Following an experienced Black stage actress through rehearsals of a major Broadway production, Alice Childress's wry and moving look at racism, identity, and ego in the world of New York theatre opened to acclaim off-Broadway in 1955. At the forefront of both the Civil Rights and feminist movements, the prescient Trouble in Mind was announced to move to Broadway in 1957...in a production that never came to be.
For sheer crackling timeliness, the play most of the moment is in fact the oldest: Alice Childress's 'Trouble in Mind,' which opened on Thursday at the American Airlines Theater. Originally produced in 1955 in Greenwich Village, but derailed on its path to becoming the first play by a Black woman to reach Broadway - a distinction that went to Lorraine Hansberry's 'A Raisin in the Sun' four years later - it is only now getting the mainstream attention it deserves, in a Roundabout Theater Company production that does justice to its complexity.
Trouble in Mind puts its main spotlight on LaChanze, who holds the whole play firmly in hand. She is this production's other revelation: Although she has played serious roles in musicals over the course of her 35-year career, this is the first time she has had the lead in a Broadway play. 'I want to be an actress,' says Wiletta. 'Hell, I'm gonna be one, you hear me?' An actress LaChanze proves herself to be, and not just when she's singing, and a hell of a good one at that.
2021 | Broadway |
Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Chuck Cooper |
2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Trouble in Mind |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Awards | LaChanze |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Trouble In Mind |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | LaChanze |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical) | Emilio Sosa |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Chuck Cooper |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Trouble in Mind |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Emilio Sosa |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Chuck Cooper |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | LaChanze |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Trouble in Mind |
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