Norm Lewis to lead A SOLDIER’S PLAY national tour

This is terrific!

Interesting! Surprised he’s playing Davenport and not Waters. The latter seems like a better fit for him, since it shows off more of his charisma. But then again, he was a very good Javert, and that’s a similar sort of temperament to Davenport (no-nonsense gravitas). I’m sure he’ll be great either way, but I wonder if it was a missed opportunity not putting him in the showier role.

This seems random. Was it considered a hit?

SouthernCakes said: "This seems random. Was it considered a hit?"

It averaged 62% of its gross potential and averaged 95% capacity, but the finances of a nonprofit show aren't the same as a commercial one. The Airlines is smaller than most touring houses, and the Tony win won't carry it THAT far on the road.

Broadway News says the tour will only be 20 weeks, assuming mainly in big theater cities (a few weeks in LA/SF, a few weeks in Chicago, maybe DC, Boston, and Toronto, etc.) The HUMANS toured for about 7 months a few years back.

It's being produced by Todd Haimes' ex-wife, Tamar Climan (who used to be a GM and now appears to be venturing into producing) along with the Roundabout.

Updated On: 3/17/22 at 06:05 PM

Bumping because the tour dates have been announced

I'm a little irked because this was ALMOST really simpatico for me. This play's run in St. Paul ends on the 12th, and and the national tour of To Kill a Mockingbird opens on the 14th. I wasn't necessarily planning on seeing TKAM when it came to Minneapolis, but if I could have seen it and ASP, which I was definitely planning on driving up to see, on the same trip I would have.

I'm a little baffled about this doing a tour... I saw it on Broadway and found it to be unremarkable in every way. Besides subscribers getting this in their packages, I don't see this selling a lot of individual tickets.

May have to pop down to Philly to see this. Maybe see it with Mr. Fuller's brother. We have been best friends since high school when the Fuller's moved to my town.

Gonna try to see this in Charlotte. I've never seen Norm Lewis live on stage but have always been a fan of his. I look forward to it.

bwayphreak234 said: "I'm a little baffled about this doing a tour... I saw it on Broadway and found it to be unremarkable in every way. Besides subscribers getting this in their packages, I don't see this selling a lot of individual tickets."

The houses that accepted this work make sense.

These are cities that have a strong market for black led and black written works, and these houses need new Broadway work that hits their programming needs. (Cause it's going into touring houses.) For every city outside of LA, singling them out due to the sit down production, it'll be a wonderful option for their existing subscriber base.

Updated On: 1/23/23 at 11:27 PM

Just got back from seeing this in St. Paul - it was such a tightly constructed play, and the actors were all wonderful.

Much like what was reported during the Broadway run, the audience was cheering when Captain Davenport came on stage at the beginning of Act 2, but rather than a shirtless Blair Underwood, it was Norm Lewis singing that got us going. He and Eugene Lee were just as charismatic as you'd expect, but I also want to give credit to the other actors, especially Tarik Lowe (who has never done a play before), Howard W. Overshown, Malik Esoj Child's, and Sheldon D. Brown.

There was a talkback with the cast afterwards, discussing their relationship to the material and talking about how regrettably relevant the themes of systemic hatred and racism were (something that hits home particularly hard in Minnesota). Just seeing these artists talk about their work was almost as engaging as the play itself.

Also for anyone who wants to see the show on Sunday instead of watching the Super Bowl, there's a discount code for $30 tickets available: SUNDAY30