The critically acclaimed play Fat Ham won over audiences on Broadway last year and now the show is making its L.A. debut at the Geffen Playhouse.
Nearly the entire original cast has reunited to perform the play for Los Angeles audiences.
Here’s the synopsis: “Meet Juicy, a young, queer Black man with a Shakespearean-sized dilemma. When the ghost of his dead father shows up at his family’s BBQ wedding reception demanding his murder be avenged, does the poetic and sensitive Juicy have it in him to do the deed, or will he ‘to thine own self be true?’”
Fat Ham stars Marcel Spears as Juicy, Nikki Crawford as Tedra, Chris Herbie Holland as Tio, Billy Eugene Jones as Rev/Pap, Adrianna Mitchell as Opal, Benja Kay Thomas as Rabby, and Matthew Elijah Webb as Larry.
The play was written by James Ijames and directed by Sideeq Heard...
Nearly the entire original cast has reunited to perform the play for Los Angeles audiences.
Here’s the synopsis: “Meet Juicy, a young, queer Black man with a Shakespearean-sized dilemma. When the ghost of his dead father shows up at his family’s BBQ wedding reception demanding his murder be avenged, does the poetic and sensitive Juicy have it in him to do the deed, or will he ‘to thine own self be true?’”
Fat Ham stars Marcel Spears as Juicy, Nikki Crawford as Tedra, Chris Herbie Holland as Tio, Billy Eugene Jones as Rev/Pap, Adrianna Mitchell as Opal, Benja Kay Thomas as Rabby, and Matthew Elijah Webb as Larry.
The play was written by James Ijames and directed by Sideeq Heard...
- 4/3/2024
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
With 38 productions eligible for this year’s Tony Awards, there were plenty of names missing when nominations were announced on Tuesday morning. Among the most surprising 2023 Tony nominations snubs was “Life of Pi” for Best Play. The production earned nine Olivier Award nominations across the pond, winning Best New Play, Actor (Hiran Abeysekera), Featured Actor, Lighting Design and Set Design. But at the Tonys, it missed out on a Best Play bid and didn’t score a nomination for Abeysekera. The production did perform well in the design categories, though, earning five nominations including for director Max Webster.
See the complete list of 2023 Tony Awards nominees
A duo of play revivals also underperformed. The latest production of Arthur Miller‘s “Death of a Salesman” did earn a significant nomination for Best Actor for Wendell Pierce, but it missed out on major bids for Best Revival of a Play, Featured Actress...
See the complete list of 2023 Tony Awards nominees
A duo of play revivals also underperformed. The latest production of Arthur Miller‘s “Death of a Salesman” did earn a significant nomination for Best Actor for Wendell Pierce, but it missed out on major bids for Best Revival of a Play, Featured Actress...
- 5/2/2023
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
“Out of all the Tony categories this season, this could be the most complicated,” notes Sam Eckmann about the race for the top Broadway honor of Best Play. It’s a sentiment we share about Best Play Revival, too, as we discuss our final predictions for the upcoming 76th Tony Awards nominations. All told, 23 productions will contend for slots in categories honoring the best dramatic works of the year, which will be announced on May 2. Watch the full video slugfest above.
Ironically, even with an embarrassment of riches of shows from which to predict the top two categories, Sam and I have identical lineups. For Best Play, we’re both picking “Leopoldstadt,” “Fat Ham,” “Between Riverside and Crazy,” “Cost of Living,” and “Life of Pi,” but there are plenty of other works we think could sneak in. Sam thinks “Ain’t No Mo’” is in a close sixth place and singles out “Good Night,...
Ironically, even with an embarrassment of riches of shows from which to predict the top two categories, Sam and I have identical lineups. For Best Play, we’re both picking “Leopoldstadt,” “Fat Ham,” “Between Riverside and Crazy,” “Cost of Living,” and “Life of Pi,” but there are plenty of other works we think could sneak in. Sam thinks “Ain’t No Mo’” is in a close sixth place and singles out “Good Night,...
