Get a first look at Leslie Odom Jr.'s return to Broadway in “Purlie Victorious”
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Leslie Odom Jr. considers Purlie Victorious to be an essential part of the American theater canon, and yet it hasn't been seen on Broadway since the original production closed in 1962.
Now he's bringing the show back to the New York stage alongside director Kenny Leon and a stellar ensemble — and EW has an exclusive first look at them in action.
It's fitting that Odom, 42, would be the one to return Ossie Davis' satirical play to the Great White Way, as it's been a minute since Odom himself has been seen there. After winning the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical in 2016 for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in Hamilton, he's nabbed starry turns in film and television projects while waiting for the right stage production to come along.
Marc J. Franklin Leslie Odom Jr. in 'Purlie Victorious'
"It is just a feeling that I'm looking for," Odom tells EW. "If a piece stirs something inside of me, I can move forward with the faith, with the hope that it'll stir something similar in folks who give it a chance and buy a ticket and come check it out."
Purlie Victorious, he says, "makes me feel the way [Lin-Manuel Miranda's] piece made me feel. I'm moved by the joy, the intellect, and the patriotism they're both writing about. They're both writing about the gorgeous idea of America and the ideals of this country in a way that's very moving to me."
Opening Sept. 27 at the Music Box Theatre and now in previews, the show follows traveling preacher Purlie Victorious Judson (Odom) as he returns to his small Georgia town with the goal of saving the community's church, Big Bethel. He also seeks to emancipate the cotton pickers working on Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee's (Jay O. Sanders) plantation. Purlie recruits Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins (Kara Young) to help him in his schemes and his attempts to secure an overdue inheritance from Cotchipee.
Marc J. Franklin Leslie Odom Jr. and Kara Young in 'Purlie Victorious'
Odom is following in the footsteps of playwright Davis, who also starred as Purlie in the original production alongside his wife, Ruby Dee, as Lutiebelle.
"All I can do is follow the feeling in my gut, the feeling in my belly that these pieces create, and this piece makes me feel the same way that Lin-Manuel's gorgeous and literate pages made me feel," Odom says. "I opened up this play from 1962, and it stirs up those same things in me. So my prayer, my wish is that people find their way to this in the same way, and it connects to them in the same way."
Check out more exclusive photos below.
Marc J. Franklin Kara Young, Heather Alicia Simms, Leslie Odom Jr., Vanessa Bell Calloway, Billy Eugene Jones, and Noah Robbins in 'Purlie Victorious'
Marc J. Franklin Billy Eugene Jones, Jay O. Sanders, Kara Young, and Leslie Odom Jr. in 'Purlie Victorious'
Marc J. Franklin Kara Young and Heather Alicia Simms in 'Purlie Victorious'
Marc J. Franklin Noah Robbins and Vanessa Bell Calloway in 'Purlie Victorious'
Marc J. Franklin The cast of 'Purlie Victorious'
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