'West Wing' star Dulé Hill will play Nat 'King' Cole in People's Light production
Dulé Hill, of "The West Wing," "Psych," and much else, is coming! He's coming to Malvern, where he'll star as Nat "King" Cole in the world premiere of "Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole." It opens People's Light's 2017-2018 season and runs Oct. 11 through Dec. 3.
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Dulé is coming!
Dulé Hill, that is, he of The West Wing, Psych, and much else.
He's coming to Malvern, where he'll star in the world premiere of Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole by Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor, which opens People's Light's 2017-2018 season and runs Oct. 11 through Dec. 3. Hill will play Cole, with Broadway guy Daniel J. Watts (he's done time in Hamilton and Motown the Musical) playing Sammy Davis, Jr. They, the playwrights, and a stellar cast were in New York two weekends ago for a workshop overseen by People's Light producing director Zak Berkman.
Nat "King" Cole was one of the most famous performers in the world when NBC inked him to host The Nat King Cole Show, one of the first such shows to be hosted by an African American. But it ran only from 1956 to 1957 because no national sponsor could be found. The play begins at that very moment, when Cole faces his final Christmastime broadcast. Cole was usually reticent about race-tinged public remarks, but in that case, he famously declared that "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark." His friend Sammy Davis Jr. has advised him to "go out with a bang."
Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole features Cole hits such as "Nature Boy," "It's A Good Day," and "Unforgettable" – and appearances by Eartha Kitt and Peggy Lee.
Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole. Oct. 11-Dec.3, Steinbright Stage, People's Light, Conestoga Road, Malvern. Tickets: $29-$52. Information: 610-644-3500, peopleslight.org