Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater to coproduce a Broadway play by a local playwright

This week, the Wilma Theater announced that it will coproduce the Broadway run of Fat Ham, the Pulitzer-winning work by Philadelphia playwright James Ijames. The theater commissioned the play and premiered it as a filmed production for an online audience in 2021. Ijames is the Wilma’s co-artistic director, with Yury Urnov and Morgan Green.

The play is a comedic retelling of Hamlet with the castle in Denmark swapped for a backyard cookout somewhere in the South. The protagonist is Juicy, a sensitive Black queer man who has to decide what to do after his father’s ghost urges him to kill his uncle.

» READ MORE: How James Ijames envisioned ‘Fat Ham,’ a Black queer retelling of ‘Hamlet’

The Public Theater, which hosted a sold-out run of Fat Ham in New York last year, is transferring the play to Broadway as a coproduction with the National Black Theatre. The show began performances on March 21 and officially opens on April 12 at New York’s American Airlines Theatre for a run through June.

The Wilma joins a production team that includes No Guarantees and Rashad V. Chambers, as well as executive producers Andy Jones and Dylan Pager. Actor Cynthia Erivo and Philadelphia native Colman Domingo have also recently been named co-producers.

In a news release, the Wilma said it will be the first Philadelphia theater to produce a commercial Broadway production. Managing director Leigh Goldenberg remembers asking Ijames about getting involved in producing the run last October when the pair was in an Uber heading to the Pulitzer Prize Awards Ceremony dinner. Soon after, Goldenberg talked to producers at the Public Theater.

“They were putting together at that time what the relationship would be to be a coproducer, which essentially means that you’re bringing investment dollars to the table,” said Goldenberg. “So I embarked on a fundraising effort to raise the money that we needed to participate in support of the Broadway production.” The theater’s board and major donors contributed.

As the theater that commissioned and hosted Fat Ham, the Wilma receives royalties from future productions. Now as a coproducer, the theater will receive additional income from the Broadway run.

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For Goldenberg, maintaining the Philadelphia connection as Fat Ham goes on to reach bigger audiences is essential. On April 2, the Wilma will host a “Philly Day” with Ijames to encourage Philadelphians to attend the show in New York.. Theatergoers can use promo code PHATHAM to receive a discounted ticket price and an invite to a cocktail hour with Ijames after the 2 p.m. matinee show. Depending on the seat, the ticket discount roughly ranges between 29% to 49%.

“I hope that people will see that art that starts in Philadelphia can have a life like this, and that this kind of work is happening in Philadelphia, and people should come here to see it and support it,” said Goldenberg.