Tony winner Anika Noni Rose will star in a one-night benefit reading of Quasara, a new one-woman play by Rachel Bland, at Royal Family Productions in Times Square on November 1 at 7pm.
The play is the first to come out of Royal Family’s William and Enid Hairston Artist Fellowship, a new program backing Black women playwrights who write stories of Black joy, imagination and possibility. Bland is the inaugural fellow. Lorna Ventura directs.
Quasara is a one-act piece set in a science-fiction and fantasy universe. Its title character is a superhero past her prime who carries all the power of a black hole inside her. The reading runs about 60 minutes.
Rose won her Tony for Caroline, or Change, voiced Tiana in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog and has been named a Disney Legend. Her more recent stage work includes Uncle Vanya and The Balusters.
According to Playbill, the fellowship was created with Ann Hairston and honors her father, William R. Hairston Jr., an actor, playwright and cultural leader, and tickets are $100 for general admission, $250 for reserved seating and $500 for a VIP meet-and-greet.
The reading takes place in Royal Family’s black box, which holds up to 90, on the third floor of 145 West 46th Street. Tickets are tax-deductible and must be bought in advance from Royal Family Productions.
