Phylicia Rashad to Make Her Directorial Debut with Seattle Repertory Theatre’s Production of Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson

Seattle, WA – Seattle Repertory Theatre is honored to announce that Phylicia Rashad will make her directorial debut with August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, opening in April 2007 at Seattle Rep. Rashad, best known for her role as Claire Huxtable in “The Cosby Show” is also a seasoned stage performer, including a 2004 Tony Award for A Raisin in the Sun and she originated the role of Aunt Ester in Gem of the Ocean on Broadway. Previews begin April 5 with opening night set for April 11. Tickets are available through the Seattle Repertory Theatre box office seven days a week at (206) 443-2222, toll-free at (877) 900-9285, as well as online at www.seattlerep.org.

Set in 1904, Gem of the Ocean is the chronological beginning of acclaimed playwright August Wilson’s ten-play cycle depicting the African American experience during the 20th Century. With this production of Gem of the Ocean, Seattle Rep will have completed Wilson’s ten play cycle.

About the Director: A native of Houston, Texas, Ms. Rashad graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theater from Howard University. She recently appeared in the Lincoln Center Theatre production of Bernarda Alba. Broadway credits include Gem of the Ocean, A Raisin in the Sun (2004 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play/Drama Desk Award), Blue, Jelly’s Last Jam, Into the Woods, Dreamgirls, The Wiz and Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death. Off-Broadway credits include Helen, The Story and Everybody’s Ruby at the NYSF Public Theatre, The Negro Ensemble Company productions of Puppet Play, Zooman and the Sign, Sons and Fathers of Sons, In an Upstate Motel, Weep Not For Me and The Great Mac Daddy, Lincoln Center’s Production of Ed Bullins’ The Duplex and The Sirens at The Manhattan Theatre Club. In regional theater, she performed as Euripides’ Medea and in Blues for an Alabama Sky at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. Other Regional theaters at which she has performed are the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. and the Huntington Theatre in Boston.

Known to television audiences for her role as Claire Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” and as Ruth Lucas on the CBS sitcom, “Cosby”, she received the NAACP Image Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for both of these roles. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards and has received two People’s Choice Awards. Feature film credits include: Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored, directed by Tim Reid, Free of Eden (opposite Sydney Poitier), Loving Jezebel, directed by Kwyn Bader and The Visit, directed by Jordan Walker Pearlman. Rashad is currently filming a screen version of A Raisin in the Sun.

Ms. Rashad has received honorary doctorates from Providence College in Rhode Island, Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Clark University, and Barber-Scotia College and is a recipient of the Harvard University Foundation Award. In 1999 she was the recipient of the Dorothy L. Height Dreamaker Award sponsored by the National Council of Negro Women Inc. in association with Aunt Jemima/The Quaker Oats Company. In December 2001, Rashad was honored by the Board of Directors of New York Women in Film and Television with The Muse Award for Outstanding Vision and Achievement.