Kenny Leon attends the Broadway opening night afterparty of William Shakespeare's "Othello" at the Tavern on the Green on Sunday, March 23, 2025, in New York. (Photo by CJ Rivera/Invision/AP)
When exiting from the stage door of the Ethel Barrymore Theatre nearly every night, director Kenny Leon cannot help but be reminded of home.
The Broadway venue has become a second home to the Tony winner and three-time Emmy nominee as he serves as director of “Othello,” a limited engagement Shakespeare production starring Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal.
Since opening in February, the play has received mixed reviews but broken box office records for a revival production on Broadway.
And while he’s been thrilled by the positive reception, nothing has made Leon happier than seeing his fellow Peach State residents waiting to greet him outside after a performance.
“Every night, there’s probably 10 people who come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I’m from Atlanta.’ And they’re white, they’re Black, they’re young, they’re old.” Leon notes with a smile. “I see myself as an Atlantan no matter where I do my work.”
Leon says these homebound fans have been with him since he took on the role of artistic director at the Alliance Theatre in 1988. They followed him as he co-founded True Colors Theatre Company in 2002. They were his audience as he accepted his first Tony Award at Radio City Music Hall in 2014.
“I saw [myself] accepting on behalf of all of the people that call me family – and those are all the citizens of Atlanta.”
In this June 8, 2014 file photo, Kenny Leon receives the award for best direction of a play for “A Raisin in the Sun” on stage at the 68th annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
While speaking with Leon, one can see many qualities typically attributed to Atlanta residents. Certain words conjure a slight but noticeable Southern twang. And a smile crosses his face when describing the “Black mecca” that he’s seen for years, which some around the country are just seeming to become familiar with.
A self-proclaimed “country boy” from Talaheese, Florida, Leon has lived in Atlanta for over 40 years. He first came to the city in the mid-1970s as a student at Clark Atlanta University (then Clark College), graduating with a degree in political science in 1979. After a brief stint in law school in Los Angeles, he quickly returned to Atlanta, where he saw himself develop both as an artist and as a man.
“It’s a play that explores so many things – life, death, love, war … it has tremendous depth and it shows us, if we’re not careful, what can happen when we forget that love is the way to go.”
“I think that I grew up in Atlanta – socially, culturally, racially, politically,” he said. “I grew up in a city where I attended Cascade United Methodist Church with the great Joseph Lowery … I grew up around people like Yolanda King, the oldest daughter of Dr King. It’s the city where John Lewis became my friend.”
Leon began his theater career as an actor, appearing in regional productions and locally filmed network television programs such as “In the Heat of the Night” and “I’ll Fly Away.” However, he soon realized that while he was “capable” as an actor, his true joy came from directing.
“I can [act], I can do many things, but to discover what your passion is, your gift to the world, a way to give back to the world — when you discover what that is, and figure out how to get paid for it, that’s the greatest joy in life.”
His love for the director’s chair only continued to thrive when he became senior artistic director at the Alliance in 1990, an experience that he says helped develop his unique process as a director.
“I want to change the name of ‘rehearsal’ and not call it rehearsal anymore. I want to call it ‘discoveries,'” the director said.
“I’m always in pursuit of greatness, and I think there needs to be a lot of great people in order for one person to be great. So I always try to surround myself with designers who have a potential to be great. Actors who have a potential to be great. Associate directors, choreographers … I’ve always been that way.”
And when looking at his decades-long resume, Leon has certainly never had issues attracting “great” creative talents to play in his sandbox.
Christopher Demos-Brown, left, Steven Pasquale, Kerry Washington, Eugene Lee, Jeremy Jordan and Kenny Leon attend the “American Son” Broadway cast press meet and greet at New 42nd Street Studios on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
His forays into television, film and stage have allowed him to work with music icons such as Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson (“Hairspray Live”) to screen veterans such as Samuel L. Jackson (“The Mountaintop”), Kerry Washington (“American Son”) and Denzel Washington, whom Leon had previously worked with on the critically acclaimed Broadway productions of “Raisin in the Sun” and “Fences.”
The director had just wrapped Shakespeare in the Park’s 2023 production of “Hamlet” when he received a phone call from the entertainment icon.
“I see myself as an Atlantan no matter where I do my work.”
“When Denzel called and said, ‘Hey, I’m free in 2025, what do you want to do?,’ immediately Othello popped into mind,” Leon said.
The classic play, which is co-produced by fellow Atlanta residents and entertainment icons Kandi Burruss and DeVale and Kadeen Ellis, is Leon’s 18th venture as the director of a Broadway play, a fact that he states with a surprising matter-of-factness.
“I say that with a lot of humility, because I think there should be more Black directors on Broadway,” he notes. “I think the [success of the production] will go a long way.”
Originally penned by Shakespeare in the 1600s, the play centers upon the character of Othello (Washington), a commanding warrior-general of Venice who is manipulated by his ambitious lieutenant Iago (Gyllenhall) into believing that his wife Desdemona (Molly Osborne) is having an affair.
The production, which Leon described as “watching a master class,” continues to sell out performances nearly a month before its limited engagement run ends on June 8. Aside from the marque names of its stars driving ticket sales, the theater veteran believes that Shakespeare’s words resonate powerfully with audiences now more than ever.
“The play was speaking a lot about the effects and impacts of misinformation, and I think we are dealing with a lot of that in our lives today,” he said. “It’s a play that explores so many things – life, death, love, war … it has tremendous depth and it shows us, if we’re not careful, what can happen when we forget that love is the way to go, and that we have to protect love in any way that we can.”
And with roughly half a century of professional theater experience under his belt, the production is still helping Leon to grow.
“I learned that the things that are the most challenging, most difficult, can also be the most rewarding,” he says, reflecting on the show’s success.
“Othello” didn’t receive any Tony nominations, but Leon will head back to the awards show in June as a producing nominee for the 2024 revival of “Our Town.” His next Broadway project has yet to be announced.
However, he can guarantee that his next project, along with each succeeding one he does in his career, will continue to have a piece of Atlanta sprinkled into it.
“When I see these people, I know that they were there in the beginning,” he reflects. “They helped me become the artist that I am today, and so I take them wherever I go.”
