Kenny Leon's 'Mountaintop' Now Playing at Southwest Arts Center

Mountaintop is an imaginary tale of Martin Luther King's last night alive in the Lorraine Motel

Kenny Leon, the Atlanta Arts hometown hero, has brought his play 'Mountaintop' from Broadway to the Southwest Arts Center for Atlanta audiences to enjoy. Mountaintop is a re-imagined scenario of what Martin Luther King's last night alive may have been like in the Lorraine Motel.  The play stars Broadway's Danny Johnson and Demetria McKinney from "The Rickey Smiley Show", and is said to be a gripping tale that shows Dr. King as "a man and exemplifies his love for God, family, and country through a transformative surprise." Written by Katori Hall and directed by another Southwest Atlanta hero, Jasmine Guy, the production won a 2010 Olivier Award Winner for Best New Play. The play is running from now until December 16th at the Southwest Arts …

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Kenny Leon and Jasmine Guy bring Award-Winning play 'Mountaintop' to Southwest Arts Center

Southwest Arts Center has been announced as the location of Kenny Leon's play "Mountaintop".

Kenny Leon and his True Color's Theatre Company has just announced it will bring the play 'Mountaintop' to Atlanta via Southwest Arts Center as its next production.  The theatre company is just starting its last week of the production "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" at the Rialto Center for the Arts. 'Mountaintop' made its debut on Broadway with Samuel Jackson and Angela Bassett as the stars, and this time it will be directed by southwest Atlanta native, Jasmine Guy. True Colors' 2012-13 season, revealed exclusively in the AJC on Tuesday, also will include: August Wilson's "Two Trains Running," Feb. 12-March 10, 2013, at Southwest Arts Center; and "Shakin' the Rafters," written and directed by David Bell, July 9-Aug. 4, 2013, at 14th Street…

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Southwest Atlanta's Jasmine Guy Directs "The Colored Museum," Opening This Weekend

Guy is back in the neighborhood, but this time as director of a True Colors Theatre Company production, "The Colored Museum."

Though born in Boston, actress Jasmine Guy relocated south with her family to Atlanta when she was young. Growing up as a preacher’s kid in the greater Cascade area, Guy found herself on the church pews often on Sundays at the Friendship Baptist Church where her father Rev. Dr. William Guy was pastor. As a student of Atlanta’s main performing arts school—then called Northside High—Guy knew there was a voice inside beckoning her creative talents to step forward. And they did, as she received a scholarship for a New York City acting school right out of high school. She decided to pursue a career in acting despite the lack of opportunities for black women in Hollywood at the time. She credits Hattie McDaniels, Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge…

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Deronte' Smith

11:54 pm on Friday, March 25, 2011

I just got in from the opening night performance - the play was all that and a bag of chips! Simpy hilarious, awe-inspiring, sweet and simple while sadly true. I think the play really plays up the differences in Black people and our African roots. If you can afford $18, do yourself a favor and catch it this weekend while tickets are discounted.   more ›

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Southwest Atlanta Leaders Honor Kenny Leon Wednesday

The acclaimed Atlanta director, who turned 55 recently, was feted last night at a star-studded celebration at the Commerce Club.

By Atlanta standards, the crowd—on the 49th floor of 191 Peachtree St.—could not have been more star-studded.  WSB-TV anchor Monica Pearson; southwest Atlanta native and actress Jasmine Guy;  actress Terri Vaughn of Steve Harvey Show fame (secretary "Lovita Jenkins"); singer Cherrelle (Saturday Love); radio show host and former Atlanta first lady Valerie Jackson; Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell; and Fulton County Commission Chairman and South Fulton resident John Eaves were all present, all among those gathered at The Commerce Club to honor acclaimed director Kenny Leon. The program—which drew several hundred top Atlanta legal and business leaders, many from southwest Atlanta— included numerous tributes and sizable donations…

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Broke-ology Tells a Story of Family Love

Kenny Leon directs a talented four-member cast in his latest play at the Southwest Arts Center.

Several hundred people filled the Southwest Arts Center Friday night dressed to the nines as Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company had its opening night performance ofBroke-ology, written by Nathan Louis Jackson. From the opening scene, the groundwork was laid for an emotionally-charged, provocative story filled with great drama and timely comedic relief. Afemo Omilami, a seasoned actor known for his work as co-director of Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless, gave a brilliant performance as an elderly man suffering from M.S. with two grown sons struggling with finding their own way. Both Enoch King and Eric J. Little give inspiring performances as the sons watching their father’s health deteriorate before their eyes and being left to …

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Deronte' Smith

6:44 pm on Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Tammy, I totally agree. The city of Atlanta is fortunate but Cascade is especially fortunate! And the SW Arts Center is a beautiful venue! For anyone who has not been they should put it on their schedule immediately.   more ›

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Leon Returns to Southwest Arts Center Friday with Broke-ology

Acclaimed playwright offers insight on black theater, show business.

Broke-ology, a fictional term best defined as the science of being broke, may be all too familiar for participants in the three-year-long recession and recovery effort facing the U.S. But the term is also the title of Kenny Leon’s latest stage play, a comedic drama encouraging people to stay linked to their roots no matter where life takes them. Broke-ology debuts Fri., Jan. 28, at the Southwest Arts Center.  Leon is well known for his film adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, starring Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald, popularized by its long run on Broadway. The film exceeded expectations, receiving Emmy and Golden Globe nominations as well as winning three NAACP Image Awards. For those native to …

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Black Nativity Opening Night a Success

Kenny Leon's adaptation of Langston Hughes' Black Nativity proves to be a hit with community

Black Nativity, a True Colors Theatre Company production, opened Sat., Nov. 28, to a strong crowd reception at the Southwest Community Arts Center. The lobby overflowed with 300 or so local dignitaries, corporate sponsors and celebrities, all eagerly awaiting Kenny Leon's adaptation of Langston Hughes' classic story of the birth of Jesus Christ. "Kenny Leon is an artistic genius and master at what he does, I'm looking forward to this production," says Fulton County Commissioner Bill Edwards of Atlanta's District 7.  Indeed the Commissioner was not the only one;  VIPs filed in, one after the other, to see the new show in the recently-renovated arts center. When asked of the production's popularity, Jennifer Dwyer, Director of Marketing and …

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