Kenny Leon Directing Broadway Revival of Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town’
By Brent Lang for Variety
Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon will bring Grover’s Corners back to Broadway. The acclaimed director of “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch,” will tackle Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.” The show is scheduled to open in the fall of 2024.
This will be the first major Broadway revival of the classic play in more than 20 years, the last being a 2002 production that featured Paul Newman. The dates of the new revival, along with the cast and theatre, will be announced at a later date.
Leon is one of the most successful and acclaimed directors working in theater. His productions include “Suzan Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog,” which won the Tony Award for best revival last season, as well as “Ohio State Murders” by Adrienne Kennedy, “A Soldier’s Play,” “Fences” and “American Son.” In the spring of 2024, he will direct a Broadway production of “Home” by Samm-Art Williams, which will be presented by Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre.
In case you failed to pay attention in high school lit classes, “Our Town” tracks the relationship between two neighbors, George Gibbs and Emily Webb, whose childhood friendship grows until they end up marrying as adults. From there the play becomes a meditation on love and death. Few eyes are dry by the time the curtain falls.
“Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town’ in my mind stands at the top of the Mount Rushmore of great American Theatre,” said Leon. “I feel blessed and fortunate to have gained the trust of The Wilder estate to present this classic to another generation of theatre lovers. It’s long been a burning desire to collaborate on a Broadway production of such magnitude that speaks so beautifully and intimately to all people about our shared time on the planet.”
Speaking for the Wilder family, the playwright’s nephew and literary executor, Tappan Wilder said: “The Wilders are thrilled beyond measure that the distinguished director Kenny Leon has agreed to direct ‘Our Town’ on Broadway. The stars are truly aligned for Grover’s Corners, the play about everywhere.”