans, Andrew (2022-05-16). "Six, Kimberly Akimbo Lead 2022 Drama Desk Award Nominations; See the Full List". Playbill. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  16. ↑ Culwell-Block, Logan (2022-06-08). "Clyde's, Company, SIX: The Musical Lead 2022 Drama Desk Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  17. ↑ "Skeleton Crew". TonyAwards.com. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.