Kenny Leon's 'Mountaintop' finishes Broadway run with a profit

Kenny Leon's production 'The Mountaintop' (inspired by Martin Luther King's last days and written by Katori Hall), has had great success on Broadway...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

Kenny Leon’s production The Mountaintop (inspired by Martin Luther King’s last days and written by Katori Hall), has had great success on Broadway. The Mountaintop stars Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson as Dr King. Leon’s plays have not only been celebrated for their excellence but have also sold a substantial number of tickets. Access Atlanta reports:

There is a reason Atlanta director Kenny Leon has two plays on Broadway right now — that is, beyond the typically high regard for his work by producers and others in the theater industry and even critics.

Leon’s plays usually make money, as Broadway followers were reminded this week with the announcement that “The Mountaintop” has recouped its $3.1 million investment.

Katori Hall’s drama about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final night before his assassination is the fifth play Leon has helmed on the Great White Way, and the third (after “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Fences”) to make its money back.

That’s a better batting average than most: Only a third of Broadway’s straight plays have returned their investment in recent years.

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