Presented by the NYS Writers Institute
Written and directed by George C. Wolfe and starring S. Epatha Merkerson, Mos Def, Macy Gray, Ernie Hudson, Louis Gossett Jr., Hill Harper, Terrence Howard, Delroy Lindo, Rosie Perez, Liev Schreiber, Jimmy Smits and Jeffrey Wright.

7 p.m. Friday, January 26, 2024
Page Hall, UAlbany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203
Free parking. Free and open to the public.

Adapted for the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson from his award-winning play, "Lackawanna Blues" tells the story of a big-hearted woman, Rachel “Nanny” Crosby, who becomes a rock of stability for a collection of boarders, friends, and family members in a Rust Belt town in Western New York. Santiago-Hudson based the character on the woman who raised him after his own parents abandoned him.

For her work in the movie, S. Epatha Merkerson won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2006.

Watch the trailer at https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/lackawannablues

Meet Tony Award-winning actor, director, and playwright Ruben Santiago-Hudson at the annual Burian Lecture on Monday, Feb. 5. More at https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/rubensantiago-hudson