On Tuesday, March 31, CalArts alum and trustee Don Cheadle (Theater BFA 86)—an Oscar nominee, and a Grammy-, Tony- and Golden Globe-winner—makes his Broadway acting debut alongside Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) in David Auburn’s Proof.
The production is the first Broadway revival of the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play, and is co-produced by former U.S. President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground. Proof will be the company’s first theatrical project after success in films, television, and podcasts.
Proof follows Catherine (Edebiri), “the brilliant but restless daughter of renowned mathematics professor Robert (Cheadle), who is thrust into turmoil when a notebook containing a revelatory proof is discovered after his death. As debate erupts over its true authorship, Catherine must confront the power of legacy, and the cost of proving herself.” Cheadle’s character, Robert, appears throughout the play through flashbacks and Catherine’s imagination.
Cheadle’s resume spans film, television, and the stage, and began in familiar CalArts spaces such as the Main Gallery, Coffeehouse Theater, Walt Disney Modular Theater, and E400. Cheadle, who has served on the CalArts Board of Trustees since 1997, describes his time at CalArts as “all consuming. We were in the theater morning, noon, and night.”
After graduating, Cheadle went on to star in films and television including: Devil in a Blue Dress, Boogie Nights, Traffic, Ocean’s Eleven, House of Lies, Crash, and Hotel Rwanda, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also portrayed Colonel James Rhodes, also known as War Machine, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Cheadle has been nominated for more than 98 awards and taken home dozens, including two Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards. Cheadle is also an acclaimed director and producer, producing the Tony Award-winning musical A Strange Loop.
Alongside Cheadle and Edebiri, Proof also stars Jin Ha and Kara Young, who co-stars in the upcoming film adaptation of the play Is God Is, directed and written by CalArts alum Aleshea Harris (Theater MFA 14).
Proof is set to have a limited run from March 31-July 19 at the Booth Theater in New York. Tickets are available on the show’s website.
By Orianna Reid
