Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole tickets
About Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole
Get Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole tickets and see a new play from Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo (Rustin) and New York Theatre Workshop Artistic Director Patricia McGregor. Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole plays off Broadway this spring and features a number of hits from the king, including “Nature Boy,” “It’s a Good Day,” “Smile,” and “Unforgettable.”
Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole in New York follows the final taping for the iconic singer’s NBC variety show, canceled because audiences and the network did not accept a Black host. Struggling to find a sponsor, Nat has to exit — but he decides to do so with a bang.
Run time
1hr 30min. No intermission.
Categories
Age
Ages 12+.
Start date
April 30th, 2025
End date
June 29th, 2025
Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole cast and creative team
By: Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor
Songs by: Nat King Cole
Director: Patricia McGregor
Choreography: Edgar Godineaux, with tap choreography by Jared Grimes
Producer: New York Theatre Workshop
Cast list: Dulé Hill (as Nat King Cole), Daniel J. Watts (as Sammy Davis Jr.), Krystal Joy Brown, Kathy Fitzgerald, Christopher Ryan Grant, Ruby Lewis, Elliott Mattox, Kenita Miller, Mekhi Richardson, and Walter Russell III
Sets: Clint Ramos
Costumes: Katie O'Neill
Lighting: Stacey Derosier
Sound: Alex Hawthorn and Drew Levy
Other info: Video design by David Bengali; wig design by Nikiya Mathis; props supervision by Samantha Shoffner; music direction by Lafayette Harris; music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements by John McDaniel
Venue
More information about Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole
Colman Domingo is enjoying an ascending film career with Sing Sing and Rustin, and for that biopic he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, but he has roots in theatre and returns to New York with the city’s premiere of this new drama. With Broadway credits like Well, Passing Strange, and his Tony-nominated turn in The Scottsboro Boys, Domingo is also a writer and wrote the book to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.
Now, he pairs up with New York Theatre Workshop Artistic Director Patricia McGregor on this new, biographical play. McGregor directs the New York premiere, which follows, on the night of his final broadcast, Nat deciding whether to quietly leave the limelight, or, as his friend Sammy Davis Jr. suggests, “go out with a bang.”
The play spotlights a pivotal and specific moment in Black entertainment history, revealing it afresh to audiences who may not be familiar with Nat’s earlier work on television.
What to watch for
- From 1956 to 1957, Cole hosted the NBC variety series The Nat King Cole Show, which became the first nationally broadcast television show hosted by an African American.
- Emmy Award nominee Dulé Hill (The West Wing) stars as Nat “King” Cole.
- Tony Award nominee Daniel J. Watts (The Refuge Plays, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) portrays Nat’s friend, the singer and dancer Sammy Davis Jr.
- Colman Domingo is now the lead in the limited series The Madness created by Clement Virgo on Netflix and is in Michael, playing Joe Jackson, to be released April 2025.
Tickets
Unfortunately, tickets for this event are no longer available.
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