MR. BROADWAY 2011: Douglas Carter Beane
MS. BROADWAY 2011: Lydia R. Diamond,
Katori Hall and Suzan-Lori Parks
DOUGLAS CARTER BEANE:
Work of his you might have seen before 2011: Film: To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar; Stage: As Bees in Honey Drown, The Little Dog Laughed (Tony nomination - Best Play), Xanadu (Tony nomination - Best Book of a Musical)
Works of his that brought him to the top in 2011: Sister Act (Tony nomination - Best Book of a Musical) and Lysistrata Jones. Nearly everyone - including producer and film star Whoopi Goldberg - loves the improvements he made to the London version of Sister Act, and it is a riot! Funnier still is his original musical Lysistrata Jones, which is silly and smart, campy and sincere, and pretty damned sexy!
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Beane with Kerry Butler, the director of Family Equality Council and Lewis Flinn |
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Beane and Flinn with their children |
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Beane (TOP, CENTER) with the writing team of Sister Act: The Musical |
Sister Act: The Musical
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Lewis Flinn and Douglas Carter Beane at the Broadway opening of Lysistrata Jones |
Lysistrata Jones on Broadway
LYDIA R. DIAMOND:
Works of hers you might have seen before 2011: The Bluest Eye, Stage Black, and The Gift Horse.
Work of hers that took her to the top in 2011: Stick Fly, currently playing an acclaimed run at the Cort Theatre. She and her co-Ms. Broadways represent an important modern voice for African-American women.
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Diamond at the Broadway opening of Stick Fly |
Stick Fly
KATORI HALL
Works of hers that you might have seen before 2011: Remembrance, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, Pussy Valley
Work that put her on top in 2011: The Mountaintop, which is currently having an acclaimed run on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Its limited run ends January 22. She and her co-Ms. Broadways represent an important modern voice for African-American women.
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Katori Hall at the Broadway opening of The Mountaintop |
The Mountaintop
SUZAN-LORI PARKS
Works of hers you might have seen before 2011: Film: Their Eyes Are Watching God, Girl 6, The Great Debaters; Stage: Fucking A, The America Play, In the Blood, Topdog/Underdog (2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama)
Work that put her on top in 2011: The new book for The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. The controversial re-working of the book has made headlines for the show and Ms. Parks. The revival is currently playing at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway.
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Parks with Diane Paules at the A.R.T. opening of Porgy and Bess |
The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
(Photos from opening nights and headshots: Getty Images, Broadway.com; Sister Act & Lysistrata Jones: Joan Marcus; Stick Fly: Richard Termine; The Mountaintop: Joan Marcus; The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess: Michael Lutch, A.R.T)