There are some legends that we just can’t quit. Some touchstone stories that speak to something ancient and unnamable within us, that continue to inspire us and perplex us. Like a song that is at once familiar and new to our ears, these stories, which have persisted through the rise and fall of civilizations, stick with us; they give structure and meaning to our modern lives, as they did for our ancestors hundreds or thousands of years in the past.
Little is known with much certainty about the short life of Robert Johnson, whose contributions to the advent of the Delta Blues have shaped the music of the twentieth century. Three separate cemeteries in Greenwood, Mississippi have tombstones marking his final resting place. While he traveled extensively throughout the country, playing venues as humble as street corners and juke joints, his influential recording career lasted a mere seven months before his premature death at an early age. This figure, now cloaked in mystery, was undoubtedly real: a man with everyday needs and desires. But his story has become the stuff of legend; his voice and talent on the guitar, some have said, were of an almost supernatural virtuosity.
And that legend, here, provides fruitful inspiration for this play. In Leroy and Lucy, playwright Ngozi Anyanwu drops us at a crossroads in Mississippi, at the stroke of midnight, with two strangers. This setting is immediately familiar; crossroads, and the deities that frequent them, have been at the heart of myths and legends across countries, cultures and faiths for millennia. But Ngozi’s play is not aimed merely to retell a folk tale many might know; it is to reclaim it.
We could not be prouder to accompany Ngozi and director Awoye Timpo on this journey. Steppenwolf began workshopping this play years ago and we’re thrilled that ensemble member Jon Michael Hill has been with the project from the very beginning. The massively talented team behind this world premiere—cast, designers, consultants and musicians—have united to tell this story with passion, power and precision.
As we all know, the Blues has a special place in the cultural history of our city. For decades, titans of the Blues have contributed to the tapestry of Chicago culture, and we owe an unpayable debt to those artistic gifts. But today the Blues lives within all Chicagoans, in the beat of our hearts and in the rhythm of our trains. It is natural, then, that this play, threaded with Blues music, is ultimately a celebration of the potential within each one of us. There are the necessary ingredients for legend within all of us. At the end of our stories, it is up to us, and only us, to unlock this potential: the innate divinity within ourselves.
Audrey Francis and Glenn Davis
Artistic Directors
STEPPENWOLF PRESENTS
LEROY AND LUCY
By Ngozi Anyanwu
Directed by Awoye Timpo‡
FEATURING
Brittany Bradford*, Jon Michael Hill†*
CREATIVE TEAM
Andrew Boyce+ Scenic Design
Yvonne L. Miranda+ Costume Design
Heather Gilbert+ Lighting Design
Connor Wang+ Sound Design
Jeremy Jones Music Director & Composer
Adesola Osakalumi‡ Choreographer & Cultural Consultant
Arminda Thomas Dramaturg
Maya Vinice Prentiss Dialect & Intimacy Consultant
Marie Ramirez Downing Voice Coach
Patrick Zakem Creative Producer
Elise Hausken Production Manager
JC Clementz, CSA Casting
Michelle Medvin* Production Stage Manager
Jaclynn Joslin* Assistant Stage Manager
Leroy and Lucy was developed in part with assistance from The New Harmony Project (www.newharmonyproject.org).
† member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble.
* member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.
+ member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829 of the IATSE.
‡ member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.
