Overview
- Lincoln Center Theater confirmed that previews for The Whoopi Monologues begin on July 7 with an official opening on July 13 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.
- Kerry Washington headlines the production alongside Kara Young, Dominique Fishback, Kecia Lewis, and Danielle Pinnock under director Whitney White.
- Washington says she first saw Whoopi Goldberg’s original HBO performance as a child, memorized the work, and is returning it to the stage out of longtime admiration.
- The production preserves blunt language and a beloved unhoused character named Fontaine to humanize people often ignored, a choice Washington and White say helps deepen audience empathy.
- The show reimagines Goldberg’s influential 1984 solo piece for a contemporary New York theater audience and signals Lincoln Center’s effort to bring the material to new viewers.