Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Lee Daniels, Jesse Williams to Speak at Variety’s Business of Broadway Breakfast

William Earl
·2 min read
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Variety has announced the lineup for its annual Business of Broadway breakfast presented by City National Bank in New York on Oct. 17. Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson will join the event for a keynote conversation about their collaboration on the revival of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” currently playing on Broadway.

The programming will also include a Broadway producers panel moderated by Erik Piecuch, senior vice president and entertainment banking leader of City National Bank. The panel will feature Lee Daniels (“Ain’t No Mo’”), Cindy Tolan (“Death of a Salesman”), LaChanze (“Kimberly Akimbo” and “Topdog/Underdog”) and Ken Davenport (“A Beautiful Noise”). The producers will speak about their experiences premiering new productions on Broadway this season and how the business has changed since Broadway’s return.

Variety will also feature a creatives panel with actors and playwrights exploring how to keep a show fresh after multiple performances, the rehearsal process ahead of launching a production and what makes Broadway different from any other medium in the industry. The speakers include Jordan E. Cooper (“Ain’t No Mo’”), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Take Me Out”) and Jesse Williams (“Take Me Out”).

“Variety’s roots are in Broadway, beginning as a weekly publication in New York in 1905 reporting on theater and vaudeville,” said Dea Lawrence, Variety chief operating and marketing officer. “We coined ‘legit’ so it is only fitting that we continue the conversation pertinent to the business of Broadway.”

“Broadway was upended by the pandemic and is now flourishing with new stories, talent and increasing audience numbers,” Piecuch said. “City National has banked dozens of Broadway shows over the years and is proud to sponsor Variety’s Business of Broadway Breakfast again this year.”

The invite-only breakfast is timed to Variety’s New York issue, publishing Oct. 12. Producers, stars and those profiled in the issue are invited to celebrate Broadway with a morning of conversations featuring some of the biggest names in the industry.

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