This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
CAST
Brittany Bradford* Lucy
Jon Michael Hill†* Leroy
UNDERSTUDIES
Chibuba Bloom Osuala Lucy
Brendan White Leroy
ADDITIONAL STAFF
Matthew Skoller Harmonica Coach
Kachi Mozie Igbo Consultant
Ademola Bello Yoruba Consultant
Sheila Kwake & Christopher Michael Richardson Directing Observers
Trey Brazeal Assistant Lighting Design
Gianni Carcagno Production Assistant
Caroline Michelle Uy Script Supervisor
Rueben Echoles Wig Stylist
Cindy Moon Costume Assistant
Taylor Pfenning Costume Admin Assistant
Nora Dellifield & Dana Nestrick Costume Crafts Artisans
Lindsie Crawford, Kyran Pan, Riley Sullivan Stitchers
Newton Schottelkotte & Jack Warner Audio Technicians
Josh Derby & Billy Earnesse Additional Carpenters
Nicolas Barleson & Lonnae Hickman Additional Properties
Caitlyn Girten, Marcus Klein, Abby West Additional Paint
Leroy and Lucy runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
As a courtesy to the actors and your fellow patrons, please turn off your cell phones before the performance. The taking of photographs and the use of any type of recording device are not allowed in the theater during performances and are a violation of state and federal copyright laws; digital media will be deleted, and tape or film will be confiscated.
Entry and re-entry into the theater after the performance begins is not guaranteed.
The theater reserves the right to limit admission of children younger than the age of six.
Ngozi Anyanwu (Playwright) is a playwright, storyteller, and most recently a 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award winner. Her newest play, Last of the Love Letters, premiered at the Atlantic theater fall 2021. Previous productions include Good Grief (Vineyard Theatre in NYC / Center Theatre Group in LA) and The Homecoming Queen (sold-out world premiere run at the Atlantic Theatre). Good Grief was on the Kilroys List 2016 and a semi finalist for the Princess Grace Award, and won the Humanitas Award. The Homecoming Queen was on the Kilroys List 2017 and was a Leah Ryan Finalist. Her play Nike… (Kilroys List 2017) was workshopped at The New Black Fest in conjunction with The Lark and The Strand Festival in conjunction with A.C.T and Space on Ryder Farm. Ngozi also has commissions with NYU, The Old Globe, Two Rivers Theatre, The Atlantic Theatre and Steppenwolf. Anyanwu has also received residencies from LCT3, Space on Ryder Farm, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, The New Harmony Project, New York Stage and Film and Page 73. She attended Point Park University (BA) and received her MFA in Acting from University of California, San Diego.
Awoye Timpo (Director) is a Brooklyn-based director and producer. Her recent New York credits include Elyria by Deepa Purohit (Atlantic Theater), Wedding Band by Alice Childress (Theatre for a New Audience), In Old Age by Mfoniso Udofia (New York Theatre Workshop), The Loophole by Jay Adana and Zeniba Britt (Public Theater), Carnaval by Nikkole Salter (National Black Theatre), Good Grief by Ngozi Anyanwu (Vineyard Theatre and Audible) and The Homecoming Queen by Ngozi Anyanwu (Atlantic Theater Company). Regionally she has directed The Bluest Eye (Huntington), Pipeline (Studio Theatre), Paradise Blue (Long Wharf), Everybody Black (Actors Theatre of Louisville), School Girls (Berkeley Rep), Jazz (Marin Theatre Company). Other projects include concert performances for independent artists as well as for the NBA, Ndebele Funeral (59E59, Edinburgh, South African Tour), “Black Picture Show” (Artists Space/Metrograph) and Bluebird Memories (Audible). Awoye is a Creative Arts Consultant for the African American Policy Forum and the Founding Producer of CLASSIX, theclassix.org.
