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Kara Young: A Riveting Presence on Broadway
I first saw actress Kara Young on stage in the Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) Afro-futurist rendition of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park. Time Out critic Raven Snook called the play a "raucous mounting...a midsummer night's dream." In the role of Viola, Young was called upon to cross-dress as a boy and survive a compli-cated love story of confused identities and comic sensuality. I was mesmerized by her performance and her spectacular ability to command the stage, and I was not alone! New York Times reviewer Laura Collins-Hughes acclaimed her as "a star as fasci-natingly natural in Shakespeare as she has been in any of the contemporary stage roles that have established her as one of New York's most exciting actors."
Over lunch at a bistro not too far from her apart-ment, she sat down with me to discuss her life and career. "Twelfth Night was my first Shakespeare play, and I approached it as I do all my projects. My goal is to always stretch my instrument in some form or fashion." She recalled the special challenges posed by performing in the Richard Rodgers outdoor amphitheatre at Marcus Garvey Park. "During the last performance of Twelfth Night, the sky opened up and a downpour engulfed the viewers." Unsure if they would continue, Young and her fellow perform-ers became heartened as audience members opened their umbrellas, rushed to the lip of the stage and formed a giant tarp to protect each other from the rain. "They were so caught up in the play that they ignored the storm and stayed through 'til the end!" she remembered. For her impressive performance, she won a 2022 Obie Award.
Recently she was also named to the Classical Theatre of Harlem Board of Directors, a role that honors her integrity, artistry and business acumen. "I'm born and raised in Harlem," she reminded me, "so it's a very special place for me....CTH brings something to our community that is so welcoming!"
Discussing her theatre beginnings, she said, "I began my studies at an early age." When she was five, she followed her older brother Klay to the 92nd Street Y, where he was enrolled in a mime class. She was instantly fascinated by what she saw. "By the grace of the universe," she said, "I was especially focusing on dance and movement." Some years later, in an acting class at Gettysburg College, she recalls that she "created an emotionally charged improv," and was astonished to see that "students in the class were crying!" It shook her into a true understanding of the power of the stage. She acknowledged, "That's when I knew that I had found my career!" However, there was some family resistance. "My parents came to this country as immigrants from Belize, so I'm a first-generation American...(continued)
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Michael Dinwiddie is an award-winning playwright, composer, and professor of dramatic writing at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. He is president of the August Wilson Society, and serves on the boards of the Black Theatre Network (BTN), NewFest LGBTQ+ Film and Media, and the Richard Howard Hunt Legacy Foundation. In 2022, the "Michael Dinwiddie Playwright Award" was created by the Black Liberated Arts Center (BLAC Inc.). Inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre in 2018, he is also a proud member of the the Writers Guild of America, the Dramatists Guild, and ASCAP.
Autumn 2024
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Vol. 29, No. 3
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Kara Young and her father Klay received a standing ovation at the Tony Recognition Ceremony at the Rainbow Room, where he was waiting tables as he has done for the past three decades.
Leslie Odom Jr. as Purlie and Kara Young as Lutiebelle in the 2024 production of Ossie Davis's Purlie Victorious.
