Power Play castmember Roscoe Orman, Anthony Chisholm, Amari Cheatom, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Barry Shabaka Henley, Harvy Blanks, Ray Anthony Thomas, J. Bernard Calloway and Joaquina Kalukango are featured in a reading of August Wilson’s Jitney, part of the August Wilson American Century Cycle Recording Series, at The Greene Space in New York tonight. Ruben Santiago- Hudson directs. The event is sold out but you can live stream the webcast here.

Through the support of Signature Sponsor Lincoln Motor Company and other funders, the plays are being presented in the order they originally premiered at The Greene Space, an intimate performance space and broadcast studio in Downtown Manhattan, in front of live studio audiences. The Green Space is located at 44 Charlton Street (corner of Varick Street) in New York.

The August Wilson American Century Cycle recording series has assembled an artistic team composed almost entirely of “Wilson Warriors,” directors and actors who have worked on an August Wilson production previously — including some who worked with Wilson personally — to participate in this unprecedented project. The recordings will preserve the musicality and style of African American cultural expression that Wilson so eloquently captured.

About the plays
Wilson’s 10-play cycle chronicles the African American experience in the 20th century with each play set in a different decade. The cycle begins in the early 1900s, when wounds from slavery and the Civil War were still fresh, and closes in the 1990s, when even a large and increasingly influential black middle class would not escape persistent racial tensions. Two of the plays, Fences and The Piano Lesson, were recognized with Pulitzer Prizes.

Jitney
Sept. 16 at 7 PM
“Jitney is set in a worn-down gypsy cab station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in early autumn 1977. It tells the story of men hustling to make a living as jitneys, unofficial and unlicensed taxi cabs.”

CAST LIST:

YOUNGBLOOD…………Amari Cheatom

TURNBO……………….Stephen McKinley Henderson

FIELDING……………..Anthony Chisholm

DOUB………………….Barry Shabaka Henley

SHEALY……………….Harvy Blanks

PHILMORE…………….Ray Anthony Thomas

BECKER……………….Roscoe Orman

BOOSTER…………….J. Bernard Calloway

RENA…………………Joaquina Kalukango

New York Public Radio is New York’s premier public radio franchise, comprising WNYC, WQXR, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, and New Jersey Public Radio, as well as http://www.wnyc.org, http://www.wqxr.org, http://www.thegreenespace.org and http://www.njpublicradio.org. As America’s most listened-to AM/FM news and talk public radio stations, reaching 1.1 million listeners every week, WNYC extends New York City’s cultural riches to the entire country on-air and online, and presents the best national offerings from networks National Public Radio, Public Radio International, American Public Media, and the British Broadcasting Company. WQXR is New York City’s sole 24-hour classical music station, presenting new and landmark classical recordings as well as live concerts from the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, among other New York City venues, immersing listeners in the city’s rich musical life. In addition to its audio content, WNYC and WQXR produce content for live, radio and web audiences from The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, the station’s street-level multipurpose, multiplatform broadcast studio and performance space. New Jersey Public Radio extends WNYC reach and service more deeply into New Jersey. For more information about New York Public Radio, visit http://www.nypublicradio.org.

Photos: Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Phylicia Rashad, John Earl Jelks, Leslie Uggams, Anthony Chisholm, S. Epatha Merkerson, Taraji P. Henson, Jesse L. Martin, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Kenny Leon and More Set for August Wilson American Century Cycle Recording Series at The Greene Space in NY, Aug. 26-Sept. 28, 2013
Photos: All-Access Pass to August Wilson’s Two Trains Running with John Earl Jelks, Harvy Blanks, Chuck Cooper, Anthony Chisholm, Owiso Odera, Roslyn Ruff and James A. Williams