Andrew Boyce (Scenic Design) At Steppenwolf: The Thanksgiving Play, No Man’s Land, Bald Sisters. Recent Chicago credits include Layalina (Goodman), All’s Well That Ends Well (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); A Chorus Line (Drury Lane Theater). Regional credits with most major regional theaters across the U.S. Broadway: Dana H. Off-Broadway credits with Lincoln Center Theater, Roundabout Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, New York Theater Workshop, Vineyard, Primary Stages, among others. Opera credits include Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Boston Lyric Opera, Kentucky Opera, Curtis Institute, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Philadelphia Orchestra, among others. Television: Shining Girls (Apple TV); Poker Face (Peacock). MFA: Yale School of Drama. Associate Professor of Design at Northwestern. www.andrewboycedesign.com
Yvonne L. Miranda (Costume Design) is excited to make her debut at Steppenwolf Theatre. A United States Marine Corps war veteran & a nominee of the 2022 Helen Hayes Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Woolly Mammoth Theatre & Baltimore Center Stage’s co-production of Ain’t No Mo and has been named American Theatre’s Role Call People to Watch. Chicago: Primary Trust (Goodman Theatre); Flood (Shattered Globe Theatre); Somewhere Over the Border (Teatro Vista Theatre). Regional: Once on this Island (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Off Broadway: The Knight of the Burning Pestle (Red Bull Theatre + Fiasco Theatre). www.yvonnemirandadesigns.com
Heather Gilbert (Lighting Design) Steppenwolf Theatre Company credits include Little Bear Ridge Road, POTUS, Another Marriage, Bug (Jeff Award), Dance Nation, MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT, Constellations, A Separate Peace, First Look 2013, The Infidel, Pot Mom. Broadway credits include Parade (Tony nomination) and The Sound Inside (Drama Desk Award, Tony nomination). Regional credits include Actor’s Theatre Louisville; The Muny St Louis; Goodman Theatre; Center Theatre Group; Studio Theatre; Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Williamstown Theatre Festival; Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Kansas City Rep; Alley Theatre; American Repertory Theater; Magic Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse. Off Broadway credits include Barrow Street Theatre. International credits include Almeida Theatre in London; Singapore Rep; Encuentro Festival Teatro Buendia, Montreal. Additional credits include NEA/ TCG Career Development Grant and the 3Arts Award; Head of Lighting Design at Columbia College Chicago; M.F.A. The Theatre School at DePaul University.
Connor Wang (Sound Designer) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Debut. Chicago: America V. 2.1 (Definition Theatre); Our Town (Redtwist Theatre). Regional: RUTKA (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park); Once, The Ripple, The Wave That Carried Me Home (KC Rep); Gun & Powder (Paper Mill Playhouse); Evita (A.R.T. & STC); The Hot Wing King (Alliance Theatre); Kim’s Convenience (TheaterSquared). Broadway: How to Dance in Ohio (The Belasco Theatre). Off Broadway: Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares, Sorry For Your Loss, Jason Gotay: Where You’ll Find Me, An Evening with Ali Stroker (Audible/Minetta Lane Theatre). Touring: Daniel Tiger LIVE. International: Disney+ UAE Launch (Dubai Opera). Education: BFA, DePaul University. connorwangdesigns.com
Jeremy Jones (Music Director & Composer) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Leroy and Lucy. Chicago: Slippin Through The Cracks, The Blues Journey of Bobby Rush (Goodman Theatre); Funk and Futurism (Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre). Film: The Zeke Sanders Story (Burbank International Film Festival). Television: Ordinary Joe, Empire. Education: Chicago State University (Music Edu). Jeremy has performed the National Anthem (Chicago Bulls). Uncle J loves you T.J. Go Wildcats.
