David Alan Grier & Blair Underwood to star in A Soldier's Play on Broadway

The first-ever Broadway production of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama A Soldier's Play begins performances at the American Airlines Theatre on December 27, 2019.

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced the first-ever Broadway production of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama A Soldier's Play as part of its 2019-2020 season. Previews are scheduled to begin at the American Airlines Theatre on December 27, 2019, ahead of an official opening on January 21, 2020.

Tony Award winner Kenny Leon will direct the production, which will star three-time Tony Award nominee David Alan Grier (as Sergeant Vernon C. Waters) and two-time Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood (as Captain Richard Davenport).

Synopsis: "1944. A black Sergeant is murdered on a Louisiana Army base, and one tenacious investigator must race against his white leadership to unravel the crime before they unravel him."

The creative team behind A Soldier's Play features scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Allen Lee Hughes, and sound design by Dan Moses Schreier.

A Soldier's Play originally premiered Off-Broadway in 1981 at the Negro Ensemble Company with a cast that included Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington, Larry B. Riley, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Friedman and Charles Brown. It would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, alongside Obie Awards and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for "Best Play". Charles Fuller also adapted A Soldier's Play for the 1981 film "A Soldier's Story," earning Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for "Best Film" and "Best Screenplay."

David Alan Grier assumed the role of Private C.J. Memphis in the Negro Ensemble Company production in the early 1980s and also went on to play Corporal Cobb in the film adaptation. He has earned Tony Award nominations for his performances in The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess in 2012, Race in 2010, and for his Broadway debut in The First in1982. He has also appeared in the 1996 Broadway revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and the 1981 premiere of Dreamgirls, and his many screen credits include "Jumanji," Fox's "In Living Color," and the role of The Cowardly Lion in NBC's "The Wiz Live!"

Blair Underwood previously made his Broadway debut as Stanley Kowalski in the 2012 revival of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. He has earned Golden Globe nominations for "In Treatment" and "L.A. Law" and his most notable screen credits include "Deep Impact," "Gattaca," "Rules of Engagement," "Just Cause," Netflix's "Dear White People," Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," and ABC's "Quantico."

Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

^{(Photos courtesy of Polk & Co.)}