Audra McDonald to return to Broadway in Adrienne Kennedy's 'Ohio State Murders'

Directed by Kenny Leon, the play will mark Adrienne Kennedy's Broadway debut as a playwright.

Adrienne Kennedy's 1992 play Ohio State Murders will debut on Broadway, starring six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald. Performance dates, a venue, and additional casting for the production have yet to be announced.

McDonald will play Suzanne Alexander, a fictional Black writer who in some ways reflects the playwright herself. Alexander returns to Ohio State University to discuss the violence she includes in her writing, and a sinister mystery unravels. Kennedy's work is a look at the destructive force of racism in America, an antagonist in itself in Ohio State Murders.

McDonald was last seen on Broadway as Frankie in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune in 2019, for which she received a Tony nomination. Her Broadway resume includes Tony-winning performances in Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, among many other credits. She has also received two Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, and a National Medal of Arts.

In addition, Ohio State Murders marks the Broadway debut of Kennedy at age 90. In her 65-year career, Kennedy has penned the Obie-Award winning plays Funnyhouse of a Negro, June and Jean in Concert, and Sleep Deprivation Chamber among many other works. Her other accolades as a playwright include a Guggenheim Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a 2018 induction into the Theater Hall of Fame.

Kenny Leon, who most recently directed the Tony Award-winning revival of A Soldier's Play in 2019, will direct Ohio State Murders. Additional creative team members are to be announced in the coming months.

Check back for information on tickets to Ohio State Murders on New York Theatre Guide.

^{Photo credit: Allison Michael Orenstein}