Roger Guenveur Smith’s In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat

Presented in partnership with Pittsburgh Public Theater and The House of Life Pittsburgh

Roger Guenveur Smith returns to Pittsburgh with a new solo performance: IN HONOR OF JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, called by the Minnesota Star Tribune “a storytelling master class.” BASQUIAT is inspired by the friendship of Roger with the young artist, whose meteoric rise was punctuated by his tragic loss at the age of 27. Smith essays Basquiat’s continued resonance through his prolific and provocative body of work, which engaged history, poetry, and encyclopedic musical references.

IN HONOR OF JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT was previously presented for Basquiat retrospectives at the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, and in an acclaimed run at St. Paul’s Penumbra Theatre.

Smith adapted his Obie Award-winning A HUEY P. NEWTON STORY into a Peabody Award-winning telefilm. His Bessie Award-winning RODNEY KIN is currently streaming on Netflix. Both NEWTON and KING were directed for the screen by Smith’s longtime colleague Spike Lee, and scored by Marc Anthony Thompson, whose live sound design for BASQUIAT will complement Smith’s performance.

The August Wilson African American Cultural Center presented Smith’s JUAN AND JOHN, inspired by baseball greats Juan Marichal and John Roseboro and featuring sound and projections by Thompson, as well as Smith’s signature FREDERICK DOUGLASS NOW.