Detroit Public Theatre returns to live performance after 19 months with a bold, relevant, thrilling portrait of a true American hero and the pursuit of a more perfect union. THURGOOD guides us through Justice Thurgood Marshall’s life—from his childhood in Baltimore, where he learned to debate and reason from his father; to his central role in the civil rights movement as a lawyer for the NAACP, arguing and winning groundbreaking cases including his historic victory in Brown v. Board of Education; to his ultimate appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States. This tour de force solo performance comes on the heels of the 54th anniversary of Thurgood Marshall’s confirmation by the US Senate as the first African American Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States.
THURGOOD
Opening Night: September 24, 2021 Closing: October 10, 2021
‘Betsy’ LaQuanda Ross knows a lot about the New York State Penitentiary system.
Meet The Cast
Brian Marable
Justice Thurgood Marshall
Detroit Public Theatre: Detroit ‘67, Skeleton Crew, Pipeline; Baltimore Center Stage: Detroit ‘67; The Old Globe and People’s Light Theater: Skeleton Crew; Performance Network: The Mountaintop (Martin Luther King, Jr.), The Piano Lesson (Boy Willie); Purple Rose Theatre Company: Superior Donuts (Franco). Film/ TV—Have a Little Faith (Hallmark Movie), The Citizen (2012, Monterey Media), Low Winter Sun (AMC), Standing in the Shadows of Motown (James Jamerson). Education— Howard University, Wayne State University.
Meet The Creative Team
George Stevens Jr.
Playwright
George Stevens, Jr. is a writer, director, producer, and founder of the American Film Institute. He has received fifteen Emmys, two Peabody Awards, the Humanitas Prize, and eight Writers Guild Awards for his productions, including the annual Kennedy Center Honors, Separate but Equal, The Murder of Mary Phagan, and We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. His production The Thin Red Line was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In 2009 President Obama named him co-chairman of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Stevens started out working with his father, George Stevens, on Shane, Giant, and The Diary of Anne Frank and in 1962 was named head of the United States Information Agency’s motion picture division by Edward R. Murrow. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Steve H. Broadnax III
Director
Regional and Tour— Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival: The Hip Hop Project, an award-winning, full-length original play directed, choreographed, and conceived by Steve.
Writing credits include — American Taboo, Smash/Hit, Hard To Say I Love You, Sex Love, And Everything In Between.
Directing credits include — Classical Theatre of Harlem, National Black Theatre, The Black Theatre Troupe, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Moore Theatre, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, National Arts Festival (South Africa).
Acting credits include — Arkansas Repertory: Dreamgirls; R.L. at the Crossroads; Pennsylvania Centre Stage; St. Louis Black Rep; St. Louis Repertory Theatre; St. Louis Muny; Lincoln Amphitheatre; Westport Playhouse; Ozark Actors Theatre.
Professional — Associate Professor of Theatre Head Graduate Acting at Penn State University.
Education — MFA in Acting from Penn State, BFA in Musical Theatre from Webster University in St. Louis.
Efren Delgadillo Jr
Scenic Design
New York: The Three Musketeers (The Acting Company); Mycenaean (BAM,Brooklyn Academy of Music). Notable Regional Theatre: American Mariachi (South Coast Rep., Arizona Theatre Company); Romeo and Juliet (Oregon Shakespeare Company); BLKS (Woolly Mammoth); Bordertown Now (Pasadena Playhouse); Smart People, Indecent (Denver Center for the Performing Arts); Othello (Hartford Stage); Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles (The Getty Villa/Boston Court); Prometheus Bound (The Getty Villa/Center for New Performance).
MFA: California Institute of the Arts. BFA in Studio Arts from University of California, Irvine. Efren is an Assistant Professor of Scenic Design at UC Irvine. www.efrendelgadillojr.com.
Erin Barnett
Costume Design
Regional: Footloose, The Robber Bridegroom, A Charlie Brown Christmas (Jenny Wiley Theatre); The Gondoliers (GLOW Lyric Theatre). Educational: Little Women, Bonnets: (How Ladies of Good Breeding Are Induced to Murder), The Servant of Two Masters, By the Bog of Cats, Only Child (World Premiere). MFA: Indiana University. BA: Furman University. www.erin-barnett.com.
Annie Garrett-Larsen
Lighting Design
Regional: The Seagull (Cleveland Play House/CWRU); Hi, Are You Single? (Cleveland Play House/New Ground Theatre Festival). New York: Virgin (Ars Nova); Shared Evening of Dance (HERE Arts Center); Quilt, a Musical Celebration (Judson Memorial Church); The Séance Machine (The Tank), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Spring Awakening, Assassins (The Secret Theater); Cabaret (Gallery Players). BA: Bard College. www.anniegarrett-larsen.com.
Meghan Roche
Sound Design
Regional: CAUGHT, Bootycandy (Intiman Theatre); Richard III, Pericles, Twelfth Night, House of Sueños (Seattle Shakespeare Company); 63 Trillion (Sandbox Radio); Dry Land (Seattle Public Theatre); Pageant (ACTLab); Happy, Happy, Happy (Macha Theatre Works); Sex with Strangers (ReACT Theatre); The Twilight Zone: Live! (Theater Schmeater); 3 Americans: Voices of Hope (West of Lenin); Twelfth Night, The Importance of Being Earnest (Twisp Merc Theatre). Educational: Living Out (UC Irvine); Snow Angel, Radio Play Disaster (South Coast Rep. Conservatory); Picnic, House of Sueños, 12 Ophelias: A Play with Broken Songs (Seattle University). MFA Candidate: UC Irvine. BA: Seattle University.
Omkar Girish Purandare
Projection Design
Film: America 2AM, Black Joy, 2020 Vision (People’s Light); Suna Ansuna Sessions, Delta Sleep – US Tour 2018, TV Dinners – “Train Going Nowhere II” (YouTube). India: Parlour, or it all started with hair (World Premiere), Coming Out (World Premiere). Educational: #Heretoo (World Premiere). BS: Pennsylvania State University. omkarpurandare.com.
Katherine Nelson
Production Stage Manager
Katherine has been stage managing with Detroit Public Theatre since its inaugural season, with highlights including the coproduction of Detroit ’67 with Baltimore Center Stage and the world premiere of Birthday Candles. They have also stage managed with the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts and Chautauqua Theater Company. Additionally, Katherine is a costume designer. Recent Off-Broadway design at The New Victory Theatre (Riddle of the Trilobites). In addition to design credits with Detroit Public Theatre, regional designs include shows with Purple Rose Theatre Company, Flint Youth Theatre, Flint Repertory Theatre (Wilde Award nomination: Best Costume Design, Riddle of the Trilobites), Tipping Point Theatre, Williamston Theatre, and the Wharton Center. They are a graduate of the Purple Rose Theatre Company apprenticeship program. Katherine is a proud member and National Councilor of Actors’ Equity Association. www.knelsondesigns.com.
