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Intiman Theatre presents

BLACK NATIVITY

By Langston Hughes
Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton
Music Direction by Sam L. Townsend, Jr.
Choreographed by Vania C. Bynum
Presented in partnership with The Hansberry Project

December 10–28, 2025

Broadway Performance Hall 1625 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122

Langston Hughes’ gospel song-play returns! Featuring 30 performers, a live band, powerful vocals, a citywide gospel choir—and a chance to sing along. The magic and joy of the Christmas story is brought to life with vivid colors, dance and music. A joyful holiday celebration for all ages and beliefs that will have you leaping to your feet.

For fans of...

Black Nativity doesn’t care which faith you align yourself with, or whether you align yourself with one at all, but rather it wants to welcome us all into its family, and surround us in a spirituality that will stir something inside and make us realize that we’re all part of the same human community.

About the Play

Celebrate the holiday season at this joyful community gathering! Langston Hughes’ Gospel Song-Play returns to Intiman Theatre for the third year in this all-new, reimagined production.

The Christmas story gets a soulful retelling with actors, dancers, soaring vocalists, and a rousing city-wide gospel choir. The poetry and vision of Langston Hughes combines with gospel renditions of your favorite carols, and you’ll have the chance to raise your voice and sing-along. A stirring experience for families of all backgrounds and beliefs that shares the importance of hope and community.

Don’t miss your chance to witness the joy and magic of this Seattle tradition. 

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Meet the Cast

Marlette Buchanan

Marlette (she/her) is happy to return to Black Nativity after a long hiatus! Selected performances include A Raisin in the Sun (Taproot),
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Earley Dean

Early (he/him) is originally from Sarasota, Florida, and is making his Intiman debut. He attended Florida A&M University, where he studied performance theatre.
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Esther Okech Lewis

Esther (she/her) is honored to be back for her third run of Black Nativity! She is an actor and educator from Kenya,
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Felicia Loud

Felicia Loud (she/her) has worked extensively in Theater, and is returning for her third year in a row in Black Nativity.
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Gerald Germajesty Price

Gerald (he/him) is a Seattle-based actor, vocalist, and voiceover artist with more than two decades of professional experience across theatre, film, and commercials.
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Choir Conductor

Rontrell J. Brimmer

Josephine Howell

Antwoine Parmer

Gospel Choir

Sadiaa Alexander
DuWayne Andrews Jr.
Isaiah Banks
Sereatha Brooks Blackwell

Cynelle Harris Brooks
Gena Brooks
Sherri Charleston
Deneen Grant

Dana M. Jackson
Antoine Jones
Sa'Nia Lewis
Bria Manaway

Anna M. Porkalob
Samara Reign
Maya Russell
Maelu Strange

Dance Ensemble

Jerom Bix
Ayanna Omar

DaeZhane Day

Iverson Harding

Neve Nataia Lowery

Band

Dotcy Isom

Arthur Nelson

Chandler Williams

Phillip Winston

Creative Team

Langston Hughes was a singular voice in American poetry, writing with vivid imagery and jazz-influenced rhythms about the everyday Black experience in the United States. While best-known for his modern, free-form poetry with superficial simplicity masking deeper symbolism, Hughes worked in fiction, drama, and film as well. Hughes purposefully mixed his own personal experiences into his work, setting
him apart from other major Black poets of the era, and placing him at the forefront of the literary movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. From the early 1920s to the late 1930s, this explosion of poetry and other work by Black Americans profoundly changed the artistic landscape of the country and continues to influence writers to this day.

Valerie Curtis-Newton is currently the Head of Directing and Playwriting at the University of Washington School of Drama, and she serves as the Founding Artistic Director for The Hansberry Project, a professional African American theatre lab. Intiman credits include directing the 2023 all-new revival production of Black Nativity, Bulrusher, Trouble in Mind, and The Wedding Band. She has worked with professional theatre’s across the country including: The Guthrie Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Seattle Rep, Playmakers Repertory Company, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Children’s Theatre, The Mark Taper Forum, New York Theatre Workshop, and Southern Repertory Theatre among others. Awards:  2020: Seattle Times Most Influential People of the Last Decade; 2019: Theatre Puget Sound – Gregory Falls Award for Sustained Achievement; 2016: Seattle Times Footlight Award (Best in Show) 2014: Stranger Genius Awards in Performance and the Crosscut Courage Award for Culture; 2012: Gypsy Rose Lee Award for Excellence in Direction; 2001: Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation’s (SDCF) Gielgud Directing Fellowship 1997-1999: NEA/TCG Career Development Fellowship for Directors.

