Denzel Washington to be honored at Crossroads Theatre gala in New Brunswick

To Oscar- and Tony-winner Denzel Washington, friendship and nurturing the talents of youth are extremely important.

Both will come into play on Saturday, Oct. 19, when the stars align on the red carpet of the newly constructed New Brunswick Performing Arts Center to honor Washington with Crossroads Theatre Company’s inaugural Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee Living Legends Award.

In addition to star-studded tributes to Washington, “A Night with Crossroads,” the Tony-winning regional theater’s inaugural fundraising gala will include a reception across Livingston Avenue at the Heldrich Hotel and a variety of performances next door at the State Theatre.    

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Friends with Crossroads Board President and retired Johnson & Johnson Chief Diversity Officer Anthony P. Carter for 46 years since their school days together in the Communications Department at Fordham University, Washington said he has been familiar with Crossroads’ work for many years. Long before, Carter’s eight-year board tenure, Washington came to visit Crossroads, which ardently was supported by Davis and Dee, his Oscar-nominated co-star in the 2007 film “American Gangster.”  

“Crossroads is a vessel through which stories are told that build bridges for knowledge and understanding of people, places and perspectives," Washington said. "I am especially honored to receive the Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee Living Legends Awards because throughout my career I have been touched by them personally, by their activism and their body of work of best in class acting.

“I was bitten by the acting bug as a student at Fordham University in its stage production of Eugene O’Neill’s ‘Emperor Jones’ and through the years, I’ve been blessed to portray some of the most historically prolific notables and figures of literary works,” he continued. “Opportunities like these are very present in places like Crossroads Theatre Company. Theater is the space where magic happens, and for over 40 years, Crossroads Theatre ... has been such a space that brings the voices of the African Diaspora to light and to life.”

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Acting & advocacy

More than a performing couple, Davis and Dee used their gifts to bring the civil rights movement to the national stage and the small and big screen, and to nurture and cultivate acting, directorial and production talent, including many collaborations with Crossroads throughout its 41-year history.

Crossroads said it created the Living Legends Award in their honor to recognize prominent people from the arts and entertainment community who emulate the activist voice, vision and value of its namesakes, and whose body of work illustrates best-in-class acting and portrayal of people, places and promise.

At the State Theatre, members of Davis and Dee’s family will pay tribute to Washington, as will Emmy nominee Phylicia Rashad (“The Cosby Show”) and Susan Kelechi Watson (“This Is Us”). Washington and Rashad sponsored Watson, as well as Chadwick Boseman (“Black Panther”), to study at Oxford University in England.

Among the gala’s audience members will be Fordham students who were able to attend college with grant money from the foundation for which Washington is the founding chairman and financial catalyst, Carter said. 

“We’re excited to be the host of a wonderful evening of theater and entertainment that honors a living legend who represents the epitome of acting and advocacy,” Carter said. “We salute Denzel Washington for his courage, conviction and compassion in the roles he’s portrayed, for the works he’s directed and for his commitment to the generation of actors here and around the world who stand successfully on his shoulders.”

Also paying tribute to Washington will be Courtney B. Vance, his co-star in the 1996 film “The Preacher’s Wife,” also starring Jersey’s own Whitney Houston; and theater producer-director Woodie King, who discovered Washington in the early 1980s.

King cast Washington in his New Federal Theatre productions, including the 1981 staging of “When Chickens Come Home to Roost,” in which he played Malcolm X, a role he reprised 11 years later in Spike Lee’s film “Malcolm X.”

At the State Theatre, the gala will include scenes from August Wilson’s “King Hedley II” with Lynda Gravatt, who played Ruby in the 2001 Broadway and 2007 off-Broadway productions of the play, and Stephen McKinley Henderson, who has appeared in many Wilson works. They have included “Jitney” at Crossroads and a Drama Desk Award-winning turn on Broadway, as well as the 2010 revival and 2016 film adaptation of “Fences,” both opposite Washington.

Other highlights will include:

• Performances by Grammy-winner Gregory Porter and singer-songwriter-actress Ashley Tamar Davis
• A sneak preview of “The Divine One,” a new play about Jersey jazz great Sarah Vaughn
• Scenes from “Fly” by Trey Ellis and Crossroads co-founder Ricardo Khan.

