“We don’t have an opportunity to speak about that,” he says. He describes his character’s mental illness as situational and something experienced by many Black men. McClendon says it’s a privilege to put a face to depression. Left to Right: Tristan Mack Wilds, Dyllón Burnside, Forrest McClendon, Da'Vinchi in "Thoughts of a Colored Man" (Julieta Cervantes)įorrest McClendon’s character Depression once won a scholarship to the renowned university Massachusetts Institute of Technology but stayed in Brooklyn instead to take care of his mother and now works at Whole Foods for health insurance. “ beauty of what Keenan has written is that any of these men could be perceived as Love as some point,” Burnside says. But that he could have played any of the roles since the characteristics that define each of them are nuanced. “I wrote it to have the complexity and the spectrum of Black men on showcase like never before,” Scott says.Īctor Dyllón Burnside, who plays Love, says that role spoke to him. The play marks the first time a Broadway show has had an all-Black team both on and off-stage. His favorite musicals are Evita and Dreamgirls.After “growing up in this city, walking these streets, seeing the marquees and billboards my whole life, never imagining I would be on one of them,” the premiere was a proud moment, he says - a culmination of years of wanting Black men to feel seen.
#THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN RUNTIME HOW TO#
His favorite color is red, he loves a onesie, he can recite the entirety of The Little Rascals movie and he still doesn’t know how to swim. He can also be seen in the documentary We are Freestyle Love Supreme following the evolution the Broadway production of Freestyle Love Supreme.Ĭody holds a BFA in Stage Management from Webster Conservatory, where he graduated with departmental honors. He has a passion for paying it forward and providing space for students and early career professionals. He has 3 DGA (Director’s Guild Association) Award nominations and is the recipient of the 2020 Webster University’s Young Alumni Award. He has been honored by Out Magazine when he made the 2020 Out100 list and by Native Son when he received the 2021 Native Son Next Award. Cody also currently serves as an Eastern Stage Manager Delegate for Actors’ Equity Association.Ĭody was named one of Variety Magazine’s 2020 Broadway Players to Watch, making him the first stage manager to receive this honor. He has actively worked with numerous organizations including Broadway Advocacy Coalition where he founded The Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program for aspiring BIPOC theatre makers. He has also served as Adjunct Professor of Stage Management at New York University and Fordham University.Īs an advocate for change and equity, Cody has appeared live on CNN and has been interviewed on WNBC. On top of his production credits, he is currently an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University. He also helped bring in the Broadway productions of Parade and Thoughts of a Colored Man. Cody has also worked on live televised musicals for NBC ( Annie Live!, Jesus Christ Superstar Live!, Hairspray Live! & The Wiz Live!), various productions with Cirque du Soleil, Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera, Candide at Carnegie Hall and countless shows in Regional and Off-Broadway houses.Īs a creative producer, Cody won a Tony Award for Co-Producing the Pulitzer Prize Winning production of A Strange Loop. Career highlights include the Broadway productions of Pass Over (which is the first new play to welcome an audience to Broadway after the historic Coronavirus shutdown), Into the Woods (Production Stage Manager) and Hamilton (Assistant Stage Manager), as well as being one of the DGA Stage Managers for the 2019 and ‘20/’21 Tony Awards and MTV Video Music Awards (2019, ‘20). Throughout the years, Cody has been fortunate enough to work in various live entertainment mediums and has stage managed 16 Broadway productions. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Cody grew up on a ranch and competed with his family in Rodeo events before trading his cowboy boots in for a career in theatre.
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