Sam (he/him) is an alumni cast member of Black Nativity,  and was the production’s Choral Conductor from 2000–2012 under the mentorship of the show’s then Music Director Pastor Patrinell Wright. Sam returned to the production as the new Choral Director starting in 2023. He is the Minister of Music for Greater Glory Ministries and has served in various leadership capacities for the International Music Department of the Church of God in Christ. He is a facility member of the James Cleveland Gospel Workshop of America, and the founder of director of the award winning Imani Fellowship Choir. Sam was a vocalist of the 2014 Grammys performance of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ Same Love. and is the author of the book Funny Faith, I’m Convinced.

Vania (she/her) is the founder of (VC)Bynum Arts & Education and has been a part of the Seattle Arts community for more than 20 years. Intiman credits include The Lion Tells His Tale (2024) and Black Nativity (2023, 2024), nominated for Outstanding Choreography by the Theatre Puget Sound – Gregory Falls Awards. Former engineer and graduate of Cornish College of the Arts, Vania has performed at the Paramount/Moore Theaters, Intiman Theatre, Benaroya Hall, Meydenbauer, Langston Hughes, Seattle Center, and local churches, leading the Liturgical Dance Ministry at New Beginnings Christian Fellowship for 11 years. Vania self-produces and choreographed works for organizations including the Seattle Peace Chorus, Dr. Maxine Mimms Presents, Sound of the Northwest, Seattle International Dance Festival, Northwest Tap Connection, Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center, Broadway Bound Children’s Theater and more. Vania danced the role of Clara in Spectrum Dance Theater’s Harlem Nutcracker (2022), performed live at the 2nd Annual City of Bellevue Juneteenth Celebration (2023), and choreographed/performed in I Will Live Until I Die – the Life of Thea Bowman musical (2024). Vania also performs with The Amazing Throwbacks, a 50+ dance group dedicated to inspiring others to never stop dancing.

Faith (she/her) is an actor, director, teaching artist, playwright, and choreographer in the greater Seattle area for the past 40 plus years, and joins Black Nativity creative team this season as Associate Director. In this role, Faith will oversee the re-mount of Director Valerie Curtis-Newton’s vision and staging of the production. Faith has been an actor, director, teaching artist, playwright, and choreographer in the greater Seattle area for the past 40 plus years, and she made her Intiman debut in The Lion Tells His Tale in 2024. Past favorite stage credits include: My Heart Is The Drum and Once On This Island (Village Theater): Annie (The 5th Avenue Theater); Doubt, Jane Eyre The Musical, A Night With The Russells: The Legacy of Us (Taproot Theater); Grand Concourse and Slip/Shot (Seattle Public Theater) Picnic (Re’Act Theater). 

Stephen Newby is The Lev H. Prichard III Endowed Chair in the Study of Black Worship, Professor of Music, and Ambassador for The Black Gospel Archives at Baylor University. Albany and Parma Records record his concert music works. His gospel music works are recorded and published by Maranatha Music and Newby’s Witness Music. He recently co-authored, with Robert Darden, the book, Soon & Very Soon: The Transformative Music and Ministry of Andrae Crouch, released in 2025 with Oxford University Press. He served as composer and music director for Intiman’s production of Four Women.

Photos of the Show

Meet our Producing Partner

The Hansberry Project

The Hansberry Project is a professional black theatre company dedicated to the artistic exploration of African American life, history and culture. From initial sketches to fully-realized productions, The Hansberry Project promotes and supports Black theatre artists of diverse interests and disciples, speaking on a range of themes and working in a variety of styles.

Supported By

Support Intiman’s work by making a tax-deductible donation today. Donations create union jobs in Seattle (we work with all of the theatrical unions), provide free and subsidized education programs, and make free tickets available for every performance.

Thank you to all our sponsors, donors, and Members!

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