Countdown to the West Coast Premiere of ‘Fat Ham’ At the Geffen Playhouse

*The cast is gearing up for the Geffen Playhouse’s West Coast premiere of the Broadway production of five-time Tony Award nominee and 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner Fat Ham, written by James Ijames (Kill Move Paradise, The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington).

The Geffen Playhouse West Coast premiere of Saheem Ali’s (Merry Wives, Goddess) Broadway production of Fat Ham will be directed by Sideeq Heard (The Hot Wing King, A Curious Thing), who also served as associate director for the Broadway production.

The cast of Fat Ham includes Nikki Crawford (The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, Stormy Weather) as Tedra; Chris Herbie Holland (White Noise, The Box) as Tio; Billy Eugene Jones (Purlie Victorious, A Soldier’s Play) as Rev/Pap; Adrianna Mitchell (Snowfall, What to Send Up When It Goes Down) as Opal; Marcel Spears (The Neighborhood, The Mayor) as Juicy; Benja Kay Thomas (Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, Bootycandy) as Rabby; and Matthew Elijah Webb (YELL: a “documentary” of my time here, A Raisin in the Sun) as Larry.

Previews for Fat Ham begin Wednesday, March 27, 2024, in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse at 10886 Leconte Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90024. Opening night is Thursday, April 4, 2024.

Meet Juicy, a young, queer Black man with a Shakespearean-sized dilemma. When the ghost of his dead father shows up at his family’s BBQ wedding reception demanding his murder be avenged, does the poetic and sensitive Juicy have it in him to do the deed, or “to thine own self” will he be true? See what the New York Times calls “a hilarious yet profound tragedy smothered in comedy,” in this Pulitzer Prize–winning take on Hamlet, direct from Broadway to L.A.

Fat Ham is produced in association with No Guarantees, Public Theater Productions & Rashad V. Chambers. Fat Ham first premiered in 2022 at The Public Theater as a co-production between National Black Theatre and The Public Theater. Fat Ham made its Broadway premiere in April of 2023.

The current performance schedule is as follows.  Fat Ham general show previews March 27, 2024 – April 3, 2024.  Opening Night is April 4, 2024.  Closing Night is April 28, 2024.  There are no performances on Mondays and Tuesdays.  Wednesday – Friday showtimes are 8:00 p.m. Saturdays at 3:00 and 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m. For tickets and information go to www.geffenplayhouse.org.

A special Black Partners Appreciation Night will be held an April 2nd, 2024 where proceeds will benefit local black businesses and select community-based organizations.

All Geffen Playhouse productions are intended for an adult audience; children under ten years of age will not be admitted.  Rush tickets for each day’s performance are made available to the general public one hour before showtime at the box office. $35.00 General/$15.00 Student.

The production sponsor of Fat Ham is City National Bank. Opening night sponsors are STK | The ONE Group, W Los Angeles – West Beverly Hills.  The opening night hospitality sponsor is Uncle Nearest.

ABOUT GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and second productions, the not-for-profit organization continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company was founded by Gilbert Cates and is currently helmed by Executive Director/CEO Gil Cates, Jr., Artistic Director Tarell Alvin McCraney and Board Chair Adi Greenberg. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains extensive education and community engagement programs, designed to involve underserved young people and the community at large in the arts. www.geffenplayhouse.org

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