{"id":111351,"date":"2022-03-08T20:58:40","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T01:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=111351"},"modified":"2022-03-08T20:58:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T01:58:40","slug":"tony-todd-returns-to-pennsylvania-shakespeare-festival-to-star-in-august-wilsons-fences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=111351","title":{"rendered":"Tony Todd returns to Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival to star in August Wilson\u2019s Fences"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Photo Credit:\u00a0Tony Todd in August Wilson\u2019s\u00a0How I Learned What I Learned\u00a0<\/em>at PSF (2021). Photo by Lee A. Butz.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Center Valley, PA: March 8, 2022\u2014Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival announces veteran stage, film, and television actor\u00a0Tony Todd<\/strong>\u00a0will return to play the role of Troy Maxson in August Wilson\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>Fences<\/em>. The Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play will open this summer at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University in Center Valley, PA.<\/p>\n

Mr. Todd returns to the Festival following his highly lauded performance last season in August Wilson\u2019s\u00a0How I Learned What I Learned<\/em>.<\/p>\n

With an acting career spanning more than 30 years, Todd has an extensive list of credits in all genres. His films include Oliver Stone\u2019s Academy Award-winning\u00a0Platoon<\/em>;\u00a0Lean On Me\u00a0<\/em>with Morgan Freeman; Clint Eastwood\u2019s\u00a0Bird;\u00a0<\/em>and the voice of the Fallen in\u00a0Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen<\/em>; among many others.<\/p>\n

The charismatic six-foot-five actor is perhaps best known for his chilling performances in horror and sci-fi films including the title role in the\u00a0Candyman<\/em>\u00a0franchise, as well as the\u00a0Hatchet\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Final Destination\u00a0<\/em>franchise hits, along with\u00a0Night of the Living Dead<\/em>,\u00a0The Crow<\/em>, and\u00a0The Rock<\/em>.<\/p>\n

On stage he has received accolades for numerous roles including a coveted Helen Hayes Award nomination for his performance in\u00a0Athol Fugard\u2019s\u00a0The Captain\u2019s Tiger<\/em>\u00a0at the La Jolla Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Club, and The Kennedy Center; and\u00a0originating the title role in the world premiere of August Wilson\u2019s\u00a0King Hedley II\u00a0<\/em>in Pittsburgh, Boston, and Seattle. (Variety<\/em> lauded, \u201cTodd\u2019s King Hedley dominates the stage.\u201d His performance \u201cwas a memorable tour-de-force.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cTony\u2019s versatility, artistry, and craft as an actor, coupled with his rich experience with August Wilson\u2019s plays, will prove invaluable in plumbing the depths of this force-of-nature leading role,\u201d says Producing Artistic Director, Patrick Mulcahy.\u00a0 \u201cWe are so pleased to have an actor of Tony Todd\u2019s caliber leading this cast as we bring this masterwork of the American theatre to life this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fences<\/em>\u00a0will be helmed by director Ryan Quinn, co-founder and artistic director of Esperance Theater Company in New York City. He also serves as a company member with Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. Directing credits include\u00a0Twelfth Night<\/em>,\u00a0Youth and Ambition<\/em>\u00a0(a mash up of\u00a0Romeo & Juliet<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Macbeth<\/em>)\u00a0at Esperance Theater Company;\u00a0Macbeth<\/em>, two productions of\u00a0Romeo & Juliet<\/em>, and\u00a0The Two Noble Kinsman<\/em>\u00a0at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival;\u00a0So Thrive My Soul<\/em>\u00a0(an adaptation of\u00a0Romeo & Juliet<\/em>) at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and many more.\u00a0In addition to his directing credentials, Quinn is also an accomplished actor and educator. He earned his BA in Theater from the University of Wisconsin Madison, where he was awarded the Smith and Butt prize for artistic achievement. He received his MFA in Acting from Yale School of Drama. Most recently, Quinn was seen Off-Broadway performing in Second Stage\u2019s world premiere of\u00a0Whorl Inside a Loop<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Fences<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0will preview at 7:30pm on July 27 and 28. Opening night is Friday, July 29 at 7:30pm, and the production runs through August 7. Single tickets start at $25 and can be purchased online at\u00a0www.pashakespeare.org<\/a>\u00a0or by calling the box office at 610.282.WILL [9455].<\/p>\n

Set in 1950s Pittsburgh against the backdrop of a rapidly changing America, August Wilson\u2019s groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning drama depicts the yearnings and struggles of the Maxson family. Troy Maxson, a former home run king of the Negro baseball leagues now supports his family as a garbage collector, and builds fences around a world he has battled his entire life. An epic work of stunning poetry by a Pennsylvania native,\u00a0Fences<\/em>\u00a0has been hailed by critics as \u201ca blockbuster piece of theater\u201d and \u201cthe strongest, most passionate American dramatic writing since Tennessee Williams.\u201d A timeless story of fathers and sons, husbands and wives, dreams and realities,\u00a0Fences<\/em>\u00a0is a true American classic.<\/p>\n