- 4/30/2023
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
The tone of “Fat Ham” runs the gamut from heavy drama to absurd humor, but Calvin Leon Smith admits, “don’t get the immediate gratification of laughter.” The actor portrays Larry in James Ijames’ new play, a golden child who hides a major secret. Larry’s performative guise of masculinity is something that Smith knows all too well, with the actor able to tap into emotional moments from his own life to portray this character. Watch the exclusive video interview above.
See ‘Fat Ham’: Broadway’s latest take on ‘Hamlet’ joins a long list
Smith may not possess Larry’s military background, but he knows what it’s like to be a closeted gay Black man living in the South. “There’s been so much repression in my own life,” he admits, noting that he too came out around the same age as Larry does in the play. He...
See ‘Fat Ham’: Broadway’s latest take on ‘Hamlet’ joins a long list
Smith may not possess Larry’s military background, but he knows what it’s like to be a closeted gay Black man living in the South. “There’s been so much repression in my own life,” he admits, noting that he too came out around the same age as Larry does in the play. He...
- 4/27/2023
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
“One thing that I’ve always strived for…is to be a healer,” reveals Chris Herbie Holland. Lucky for him then, that his character Tio in James Ijames’ “Fat Ham” is the person responsible for putting the audience at ease. In this remix of “Hamlet,” the themes can get heavy. But when Holland emerges on stage, it’s a signal to relax. The actor is thrilled to make his Broadway debut with “a character that is centered around healing and joy.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
Holland certainly allows for the chance to breathe (and laugh hysterically) when he makes an entrance for his big second act monologue. Tio, incredibly stoned, recounts a dream where gingerbread men from a video game start performing fellatio on him. And somehow, Tio dives so far into the meaning of this dream that he finds the meaning of life.
See ‘Fat Ham’:...
Holland certainly allows for the chance to breathe (and laugh hysterically) when he makes an entrance for his big second act monologue. Tio, incredibly stoned, recounts a dream where gingerbread men from a video game start performing fellatio on him. And somehow, Tio dives so far into the meaning of this dream that he finds the meaning of life.
See ‘Fat Ham’:...
- 4/26/2023
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
James Ijames’ defiant and raucous play Fat Ham, now at the American Airlines Theater on Broadway, begins in transition. Relics of a recent funeral are slid into corners to make space for tributes to a celebratory future. The scene, designed by Maruti Evans, is set for a cookout: Smoke rises languorously from a grill, snakes up the red brick wall and disappears behind the curtain. Tables are cloaked with the signature blue and red checkered plastic linings of summer parties and picnics. Mismatched balloons dot the verdant green grass. In a corner stands a wreath honoring the recently deceased.
Juicy, the mercurial protagonist played with relaxed style by Marcel Spears, reluctantly prepares to celebrate the marriage of his mother, Tedra (Nikki Crawford), to his uncle, Rev (Billy Eugene Jones). His dad, Pap (also played by Jones), hasn’t been dead for a week and the newlyweds behave as though he never existed.
Juicy, the mercurial protagonist played with relaxed style by Marcel Spears, reluctantly prepares to celebrate the marriage of his mother, Tedra (Nikki Crawford), to his uncle, Rev (Billy Eugene Jones). His dad, Pap (also played by Jones), hasn’t been dead for a week and the newlyweds behave as though he never existed.
- 4/19/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Like that relative who picks through the chicken parts at a family picnic to find the leg or the breast or the thigh with just the right amount of crisp, playwright James Ijames has no reluctance to rummage through the bones of Shakespeare’s Hamlet to cook up the irresistible Fat Ham.
Audacious at points, quietly amenable at others, the Pulitzer Prize winning comedy carries the burden of our expectations more lightly than some other prize recipients who’ve made their way to Broadway recently, including Between Riverside and Crazy, Cost of Living and even A Strange Loop, the stage work that Fat Ham shares its concerns over masculinity (mostly of the toxic variety ), queerness, and the search for – or insistence upon – love and acceptance within the family and, very specifically, the Black faith community.
