Daniel J. Watts has joined the cast of Lincoln Center Theater‘s upcoming Off-Broadway revival of August Wilson‘s Seven Guitars, set to play their Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater beginning November 5 ahead of a November 23 opening. Watts will play Canewell, stepping in for the previously announced Brandon Dirden who has departed the production for a TV role. Ruben Santiago-Hudson is directing.
Watts joins a cast that also includes Chanté Adams as Ruby, Russell Hornsby as Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton, Kristolyn Lloyd as Vera, Michael Potts as Red Carter, Roslyn Ruff as Louise, and John Douglas Thompson as Hedley. Understudies Taylor Elise Jackson, Warner Miller, Simone Moore, and Kevyn Morrow will round out the company. Casting is by The Telsey Office.
Part of Wilson’s legendary Century Cycle, Seven Guitars is set in 1940s Pittsburgh, following a blues musician endeavoring to win back the woman he lives. Santiago-Hudson is returning to the work after winning a Tony Award creating the role of Canewell on Broadway in 1996. The actor-director is one of the theatre’s preeminent interpreters of Wilson’s body of work, receiving a 2026 Tony acting nomination for the recent revival of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and directing the Tony-winning 2017 revival of Jitney.
LCT’s production of Seven Guitars, which will continue through January 10, 2027, will feature choreography by Kenneth L. Roberson, scenic design by Michael Carnahan, costume design by Karen Perry, lighting design by Rui Rita, sound design by Justin Ellington, hair and wig design by Nikiya Mathis, and original music by Junior Mack. Zachry Bailey will stage manage.
Tickets are at LCT.org.