Actor / Director Profile

Kenny Leon has long been acclaimed for his work as the Artistic Director for The Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the largest regional theatre in the Southeastern United States. Armed with degrees and training from Clark Atlanta University, TCG Directors Fellow Program and nine years with the Academy of Music and Theatre, Leon has directed and championed theatre that illuminates the diversity of the human experience. Among the many Alliance productions under his directorship have been "The Glass Menagerie", "Flyin' West" & "Blues for an Alabama Sky" by Pearl Cleage featuring a performance by Phylicia Rashad, "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Miss Evers Boys", "The Piano Lesson", "Fences" & "Jitney" by August Wilson, "Angels in America", "The Colored Museum" by George C. Wolfe, "Medea" featuring Phylicia Rashad in the starring role, "A Christmas Carol", and many others. He has also been involved as director of numerous plays and musicals in regional theatres throughout the United States, among them are the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Actor's Express, Theater of the Stars, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Huntington Theatre, and The Arena Stage. Leon's expertise is also well-noted as a panelist and member of the National Endowment for the Arts, The Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, and an active membership in the civic and socio-political organization 100 Black Men of Atlanta. For his efforts he has been rewarded with a 1994 Abby Award for Outstanding Artist, a Bronze Jubilee Award for Theatre Education, SCLC's Drum Major for Justice Award in the Arts, 1993-94 Connecticut Critic Circle Award for best director, a 1996 Humanitarian Award from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a 1996 Boston Critic Award for best director. In his typical gracious and confident manner, Leon ended his tenure as Artistic Director of the Alliance in 2001, but remains a celebrated and active member of the continuously growing theatre community of Atlanta, Georgia, USA.