Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas have joined the producing team of Douglas Lyons’ Broadway comedy Chicken & Biscuits, currently in previews at Circle in the Square Theatre.
On Sunday, Jonas visited the cast and creative team at the theater — a team that includes two from his upcoming 2022 Jersey Boys Live! streaming project: producer E. Clayton Cornelious and Chicken & Biscuits cast member Michael Urie, who also appears in the Jersey Boys project and co-starred with Jonas in the 2011 Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.
Chicken & Biscuits cast member Norm Lewis appeared with Jonas in the 2010 Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary.
“Broadway has always had a special place in my heart,” Jonas said in a statement. “It helped launch my career. And after the last year and a half, Broadway is exactly what we need in this world. This play highlights the importance of love, laughter, and family. It’s got energy, it’s got style, and it’s got heart — the kind of vibe that is so unique to live theatre.”
Actress and entrepreneur Chopra Jonas most recently starred in and produced Oscar-nominated feature The White Tiger and next will be seen in the features The Matrix 4 and Text for You and the Russo Brothers’ Citadel series on Amazon. She is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and her memoir Unfinished was published this year.
“Broadway is back, but this time it’s a new Broadway,” Chopra Jones said in a statement. “It’s time we see some more diversity on the stage, and this cast and production team is making history on that front. This is a monumental moment for the industry, and I’m overjoyed to be a part of it. This is also my first foray into Broadway, so to bring this show to audiences with my husband Nick, who has so much experience in the medium, and at a time when we need it most, is a very proud moment for me.”
A family comedy, Chicken & Biscuits was written by Black playwright Lyons, stars a largely Black cast and is directed by Zhailon Levingston, who at 27 becomes the youngest Black director in Broadway history. Currently in previews, the play officially opens at Circle in the Square on Sunday, Oct. 10, and runs through Sunday, Jan. 2.
The production’s ensemble cast includes Cleo King (Mike & Molly, Deadwood) in her Broadway debut as Baneatta Mabry, the eldest daughter in a large family that’s gathering for the funeral and life celebration of a family elder. Playing her sister Beverly is Ebony Marshall-Oliver, who recently appeared in Shakespeare in the Park’s Merry Wives. Also in the cast: Lewis and Urie, NaTasha Yvette Williams, Devere Rogers, Aigner Mizzelle and Alana Raquel Bowers.
Jonas and Chopra Jonas join a producing team that includes Pamela Ross, Hunter Arnold, E. Clayton Cornelious, Leah Michalos, Kayla Greenspan, Mapleseed Productions, Curt Cronin, John Joseph, John Paterakis, and Invisible Wall Productions/Blaine Hopkins.
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