Black History Month Spotlight: Tony-Winning Director and Producer Kenny Leon
(Photo by Emilio Madrid for Broadway.com)
Throughout the month of February, The Broadway Show is celebrating some of the theater industry’s most influential Black artists. This week, the spotlight is on director Kenny Leon.
Leon rose to prominence as Artistic Director of Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre Company, one of the few Black artists to hold that title at a major nonprofit theater. In 2002, he co-founded True Colors Theatre Company, which supports new work by diverse playwrights, preserves the legacy of African-American classics and engages in educational outreach through the August Wilson Monologue Competition.
On Broadway, Leon has revived Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun twice, winning the Tony for Best Direction for his 2014 production starring Denzel Washington. He has also championed the work of underappreciated Black playwrights, directing Broadway premieres of the legendary Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders and Charles Fuller’s A Soldier’s Play. Earlier this season, he ushered Ossie Davis' Purlie Victorious back to Broadway with Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr., and this summer, he returns again with a revival of Samm-Art Williams' Home.
Watch The Broadway Show’s tribute to Kenny Leon below.
