Dulé Hill, Mekhi Phifer, Tracie Thoms, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Condola Rashad have signed on to star in the Broadway premiere of Lydia R. Diamond’s Stick Fly. The play, produced by Alicia Keys and directed by Kenny Leon, will begin previews on November 18 and opens on December 8 at the Cort Theatre.
Set at the elegant Martha’s Vineyard summer home of the well-to-do LeVay family, Stick Fly begins when two adult sons bring their significant others (one a fiancée, the other a new girlfriend) home to meet their parents for the first time. Soon, secrets are revealed, civilities are dropped and identities are explored in a harsh new light. Race and rivalry, class and family, all come together for an explosive comedy of manners about today’s complex world.
Emmy Award nominee Hill (Psych, The West Wing, Broadway’s Bring In ’Da Noise, Bring In ’Da Funk) will play Kent “Spoon” LeVay (a writer), Thoms (Rent, Cold Case, The Devil Wears Prada) will play Taylor (Kent’s fiancée and an entomologist), and Tony Award winner Santiago-Hudson (Seven Guitars, Lackawanna Blues) will play Joe LeVay (Kent and Flip’s neurosurgeon father).
Making their Broadway debuts, Phifer (ER, 8 Mile) will play Flip LeVay (a plastic surgeon), and Drama Desk Award nominee Rashad (Ruined) will play Cheryl (a maid). Casting for the role of Kimber, a part-time teacher, will be announced at a later date.
Stick Fly was developed in a co-production last year between the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston and Arena Stage in Washington D.C. The play had its world premiere at Chicago’s Congo Square Theatre Company in 2006 and was subsequently performed at the McCarter Theatre in 2007 and the Matrix Theatre Company in Los Angeles in 2009.
The creative team for the Broadway production includes David Gallo (scenic design), Reggie Ray (costume design), Beverly Emmons (lighting design) and Richard Fitzgerald/Sound Associates (sound design).
Stick Fly will be produced on Broadway by Nelle Nugent, Alicia Keys, Samuel Nappi, Reuben Cannon, Sharon A. Carr/Patricia Klausner, Huntington Theatre Company, Dan Frishwasser, Charles Salameno in association with Joseph Sirola & Eric Falkenstein.