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Eugene Lee On "American Son," August Wilson, And Nurturing Young Black And Latino Playwrights

Eugene Lee

American Son” is a new play, now in previews on Broadway and marking the Broadway debut of playwright Christopher Demos-Brown. The play had its world premiere in 2016 at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The new drama examines our nation’s racial divide through the eyes of an estranged, interracial couple. Over the course of one evening, the couple’s disparate backgrounds collide as they confront an unexpected crisis involving their son, the police, and an abandoned car.

On Broadway, the play stars Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale, Jeremy Jordan and our guest, Eugene Lee.

Lee once performed for President Lyndon B. Johnson at his Texas ranch in a command performance of “A Raisin the Sun.” Forty-five plus years later, he is still performing in film, television and theater, and he has also become an acclaimed writer. He has worked and traveled with New York’s renowned Negro Theatre Ensemble, performing in the Pulitzer Prize winning “A Soldier’s Play” and numerous other works. He is considered a “Wilsonian Warrior” for his many appearances in the works of August Wilson, including the Broadway production of “Gem of the Ocean.” He is Artist in Residence and Artistic Director of the Black and Latino Playwright’s Conference at Texas State University.

Sarah has been a public radio producer for over fifteen years. She grew up in Saranac Lake, New York where she worked part-time at Pendragon Theatre all through high school and college. She graduated from UAlbany in 2006 with a BA in English and started at WAMC a few weeks later as a part-time board-op in the control room. Through a series of offered and seized opportunities she is now the Senior Contributing Producer of The Roundtable and Producer of The Book Show. During the main thrust of the Covid-19 pandemic shut-down, Sarah hosted a live Instagram interview program "A Face for Radio Video Series." On it, Sarah spoke with actors, musicians, comedians, and artists about the creative activities they were accomplishing and/or missing.
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