A locally written musical set in New York during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance that celebrates the poetry of Langston Hughes is coming to the Dr Phillips Center for the Performing Arts just in time for Juneteenth.
New York-born Orlando performer Brandon Martin is the writer and composer behind the play “Lenox Avenue,” which hits the stage at Judson’s Live this weekend. The musical has won awards since its premiere four years ago, including Best Show of the 2025 Orlando Fringe Festival.
Martin says the play centers around Langston Hughes’ first barrier-breaking book of poetry called “The Weary Blues,” and reflects the culture, life, and music of the Harlem Renaissance.
“It's personal to me to get to bring his poetry to life, being someone who is Afro-Caribbean - my family's from the Caribbean - but then growing up here in the United States, I feel this connection to the Black diaspora, the African diaspora, and many different flavors and cultures,” said Martin. “And Langston Hughes got to travel around the world and got to interact with all these different cultures, and I guess in his own way, he pulled together the different threads of the African diaspora, of the Black American experience.”
These different threads are reflected in the variety of musical styles featured in the show. “There's lots of jazz, as [Hughes] was the jazz poet, we call him the creator of jazz poetry,” said Martin, but also “calypso, some hip hop, some blues, some rock…many different styles.”
The run dates of June 19 and 20 were an intentional choice. “I'm especially excited that we're getting to do this for Juneteenth, because it is about celebrating the joy, celebrating the resilience, commemorating the story, and looking back but also looking forward and just celebrating the whole experience” of Black culture and history, said Martin.
The show has a cast of eleven people and a live band, and will make use of Judson’s intimate setting to interact with the audience and make them feel part of the story.
“Obviously, we want people to take something away, and to feel something, and to have things to talk about, and even to hum would be great!” said Martin.” But we want people to have a good time. When you're having a good time, what better way to get to come together and to be united, but through music?”
