ST. PETERSBURG — Closing out American Stage Theatre’s 2025-2026 mainstage season is “The Hot Wing King,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama by acclaimed playwright Katori Hall. The play will run June 3-28, presented by American Stage Theatre, at Raymond James Theatre, 163 Third St. N., St. Petersburg.
For information and tickets, call 727-823-7529 or visit Americanstage.org.
Set in Memphis, Tennessee, during the city’s annual Hot Wing Festival, “The Hot Wing King” follows Cordell Crutchfield and his close-knit group of friends as they prepare for the high-stakes culinary competition. As tensions rise and personal challenges emerge, the story explores themes of black queerness, masculinity, belonging, and chosen family. “The Hot Wing King” received the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and has been recognized for its “funny, deeply felt consideration of Black masculinity” and contemporary American life.
Kenny Moten will direct American Stage’s production, which blends humor and emotional depth in a story that examines the complexities of relationships and community. An award-winning director, writer and vocalist, Moten got his start on stage performing in musical theater. He found his true passion working behind the scenes. He previously served as the artistic director of Midtown Arts Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. He took on the role of creative director for Imprint Group, a leading event production company, before launching his own firm, Narrative Creative Consulting, in 2016. Moten is the associate artistic director at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in Colorado.
Moten’s previous American Stage credits include “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” and “Hair” — the 2024 and 2025 American Stage in the Park productions, respectively. While “The Hot Wing King” is not a musical, it is deeply rooted in Memphis, Tennessee — a city known for its musical legacy. Like Moten’s earlier work in “Hair,” “The Hot Wing King” is brimming with music in spirit and reference, evoking artists such as Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, and Kirk Franklin.
The cast features Mathenee Treco, Jos N. Banks, Randy Chalmers, Don Randle, Elijah Jordan, and Lance Markeith Felton.
“The Hot Wing King” was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize. According to a story posted on Deadline.com, the Pulitzer board called Hall’s play “a funny, deeply felt consideration of Black masculinity and how it is perceived filtered through the experiences of a loving gay couple and their extended family as they prepare for a culinary competition.”
“The Hot Wing King” premiered at Signature’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre in February 2020.
Hall is widely known for her award-winning body of work across stage and screen, including “The Mountaintop” (produced in American Stage’s 2024-2025 season), “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” and the television series “P-Valley.” Her work often centers on underrepresented voices and explores the nuances of identity and connection.
Hall is a 2025 American Academy of Arts & Sciences inductee and the recipient of many awards, including the Columbia University Medal of Excellence, the American Academy of Arts & Letters Award in Literature, Black Women Film Network StorytellHER Award, AUDELCO Award for Best Playwright, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, the Lark Play Development Center Playwrights of New York (PONY) Fellowship, two Lecompte du Nouy Prizes from Lincoln Center, the Fellowship of Southern Writers Bryan Family Award in Drama, the Columbia University John Jay Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement, the National Black Theatre’s August Wilson Playwriting Award and the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award.
American Stage Theatre has operated as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) providing live theatrical productions as a professional regional equity theatre since 1977. As Tampa Bay’s longest-running, most critically acclaimed professional theatre company, its vision is to be a vital arts leader, connecting its community to world-class productions that celebrate the most powerful stories of the moment and the most defining stories from our past.
For information, visit americanstage.org.