Summer 2022 Season<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Main Stage:\u00a0<\/strong>Little Red\u00a0<\/em>(June 3 to Aug 6),\u00a0A Chorus Line<\/em>\u00a0(June 22 to July 10),\u00a0<\/strong>Fences<\/em>\u00a0(July 27 to August 7),\u00a0Shakespeare for Kids<\/em>\u00a0(July 28 to Aug 6).<\/p>\n

Schubert Theatre:\u00a0<\/strong>Every Brilliant Thing<\/em>\u00a0(June 7 to June 19),\u00a0Much Ado About Nothing<\/em>\u00a0(July 13 to Aug 7),\u00a0The River Bride<\/em>\u00a0(a staged reading, July 1 to July 3).<\/p>\n

The Festival\u2019s 2022 Season Sponsor is Kathleen Kund Nolan & Timothy E. Nolan. The Associate Season Sponsors are Douglas Dykhouse, Linda Lapos and Paul Wirth, the Szarko Family, and Harry C. Trexler Trust.<\/p>\n

The season will run June 3 to August 7 at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts on the bucolic campus of DeSales University in Center Valley.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Tony Todd in August Wilson\u2019s\u00a0How I Learned What I Learned\u00a0<\/em>at PSF (Summer 2021). Photo by Lee A. Butz.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival\u00a0features acclaimed actors from Broadway, television, and film, and\u00a0is summer home to over 200 artists from around the country, including winners and nominees of the Tony, Obie, Emmy, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Jefferson, and Barrymore awards.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

About Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Patrick Mulcahy, is the only professional Equity theatre of its scope and scale within a 50-mile radius. PSF is one of only a handful of theatres on the continent producing Shakespeare, musicals, classics, and contemporary plays, all of which can normally be seen in rep and in multiple spaces within a few visits in a single summer season. Similarly, PSF was among just a handful of theatres on the continent in recent summers to produce three Shakespeare plays in a single summer season.\u00a0 A patron would have to travel seven to nine hours from PSF to find a comparable range of offerings at a single theatre within a few weeks\u2019 time.<\/p>\n

The Festival\u2019s award-winning company of many world-class artists includes Broadway, film, and television veterans, and winners and nominees of the Tony, Emmy, Obie, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Jefferson, Hayes, Lortel, and Barrymore awards. A leading Shakespeare theatre with a national reputation for excellence, PSF has received coverage in\u00a0The Washington Post<\/em>,\u00a0NPR<\/em>,\u00a0American Theatre Magazine<\/em>, Playbill.com,\u00a0The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em>, and in recent seasons\u00a0The New York<\/em>\u00a0Times\u00a0<\/em>has identified PSF as one of the leading summer theatre festivals in the nation. \u201cA world-class theater experience on a par with the top Bard fests,\u201d is how one New York Drama Desk reviewer characterized PSF.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1992 and the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, PSF\u2019s mission is to enrich, inspire, engage, and entertain the widest possible audience through first-rate productions of classical and contemporary plays, with a core commitment to Shakespeare and other master dramatists, and through an array of education and mentorship programs. A not-for-profit theatre, PSF receives significant support from its host, DeSales University, from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Traditionally, with 150 performances of seven productions, the Festival attracts patrons each summer from 30+ states. In 30 years, PSF has offered 200+ total productions (82 Shakespeare), and entertained 1,000,000+ patrons from 50 states, now averaging 34,000-40,000 in attendance each summer season, plus another 13,000 students each year through its WillPower Tour to schools. PSF is a multi-year recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts:\u00a0Shakespeare in<\/em>\u00a0American Communities<\/em>, and is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group, and the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA). In 2013, leaders of the world\u2019s premier Shakespeare theatres gathered at PSF as the Festival hosted the international STA Conference.<\/p>\n

The Festival\u2019s vision is for world-class theatre.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival<\/p>\n

The Professional Theatre at DeSales University
\n2755 Station Avenue<\/p>\n

Center Valley, PA 18034<\/p>\n

p: 610-282-WILL [9455]\n

www.pashakespeare.org<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nTina Louise Slak
\nPennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
\nThe Professional Theatre at DeSales University
\n2755 Station Avenue
\nCenter Valley, PA 18034
\np: 610-282-WILL [9455]\nwww.pashakespeare.org<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Photo Credit:\u00a0Tony Todd in August Wilson\u2019s\u00a0How I Learned What I Learned\u00a0at PSF (2021). Photo by Lee A. Butz.) Center Valley, PA: March 8, 2022\u2014Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival announces veteran stage, film, … Continue reading Tony Todd returns to Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival to star in August Wilson\u2019s Fences<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Tony-Todd-PSF.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/111352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}