Blumenthal Arts' PNC Broadway Lights Series 7th Show Revealed
June 10, 2024 / Blog
(June 10, 2024) Charlotte, NC – Blumenthal Arts announced that new American play
IMMEDIATE FAMILY will be featured in its 2024–2025 Broadway season. The celebrated play, written by Hamilton’s Paul Oakley Stovall and directed by Tony Award–winning actress, director, and TV star Phylicia Rashad, will complete the lineup for Blumenthal’s PNC Broadway Lights series. For tickets and more information about the 2024–2025 season, visit blumethalarts.org.
President and CEO of Blumenthal Arts, Tom Gabbard, said, “Blumenthal has the great fortune to be a draw to first-rate artists like Paul Oakley Stovall and the singular Phylicia Rashad. We were wowed by the marvelous artistry that went into Paul’s concert, Love Rules, which we brought to the Stage Door Theater this year. It was a no-brainer that we wanted to produce another project together. I am thrilled for our audiences to experience Paul’s warm, funny, sitcom-style script—matched perfectly to the exquisite directing talents of Phylicia—to round out the PNC Broadway Lights series.”
Charlotte audiences were introduced to the incredible talents of Paul Oakley Stovall as George Washington in the national tour of Hamilton. He workshopped his concert Love Rules, an evening of songs exploring the nature of love, in Charlotte in early 2024. Other credits include co-producing 2022 Tony Award Best Musical winner A Strange Loop, portraying Belize in Angels in America directed by Tony award winner David Cromer, and television appearances on Shameless, Empire, and Chicago Fire. Immediate Family was featured at the Goodman Theatre and Mark Taper Forum, directed by Phylicia Rashad. Paul recently made his directorial debut to great critical acclaim with the US premiere stage adaptation of the film Gods and Monsters, based on the book by Christopher Bram. Outside of entertainment, Paul spent six years as an advance staff lead and media logistics coordinator for First Lady Michelle Obama, after spending a year as a Press Lead for President Obama. He is an outspoken activist for LGBTQIA+ rights, arts education in schools, and racial equality.
Stovall said, "This play has been a part of me for many years now and I'm ecstatic to have it take another step forward in Charlotte, at Blumenthal Arts especially which, in many ways, is becoming a new artistic home. Continuing to work on it with Phylicia Rashad still on board as director is, to my mind, the only way to go. She understands me and she understands what’s at the root of the story. The characters in this play are all trying to hold their heads just a little higher, to find themselves and their place in the family; and Phylicia brings discipline, dignity, and determination to everything she does."
An accomplished actress and stage director, Phylicia Rashad became a household name when she portrayed Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, a character whose enduring appeal has earned numerous awards and honors for over two decades. Film and television credits include: The Beekeeper (2024 release), Jingle Jangle, Pixar’s Soul, Black Box, A Fall From Grace, Creed, Creed II, Creed III, For Colored Girls, This is Us (Three Emmy nominations), Diarra from Detroit, Little America, The Crossover, The Good Fight, David Makes Man, and Empire.
Inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2016, Ms. Rashad received Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her performances as Faye in Skeleton Crew and Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun, the Lucille Lortel Award for her performance as Shelah in Head of Passes, and a Tony nomination for her portrayal of Aunt Ester in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. Ms. Rashad has directed plays by Pearl Cleage (Blues for an Alabama Sky), August Wilson (Gem of the Ocean, Fences, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone), and Stephen Adley Guirgis (Our Lady of 121st Street) at prestigious regional and Off-Broadway theaters.
Rashad, who serves as co-chair of the advisory council for the African American Cultural Heritage Fund, is currently Dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University. This marks her third time directing IMMEDIATE FAMILY.
ABOUT IMMEDIATE FAMILY
The Bryant family reunion takes a comedic turn when the middle son brings home his Swedish boyfriend and tosses him into a stew of family dysfunctions. Race, sexuality, and religion are on the menu as Modern Family meets Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in this "timely and important American play" (Chicago Tribune) written by multi-hyphenate artist Paul Oakley Stovall (Tony Award® winner and Olivier-nominated producer of A Strange Loop; George Washington in the first national tour of Hamilton) and directed by two-time Tony Award® winner and multiple Emmy Award® nominee Phylicia Rashad.
IMMEDIATE FAMILY will complete the PNC Broadway Lights series, which will include a seven-show package:
- Some Like it Hot – November 26–December 1, 2024
- A Beautiful Noise – February 25–March 2, 2025
- Parade – March 25–30, 2025
- Kimberly Akimbo – April 15–27, 2025
- Shucked – May 27–June 1, 2025
- Life of Pi – July 29–August 3, 2025
- Immediate Family – July 29–August 31, 2025
PNC Broadway Lights Series tickets range from $249–$821.
The Equitable Bravo Series offers a package of five shows:
- Girl From the North Country – October 1–6, 2024
- Hamilton – January 7–February 2, 2025
- Tina – The Tina Turner Musical – June 10–15, 2025
- Wicked – September 24–October 26, 2025
- SIX – Dates to be announced
Equitable Bravo Series tickets range from $220–$733.
Pricing subject to change.
As well as the offerings in its two main Broadway series, Blumenthal will present additional shows during the year. Currently slated Broadway Extras include:
- Elf The Musical – December 26–29, 2024
- Shrek the Musical – February 14–16, 2025
- Les Misérables – May 20–25, 2025
- Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations – July 18–20, 2025
- Austen’s Pride: A New Musical of Pride and Prejudice – Dates to be announced
For more information or to make a purchase:
– Visit BlumenthalArts.org/Broadway
– Call 704-335-1010
For IMMEDIATE FAMILY photos, click here.
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ABOUT BLUMENTHAL ARTS
Blumenthal Arts serves the Carolinas as a leading cultural, entertainment and education not-for-profit. For more information, call (704) 372-1000 or visit BlumenthalArts.org. Blumenthal Arts receives support from the Infusion Fund and the North Carolina Arts Council. Generous support is also provided by PNC Bank, sponsor of the PNC Broadway Lights series, and Equitable, sponsor of the Equitable Bravo Series.
Follow Blumenthal Arts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
ABOUT PNC BANK
PNC Bank, National Association, is a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.
ABOUT EQUITABLE
Equitable, a principal franchise of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EQH) has been one of America’s leading financial services providers since 1859. With the mission to help clients secure their financial well-being, Equitable provides advice, protection and retirement strategies to individuals, families and small businesses. Equitable has more than 8,000 employees and Equitable Advisors financial professionals and serves 2.8 million clients across the country. Reference to the 1859 founding applies specifically and exclusively to Equitable Financial.
Equitable is the brand name of Equitable Holdings, Inc. and its family of companies, including Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company (NY, NY) and Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company of America, an Arizona stock company with an administrative office located in Charlotte, NC, and Equitable Distributors, LLC. GE-6476571.1(03/24)(exp.03/26)