[NEohioPAL] ‘The Actor’s Rap’ Comes to The College of Wooster May 2

[Ansley Valentine]

‘The Actor’s Rap’ Comes to The College of Wooster May 2
Comedy about actors-turned-rappers to be presented in Room 308 of Kauke
Hall

	WOOSTER, Ohio —The Wooster Black Arts Festival will present a
staged reading of J Kyle Manzay’s new comedy, “The Actor’s Rap,” on
Friday, May 2, at The College of Wooster. The performance, which is free
and open to the public, begins at 8 p.m. in Room 308 of Kauke Hall (400
E. University St.). A reception will follow the reading. Manzay will
also participate in a roundtable discussion about playwriting and acting
in the pit of Lowry Center (1189 Beall Ave.) at 2 p.m.

The play, which has been optioned for a commercial Broadway production,
centers on a group of actors who kidnap today’s hottest rapper in
retaliation for the spate of rappers-turned-actors who regularly steal
their roles. The reading will be directed by Sydney Chatman, a
Chicago-based director, who will be on campus to work with a cast of
student actors that week.

“The Actor’s Rap” has received favorable reviews from critics and other
actors. Wendell Pierce of HBO’s “The Wire” said it was “the funniest
play I’ve seen in years. I couldn’t stop laughing.” Tracie Thoms of
CBS’s “Cold Case” called it “deliciously smart, thought-provoking,
and wickedly hysterical.” Amsterdam News described it as “a very
entertaining night,” while Variety said simply, “The comedy works.”

Manzay is an accomplished stage and film actor, as well as a writer and
producer. He has acted in 40 plays with starring roles in 30, including
the title role in the Classical Theatre of Harlem’s production of
“Hamlet” and the role of vagabond Estragon in “Waiting for Godot,”
which was staged outdoors in the hurricane-ravaged Lower Ninth Ward in
New Orleans. His recent film roles include the drug-dealing brother of
Denzel Washington in “American Gangster” and a karate instructor
opposite “Sex in the City’s” Cynthia Nixon and rising child star Josh
Hutcherson in the romantic comedy “Little Manhattan.” He also starred in
the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s update of
Franz Joseph Haydn’s “The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross.” 

A native of Dallas, Manzay earned a B.F.A in theater from Howard
University, and an M.F.A in acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
His honors include the prestigious Village Voice Obie Award for
Outstanding Performance in a Play for his role as Village in the
Off-Broadway hit “The Blacks: A Clown Show.” He has also been nominated
for three AUDELCO awards, presented by The New York Audience Development
Committee, Inc. , a New York organization seeking to promote arts in the
African-American community. In addition, he is a founding member of the
Soul Rep Theatre Company and a member of the Classical Theatre of Harlem
Acting Company.

Additional information about the reading is available by phone
(330-263-2028) or e-mail (avalentine at wooster.edu).




Ansley Valentine
Associate Professor
Co-Vice Chair, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region
III
College of Wooster Film Studies Program Chair

The College of Wooster
Department of Theatre & Dance
1189 Beall Avenue
Wooster, OH 44691
330-263-2028 Office
330-347-1519 Cell Phone
330-263-2690 Fax