“Jitney,” the August Wilson play about unlicensed cab drivers in the 1970s, will make its Broadway debut this season in a new production from Manhattan Theater Club, which has added the title to its 2016-17 season slate.
“Jitney” is the only work in Wilson’s 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle that hasn’t yet played Broadway. It premiered in Pittsburgh in 1982, and arrived in New York (in a revised version) at Signature Theater in 2000.
The new staging will be directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who’s previously helmed Wilson plays including “The Piano Lesson” and “Seven Guitars.” His latest outing as a director, “Skeleton Crew,” recently made an Off Broadway return after a well-received run earlier this year.
For its 2016-17 season, MTC has also added an Off Broadway staging of Martyna Majok’s “Cost of Living.” Directed by Jo Bonney, the show, about four very different people whose lives become intertwined, will play MTC in the spring following a world premiere this summer at the Williamstown Theater Festival. (WTF’s artistic director, Mandy Greenfield, is the former artistic producer at MTC.)
No casting for either production has yet been set. “Jitney” begins previews Dec. 28 ahead of a Jan. 19 opening at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, while “Cost of Living” starts up April 25 prior to a May 16 opening at City Center Stage I.
