Kenny Leon Bio - Biography

Name Kenny Leon
Height
Naionality African-American
Date of Birth 10-February-1956
Place of Birth Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Famous for Acting
Kenny Leon is an African-American director notable for his work on Broadway and in regional theater. His success on Broadway has made him one of its foremost African-American directors.

He gained prominence in 1988 when he became one of the few African Americans to head a notable nonprofit theater company as the artistic director of Atlanta's Alliance Theatre Company. During Leon's tenure, the company staged premieres of Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky, Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and Elton John and Tim Rice's musical Aida, which went on to Broadway. The Alliance's endowment also rose from $1 to $5 million during his time there.

In November 2010, Leon directed Phylicia Rashād in the world premiere stage play Every Tongue Confess written by Marcus Gardley, running at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Leon has also directed plays at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Huntington Theater Company in Boston, the New York Shakespeare Festival, and the Goodman Theater in Chicago among many others. Leon was originally going to direct the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with an all-African American cast. However, he resigned from the production. As of January 2012 he is filming for Lifetime Television's upcoming remake of Steel Magnolias. Other projects include a staged adaptation of the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner; and a musical inspired by the work of rapper Tupac Shakur.

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