kenny leon, black director, professional profile

Kenny Leon, a black director, is the subject of this professional profile

Kenny Leon

People's Choice

Chosen as one of PEOPLE Magazine’s '50 Most Beautiful People' in 2004, acclaimed director Kenny Leon, 51, is more than just his good looks. The founder and artistic director for the True Colors Theatre Company is one of the leading directors in American theater.

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Theater in his Blood

As the long-time artistic director for the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta, Ga., Kenny Leon is credited with putting regional theater on the map. He left Alliance in 2001 and founded the True Colors Theatre Company, with the mission to preserve Negro American classics. The theater produces an eclectic mix of plays with multiracial casts, and aims to attract a diverse audience. He was once quoted saying: "We're doing The Wiz, but we're doing it with an integrated cast. We want to do Shakespeare and the Greeks and all that, but also do Negro classics."

P. Diddy in Raisin

Kenny Leon's received a Drama Desk Outstanding Director nomination for his production of Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 classic. His inspired casting of hip-hop impresario Sean Combs, along with Phylicia Rashad, made history when she became the first African American woman to win the Tony award for best leading actress in a play and making Raisin the second-highest-grossing non-musical in the history of Broadway.

Kenny Leon as Actor

Actor Woody Harrelson with Kenny Leon they after performed in the 2005 play 'Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark' at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. The play features the voices of individual human rights defenders from around the globe at the start of the Martin Luther King Holiday.

Radio Golf

Leon directed the final two plays in August Wilson’s epic, 10-play canon -- 'Gem of the Ocean,' and 'Radio Golf,' which starred Harry Lennix, Tonya Pinkins. He also directed the world premiere of Toni Morrison’s opera, 'Margaret Garner,' featuring mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. 'Margaret Garner' was produced at Michigan Opera Theatre, Cincinnati Opera, where it sold more tickets than any opera ever performed there, and Opera Company of Philadelphia.

Hold Him to It

Director Kenny Leon and John Earl Jelks on the set of August Wilson's "Radio Golf" in 2005, which was completed shortly before the playwright died. Quoting a campaign slogan used by one of the characters in 'Radio Golf,' Leon has said, "August always said, 'I wrote it, now do your part.' I promise to do my part, August. You can hold me to it."

In the Company of Friends

Leon's work is drawing the affection of African-American actors like Angela Bassett.

Theater Lovers

Leon with some of his friends and fans: Baseball legend Dave Winfield and actor Samuel L. Jackson.

Kids on Stage

Kenny Leon directs children in an Atlanta production of 'The Wiz.'

August Wilson Award

Kenny Leon with the winners and judges of True Colors' First Annual August WIlson Monologue Competition in February 2006.

What's Next for Leon

Next Leon will direct the 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner,' based on the original Oscar-winning screenplay by William Rose. The play will be adapted by Todd Kreidler, who served as dramaturg to the late August Wilson. The show will premiere on Broadway in fall 2008.