Take You Wherever You Go

May 14, 2018
Tony Award­–winning director Leon assesses the long journey from his modest Florida upbringing to his professional success, including receiving the best director award for his 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun. Leon was born in Tallahassee in 1956 and raised by his grandmother while his mother worked in St. Petersburg. Among the women who influenced him were his Grandma Mamie, who had a “simple, direct, endearing” approach to life, and Annie Ruth, his conservative Christian mother who gave him a moral compass. Leon graduated from Clark Atlanta University, then attended Southwest University School of Law in L.A., “starting and stopping” his education and doing undercover security work (“snitching on people at various job sites”); he returned to Atlanta jobless, but began focusing on theater. Leon glows when speaking of his time at Atlanta’s Alliance Theater, even if his tenure began by receiving a letter that read, “When we come to the theater, we come to support our own kind. Not some pushy, uppity coon.” Throughout, Leon celebrates the many actors and directors he worked with or admired, including Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson (who contributed the book’s foreword), and his idol, playwright August Wilson, whose Fences he directed on Broadway. Leon delivers revealing personal stories of theatrical success in this uplifting memoir. Agent: Cait Hoyt, Creative Artists Agency.

Theater director Kenny Leon's natural performance of his memoir is especially touching as he recounts a life filled with love, gratitude, and deep reflection. Leon takes listeners back to growing up in Florida with his Grandma Mamie, his lodestar, and his artistic, conservative mother, Annie Ruth. He also describes times of personal doubt as an actor/director with the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, his initial meeting and work with renowned playwright August Wilson, and his success as a Tony Award winner. His narration allows for an honest but never maudlin evaluation of his mistakes as he ponders his life's purpose. The best advice his Grandma gave him? "The only limits are the ones you set yourself. You have all you need in you right now." Inspiring listening. S.J.H. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine