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- In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat
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In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat
ABOUT
Created and performed by Roger Guenveur Smith
Live sound design by Marc Anthony Thompson
2026/27 Season
The performance runs approximately 60 minutes with no intermission.
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Creator & Performer
Roger Guenveur Smith adapted his Obie Award-winning solo performance of A Huey P. Newton Story into a Peabody Award-winning telefilm, which continues to stream on Hulu. His Bessie Award-winning Rodney King is on Netflix. Both Newton and King were scored by Marc Anthony Thompson, and directed for the screen by Smith’s longtime colleague Spike Lee. Smith and Thompson have also collaborated on Otto Frank, distinguished as the Bay Area Solo Performance of the Year, as well as studies of Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley, iconoclast artists Simon Rodia and Charles White, and baseball greats Juan Marichal and John Roseboro. Their work has been inspired by travel to Iceland, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Jamaica, and San Francisco, where Smith directed his Casa de Spirits, for the Campo Santo Ensemble. Roger studied at Yale University and Occidental College, and has taught at both institutions, as well as Cal Arts, directing his Performing History Workshop.
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Live Sound Designer
Marc Anthony Thompson is a reluctant singer and indolent songwriter; an autodidactic musician, composer, sound designer and filmmaker. He has collaborated with a wide range of genre defying citizens from Philip Glass and Spike Lee to Bruce Springsteen and The Roots. Mr. Thompson’s songs have been recorded by Lizz Wright & Mandy Patinkin as well as featured on the screen in “Breaking Bad,” Trust The Man, HBO’s “Everyday People,” Showtime’s LeBron James produced “Shut Up and Dribble,” and, most recently Marc Anthony scored the documentary Invisible Beauty—directed by and about Bethann Hardison. With his internationally based nucleus—Chocolate Genius Incorporated—Mr. Thompson has released 5 discs of songs centered on the themes of Life, Death and The Quest for the Perfect Postprandial.
NEWS
HEAR FROM THE ARTISTS
From creator and performer ROGER GUENVEUR SMITH:
“As Mandela stepped out of prison
Ellen Stewart rang a bell in the theatre which now bears her name
Cause Frederick Douglass dressed as Huey P. Newton was rapping about struggle and progress
Just across the street from where Marc Anthony Thompson is gonna be remixing Basquiat’s greatest hits
Just a couple of blocks from what’s now called
Jean-Michel Basquiat Way.
Homecoming 2026.”
From NYTW Artistic Director PATRICIA McGREGOR:
“Fall 2026 is marked by homecomings. We open our season with the return of Roger Guenveur Smith’s stunning portrait of his friend, the incomparable Jean-Michel Basquiat. On the heels of a sold out run at this year’s Under the Radar festival, Roger’s vivid incantation exploring the glory and gravity of Black genius in America is scored by longtime collaborator Marc Anthony Thompson’s live sound design.”
ACCLAIM
“Roger Guenveur Smith gets it all and gets it brilliantly.”
–The New York Times
“ELECTRIFYING. An unforgettable portrait of artistry, friendship and resistance.” –Los Angeles Sentinel
“SPELLBINDING. A storytelling master class.” –Minnesota Star Tribune
“A blend of poetic vision and searing reality… a beautiful piece of stagecraft that transmits a hero’s journey to our eyes, our ears and our hearts.” –Talkin’ Broadway
ORIGIN STORY
The New York City premiere of In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat was presented by New York Theatre Workshop and Under the Radar for the 2026 Under the Radar Festival.
In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat has been presented for retrospectives of the artist’s work at the Brooklyn Museum and MOCA Los Angeles, as well as an acclaimed run at St. Paul’s Penumbra Theatre.
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Bios are provided by each artist. Where opinions are expressed, they represent individual views. We ask everyone attending an event to read and embrace the NYTW Core Values. If you’d like to tell us about your experience at NYTW, email us at LetsChat@nytw.org.
