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John Leguizamo Brings ‘Ghetto Town’ to Broadway

It’s been over seven years since an excitable John Leguizamo has run his motormouth during his one-man show on Broadway. However after taking time to rest his jaws, catch his breath, and come up with some new material, the manic monologist and actor next year is heading back to Broadway.

“Ghetto Klown,” the new solo play that was created and performed by Leguizamo, follows in the same tradition as his other shows “Sexaholic… a Love Story,” “Freak,” and “Spic-O-Rama.” On Wednesday, “Ghetto Klown” press representatives in their news release said Leguizamo in the new work would be taking audiences from his boyhood memories in Queens into the early days from his acting career as part of the outrageous avant-garde theater scene in the 1980s and then onto major motion picture sets where he starred opposite of some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

In a recent interview, Leguizamo said that “Ghetto Klown” addressed how he was able to overcome a traumatic experience which caused him to want to stop performing his one man shows. When he was asked to provide more details he replied, traumatic experiences all are relative. However we artists you know sometimes are too sensitive and we need to just get over ourselves. That is the lesson. Get over yourself.

Leguizamo also said the show includes anecdotes from experiences he had while working on such films as “To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar,” “Carlito’s Way,” “Executive Decision,” “William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet” and “Moulin Rouge.”

Fisher Stevens will direct “Ghetto Klown.” Stevens has made acting appearances on Broadway in “Carousel,” “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” and “Torch Song Trilogy.” The show will be performed at Lyceum Theater. Previews will begin on February 21, with March 22 as the scheduled opening date. The show is planned to be a 12 week limited run. Nelle Nugent, Daveed D. Frazier and WestBeth Entertainment are the producers. Leguizamo’s most recent Broadway appearances were in the 2008 revival of “American Buffalo” by David Mamet. Before that he appeared in a “Sexaholic” run in 2003. Before “Ghetto Klown” opens on Broadway, he will precede it with a run in Chicago entitled “John Leguizamo Warms Up.” It will play from February 1-12 at Royal George Theater in Chicago.