The State Theatre performances will be hosted by Grammy and Tony nominee David Alan Grier.

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What’s next?

Raised in Mount Vernon in New York’s Westchester County, Washington originally studied pre-med at Fordham before switching to communications with a theater concentration. Fittingly, his breakout role was as Dr. Philip Chandler in NBC-TV’s hit series “St. Elsewhere” throughout the 1980s.

Washington won his first of two Oscars for his supporting role in Ed Swick’s 1989 Civil War drama “Glory.” A second followed for his star turn in 2001’s “Training Day.” His Tony came in 2010 for the revival of Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Fences,” the 2016 film adaption of which Washington starred in, co-produced and directed Crossroads alum Viola Davis to an Oscar win.  

Washington once again is co-producing a Wilson work into film with Netflix’s forthcoming production of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” starring Davis in the title role and Boseman as Levee. The production wrapped in August and is part of Netflix deal with Washington to produce into films several of Wilson’s theatrical works, some of which, such as “Jitney,” were produced at Crossroads.  

As an actor, Washington’s next roles will be in “Little Things,” a crime drama co-starring fellow Oscar winners Jared Leto and Rami Malek and directed by John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side,” “Saving Mr. Banks”) and the title character in Joel Coen’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” co-starring Oscar winner Frances McDormand as the sinister Lady Macbeth.

Coming up for Crossroads will be a culturally diverse adaptation of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” starring Count Stovall, who has appeared at Crossroads every decade since its 1978 formation.

“It’s ‘Christmas Carol’ with a twist,” Carter said, “with cultural nuances that will resonate with all audiences … We miss Crossroads’ name on the marquee but being in New Brunswick Performing Arts Center with two state-of-the-art theaters is a dream come true … Nathaniel Stampley played ‘Robeson’ in the first-ever show in that building. The reception we received was amazing … It’s a new chapter of Crossroads, a new beginning.” 

Washington was Carter’s best man, Carter one of his groomsmen, and they are godfathers to each other’s children.

The former press secretary for New York Mayor David Dinkins, Carter said he is grateful to his famous friend for helping Crossroads with its significant fundraiser.

“It’s an opportunity for us to focus on a business imperative for us to financially produce theatrical excellence and market its execution,” he said. “The fundraiser helps us put those three pillars in place to show great theater and be an incubator of talent in every aspect: directors, writers and actors at every level from students to those established in the field. Ricardo Khan will unveil what we plan to do to build into the future with a new cadre of talented or potential stars. We are very excited in the way in which Crossroads is a new beacon of life for those aspiring to come into this profession, and we’re structuring the organization to be a robust theater … This fundraiser will fulfill those dreams and aspirations to be a strong component in the theater community.”

The honorary co-chairs of “A Night with Crossroads” are film, television and theater director and playwright Charles Randolph Wright (“Motown: The Musical”) and film, stage, and television actress, director and producer Tamara Tunie (“As the World Turns,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

WCBS-TV news anchor Maurice DuBois is the host for the gala reception at the Heldrich.

A Night with Crossroads

What: The fundraising gala of the Tony Award-winning New Brunswick-based regional theater company,

When: 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19

Where: Red-carpet receptions at New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, 11 Livingston Ave., and the Heldrich Hotel, 10 Livingston Ave. The festivities will continue from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the State Theatre, 15 Livingston Ave., with a star-studded tribute to Denzel Washington, including his being honored with Crossroads’ inaugural Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee Living Legends Award, plus musical and theatrical performances.

Tickets: $185 to $360 to the State Theatre only, $500 to $1,000 also to the reception at the Heldrich, and $7,500 also to the reception at NBPAC, which includes a meet-and-greet with Washington.

Info: anightwithcrossroads.org/ and crossroadstheatrecompany.org

Bob Makin has won 11 New Jersey Press Association Awards and four Best of Gannett Awards. A news veteran of nearly 40 years, Makin covers business and entertainment. Contact him at 732-565-7319 and bmakin@gannett.com.