#dundey joseph jr.

[theonlyadawong]

The Harder They Come

Book by Suzan-Lori Parks, songs by Suzan-Lori Parks and Jimmy Cliff

Co-Dir. Sergio Trujillo

Dir. Tony Taccone

The Public Theatre, 2023

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and The Public’s Writer-in-Residence, Suzan-Lori Parks, brings to The Public a new musical adaptation of the 1972 movie, THE HARDER THEY COME. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the breakthrough film, produced and directed by Perry Henzell and co-written with Trevor Rhone, tells the story of Ivan, a young singer who arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, eager to become a star. After falling in love and cutting a record deal with a powerful music mogul, Ivan soon learns that the game is rigged, and as he becomes increasingly defiant, he finds himself in a battle that threatens not only his life, but the very fabric of Jamaican society. (X)

(Photos by Joan Marcus)