Adesola Osakalumi (Choreographer & Cultural Consultant) Steppenwolf Theater Company debut: Leroy & Lucy, Skeleton Crew (Broadway MTC); Cullud Wattah, Coal Country, Othello (Public Theater); Syncing Ink (Victoria Theater); runboyrun, Eyewitness Blues (NYTW); Good Grief (Vineyard); Jam on the Groove (City Center Fall For Dance & Minetta Lane Theater); School of Rock (Paramount Pictures). (Actor) Broadway: Skeleton Crew, Fela!, Equus. Off Broadway: runboyrun (NYTW); Syncing Ink (Victoria Theater). TV: Harlem, Endgame, Ice, Blue Bloods. Film: Red Pill, IBRAHIM, Enchanted, Across the Universe, Sex and the City 2. Upcoming: The Grove (Huntington Theater) www.adesola.com
Arminda Thomas (Dramaturg) Regional: Trouble in Mind (Hartford Stage); Wedding Band (Stratford Theatre Festival); Jazz (Marin Theatre Co.). Broadway: The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Death of a Salesman. Off Broadway: Mirrors (Parity Productions); Wedding Band (Theatre for a New Audience); Black History Museum...According to the United States of America (HERE Arts Center); The First Noel (Classical Theatre of Harlem). Resident Dramaturg and producing member of CLASSIX. Resident Dramaturg for New Perspectives Theatre’s On Her Shoulders series. Education: MFA, Columbia School of the Arts
Maya Vinice Prentiss (Dialect & Intimacy Consultant) is an Actor-Combatant, Fight & Intimacy Choreographer, and Dialect Coach. Steppenwolf: Miz Martha, Last Night and the Night Before, POTUS, A Home What Howls. Chicago: Blues for an Alabama Sky (Remy Bumppo); Penelopiad, Clyde’s, How to Catch Creation, School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play (Goodman Theatre); Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, Measure for Measure (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Night Watch (Raven), Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes (Jeff Award, The Story Theatre) Eclipsed (Pegasus Theatre Company); Duchess of Malfi (Babes with Blades); An Octoroon, EthiopianAmerica (Jeff Award), Judy’s Life’s Work, An Educated Guess (Definition Theatre Company). Regional: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (Denver Center for the Performing Arts); School Girls (TheatreSquared); Q Bros Christmas Carol (STL Shakes); As You Like It, Pride and Prejudice (Illinois Shakespeare Festival). Film: Jade. Television: The Chi (Showtime), Donut Boyz (Pilot). Education: BA, Spelman College; MFA, U of I at Urbana-Champaign.
Marie Ramirez Downing (Voice Coach) is making her debut at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. She was the Dialect and Voice Coach for Inherit The Wind (Goodman Theatre) and is a voice coach at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA for their professional actor training intensives. She is an Assistant Professor of Acting, Voice and Speech at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Designated Linklater Voice teacher. Education: MFA, Acting, The Theatre School, DePaul University.
Michelle Medvin (Production Stage Manager) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Sanctuary City, 1919, Choir Boy, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (stage and audio-play versions), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, two versions of The Crucible, August: Osage County, Clybourne Park, Purple Heart (also at Ireland’s Galway Arts Festival), The Pillowman, and many others. Chicago: Northlight Theatre, Drury Lane, Victory Gardens, Chicago Children's Theatre. Regional: Hartford Stage, Dallas Theater Center, Portland Center Stage. Education: Smith College. Michelle has taught stage management at Columbia College Chicago and Governors State University. She is proud to be a member of Actors’ Equity, wife to Mary, and mama to Elliott, Lena, and Sam.
Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Little Bear Ridge Road, Purpose, No Man's Land, Last Night and the Night Before, Bald Sisters, King James, Bug, True West, Familiar, Guards at the Taj, BLKS, The Crucible, Between Riverside and Crazy, The Flick, East of Eden. Chicago: East Texas Hot Links, The Lion in Winter, Arsenic and Old Lace, Two Trains Running, Othello, Oedipus Rex, The Adventures of Augie March, For Colored Girls, Photograph 51, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, All My Sons, Harvey, The Hard Problem, Blues for an Alabama Sky (Court Theatre); Continuity, The King of Hell’s Palace (Goodman Theatre); Hard Times (Lookingglass Theatre); Roz and Ray (Victory Gardens). Regional: Linda Vista (Center Theatre Group); The Outgoing Tide, Oceanside, 13 Things About Ed Carpolotti, Year Zero (Merrimack Repertory Theatre). Touring: Oklahoma!
SPONSORS FOR LEROY AND LUCY
PREMIER PRODUCTION SPONSORS
Conagra Brands Foundation
Zell Family Foundation
INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTION SPONSORS
Andrew Keyt
Mirabell and Tom Lad
OFFICIAL & EXCLUSIVE AIRLINE
United Airlines
VETERANS' NIGHT SPONSOR
Gary Sinise Foundation
Steppenwolf's New Plays initiative is supported by the Zell Family Foundation.
Accessibility Services sponsored by John Hart and Carol Prins.
Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.
This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.