KENNY LEON (Director) previously directed Blues for an Alabama Sky, A Raisin in the Sun, and From the Mississippi Delta for the Huntington. He is an acclaimed producer and director who is presently Co-Founder and Artistic Director of True Colors Theatre Company, dedicated to diversity and the preservation of African-American classics. His production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, which recently ran on Broadway, was nominated for the 2004 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, and he received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Director of a Play. Mr. Leon served as Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre Company for more than a decade and has directed regionally at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Dallas Theater Center, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Hartford Stage Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Geva Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage, and the Theatre of the Stars. While at the Alliance, he produced ten world premieres, including Elton John's Aida, Pearl Cleage's Flyin' West and Blues for an Alabama Sky, Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Athol Fugard's Playland, and in cooperation with the Kennedy Center, Debbie Allen's Soul Possessed. He made his Off Broadway debut at the Joseph Papp Public Theater directing Thulani Davis's Everybody's Ruby. His work includes the 2003 world premiere of Sandra Deers' The Subject Tonight Is Love. A graduate and honorary Ph.D. of Clark Atlanta University, Kenny is the recipient of the MIT Eugene McDermott Award and was chosen one of the “Top 20 to Watch” by The Financial Times. Mr. Leon originated the role of Citizen in the world premiere of Gem of the Ocean at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in Spring 2003. In 2005, Kenny will direct the world premiere of the opera Margaret Garner by Toni Morrison with music by Richard Danielpour.