Casting is finalized for the upcoming Broadway premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ “Purpose.” The previously announced play will begin previews on Feb. 25, 2025 ahead of a newly announced March 17 opening-night date at the Hayes Theater. The Phylicia Rashad-helmed production is scheduled for a limited engagement through July 6, 2025.
Repeating their performances from the play’s 2024 world premiere at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company will be Alana Arenas as Morgan Jasper, Glenn Davis as Solomon “Junior” Jasper, Tony Award nominee Jon Michael Hill as Nazareth “Naz” Jasper and Harry Lennix as Solomon “Sonny” Jasper. New to the company are Tony winner Kara Young as Aziza Houston and Tony nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Claudine Jasper. Casting is by JC Clementz and Calleri Jensen Davis.
Young won the 2024 Featured Actress in a Play Tony Award for her turn in the 2023 revival of “Purlie Victorious.” She is the only individual to earn three consecutive nominations in this particular category, having previously been nominated in 2023 for “Cost of Living” and in 2022 for “Clyde’s.”
Jackson received a 2014 Leading Actress in a Play nomination for her turn in “A Raisin in the Sun.” She received a second Tony nomination for co-producing the aforementioned “Purlie Victorious”
“Purpose” will mark the Broadway debut of Aranas, who has been a Steppenwolf ensemble member since 2007.
Davis is a co-artistic director of Steppenwolf. He made his Main Stem debut in 2011’s “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.”
Hill earned a 2010 Tony nomination for his featured turn in “Superior Donuts,” which began at Steppenwolf. A longtime ensemble member of that troupe, Hill most recently appeared on Broadway in “Pass Over.”
Lennix made his Broadway debut in 2007’s “Radio Golf.” He is known for his starring role on the NBC drama “The Blacklist” and his turn in the DC extended universe films “Man of Steel,” “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Zack Snyder's Justice League.”
“Purpose” follows the Jasper family, known in their Illinois community as a pillar of Black American politics. When youngest son Nazareth returns home with an uninvited friend, the family is forced to reckon with its own faith and legacy within the community.
Tiffany Robinson will serve as the production’s stage manager, while 321 Theatrical Management will provide general management.
While “Purpose” is being housed at a venue owned by the nonprofit Second Stage Theater, the play is being produced by David Stone, Debra Martin Chase, Marc Platt, LaChanze, Rashad Chambers, Aaron Glick and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