Inspired by, and borrowing its groundwork from, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Fat Ham and its author swipe plot points,...
Audacious at points, quietly amenable at others, the Pulitzer Prize winning comedy carries the burden of our expectations more lightly than some other prize recipients who’ve made their way to Broadway recently, including Between Riverside and Crazy, Cost of Living and even A Strange Loop, the stage work that Fat Ham shares its concerns over masculinity (mostly of the toxic variety ), queerness, and the search for – or insistence upon – love and acceptance within the family and, very specifically, the Black faith community.
Inspired by, and borrowing its groundwork from, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Fat Ham and its author swipe plot points,...
- 4/13/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The Broadway-bound comedy Fat Ham and Shakespeare in the Park’s Merry Wives are among this year’s recipients of the 66th Obie Awards honoring Off and Off-Off Broadway productions.
Presented by the American Theatre Wing, the Obies will be handed out Monday evening in a ceremony at Manhattan’s Terminal 5 venue. Sustained and Lifetime Achievement winners will accept their awards during the ceremony, while remarks of all other winners will premiere on the the American Theatre Wing’s YouTube channel.
The most recent Obies ceremony was virtual and premiered on the Wing’s YouTube channel on July 14, 2020.
“For this Obies, the judges reviewed over 400 productions over the last three seasons including digital and audio works made during the pandemic,” said Heather Hitchens, President & CEO, in a statement. “We look forward to finally gathering in person to celebrate the artistic excellence and resilience of the amazing artists and theatre companies...
Presented by the American Theatre Wing, the Obies will be handed out Monday evening in a ceremony at Manhattan’s Terminal 5 venue. Sustained and Lifetime Achievement winners will accept their awards during the ceremony, while remarks of all other winners will premiere on the the American Theatre Wing’s YouTube channel.
The most recent Obies ceremony was virtual and premiered on the Wing’s YouTube channel on July 14, 2020.
“For this Obies, the judges reviewed over 400 productions over the last three seasons including digital and audio works made during the pandemic,” said Heather Hitchens, President & CEO, in a statement. “We look forward to finally gathering in person to celebrate the artistic excellence and resilience of the amazing artists and theatre companies...
- 2/24/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Playwright James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy Fat Ham, a take-off of Hamlet set at a Southern Black family’s cook-out, will make its Broadway debut this spring, beginning previews on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at the American Airlines Theatre ahead of an official opening on Wednesday, April 12. The strictly limited 14-week engagement runs through Sunday, August 6.
The production will feature the director – Saheem Ali – and cast from the Public Theater’s acclaimed 2022 Off Broadway staging, with performers Nikki Crawford, Chris Herbie Holland, Billy Eugene Jones, Adrianna Mitchell, Calvin Leon Smith, Marcel Spears and Benja Kay Thomas reprising their roles.
Fat Ham on Broadway will be produced by Rashad V. Chambers, No Guarantees and Public Theater Productions. Andy Jones and Dylan Pager will serve as Executive Producers.
“Every once in a while, we experience a play that is embraced by the audience with an almost shocking joy,” the producers said in a joint statement.
The production will feature the director – Saheem Ali – and cast from the Public Theater’s acclaimed 2022 Off Broadway staging, with performers Nikki Crawford, Chris Herbie Holland, Billy Eugene Jones, Adrianna Mitchell, Calvin Leon Smith, Marcel Spears and Benja Kay Thomas reprising their roles.
Fat Ham on Broadway will be produced by Rashad V. Chambers, No Guarantees and Public Theater Productions. Andy Jones and Dylan Pager will serve as Executive Producers.
“Every once in a while, we experience a play that is embraced by the audience with an almost shocking joy,” the producers said in a joint statement.
- 12/5/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
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