Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 1, 2026

Daniel Beaty

Daniel Beaty is an American playwright, actor, singer, writer, composer and poet. Plays written by Beaty include Emergency, Resurrection, Through the Night, The Tallest Tree in the Forest, Mr. Joy, and the musical Breath & Imagination.

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Daniel Beaty
OccupationPlaywright, actor, singer, composer, producer
EducationYale University
Alma materAmerican Conservatory Theater
GenreTheatre, Film, Poetry, Music
Years active1998-present
Notable awardsObie Award, NAACP Theatre Awards
Website
www.danielkoabeaty.com

Daniel Beaty is an American playwright, actor, singer, writer, composer and poet. Plays written by Beaty include Emergency, Resurrection, Through the Night, The Tallest Tree in the Forest, Mr. Joy, and the musical Breath & Imagination.

Books authored by Beaty include the 2013 children's book Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me. Beaty also co-wrote and starred in the 2016 film Chapter & Verse. In 2024, Beaty was named creative producer of New Heritage Theatre Group.

Early life and education

Daniel Beaty was raised in Dayton, Ohio, and began writing as well as giving public speeches in third grade.123 Beaty later won scholarships to private high school and then Yale University.1

Daniel Beaty holds a BA with Honors in English & Music from Yale University (1998). Upon graduating, Beaty was awarded the Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Arts. During his undergrad, Beaty was granted a production at The Yale Cabaret. His original two-person play on the life of Paul Robeson remained the highest grossing production at the Yale Cabaret for several years.4

Beaty holds an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco.5 While training as an actor, Beaty was also pursued a course of study as a playwright and performance artist, performing productions of his solo plays.6

Career

As an actor, singer, and poet, Daniel has worked throughout the U.S., Europe, and Africa performing on television, acting in theatrical productions, singing leading roles in operas, and giving solo concerts of his own work. He has performed at The White House and The Kennedy Center in tribute to Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. He has performed on programs with artists such as Jill Scott, Sonia Sanchez, MC Lyte, Mos Def, Tracy Chapman, Deepak Chopra, and Phylicia Rashad.

Theatre

Emergence-See! and Emergency

In 2003, an Off-Off-Broadway festival performance by Beaty of an early version of his one-man show Emergence-See! was attended by Ruby Dee, who was moved by his performance to become an advisor and advocate for him, including to have the play produced by Larry Leon Hamlin at the National Black Theatre Festival.15 In 2006, Beaty premiered Emergence-See! at The Public Theater in New York, with Beaty playing more than 40 characters and directed by Kenny Leon.517 In 2008, the play was renamed Emergency, directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, and produced at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, where Beatty again performed the more than 40 characters in the play.53 In 2013, Beaty performed Emergency at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.8

Resurrection

Beaty was awarded the 2007-08 AETNA American Voices Playwright-in-Residence position at Hartford Stage, which included workshopping his play Resurrection.9 His ensemble play Resurrection, featuring six Black male characters and directed by Oz Scott, premiered at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in 2008,10 which was followed by productions at Hartford Stage11 and the Suzanne Roberts Theatre in Philadelphia.1213 In September 2009, Resurrection was produced at the ETA Creative Arts Foundation theater in Chicago and directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce.141516

Through the Night

Beaty's solo play Through the Night first opened at the Riverside Theater in New York City, then was produced off-Broadway in 2010 at Union Square Theatre, directed by Charles Randolph-Wright with Beaty performing the multiple characters in the play.17 In 2012, the show was produced at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, with Beaty playing the six characters,18 and the City Theatre in Pittsburgh, with Beaty directing and playing all of the roles.19 In 2016, the show was performed as an ensemble production at the Centre Stage theater in South Carolina, directed by Clark Nesbitt.20

The Tallest Tree in the Forest

Beaty wrote a solo-actor play with nearly 40 roles that is based on the life of Paul Robeson, The Tallest Tree in the Forest, which premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in 2014, with Beaty performing and directed by Moises Kaufman.21 The show performed by Beaty and directed by Kaufman was also produced at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2015.22

Mr. Joy

Beaty's solo-actor play Mr. Joy was inspired by his early experience in New York City as a customer of a Chinese immigrant who owned a local shoe repair shop.23 The play appeared at the Riverside Theatre in May 2012, directed by Sheryl Kaller, co-presented by the New Heritage Theatre Group.24 In 2015, the play was produced at the City Theatre in Pittsburgh, with actress Tangela Large performing all of the nine characters, directed by Lou Jacob.25 Large also performed the play in a 2015 production at ArtsEmerson in Boston, directed by the artistic director for ArtsEmerson, David Dower,26 while Beaty was an artist-in-residence at ArtsEmerson.27 A production was also staged in 2025 at the Chester Theatre Company in Massachusetts, performed by Godfrey Simmons and directed by Vernice Miller.28

Breath & Imagination

Beaty wrote a musical titled Breath & Imagination, based on the life of Roland Hayes, the son of a former slave who became a classical vocalist who performed in Europe for royalty and became the first African-American to sing at Symphony Hall in Boston.29 In 2013, the musical was produced at Hartford Stage, starring the baritone Jubilant Sykes as Roland.30 While Beaty was an artist-in-residence at ArtsEmerson, he further developed Breath & Imagination,29 and the musical was produced at the Paramount Theatre in Boston in 2015, directed by David Dower.31 The musical was also performed in Boston in 2018, by The Lyric Stage Company and The Front Porch Arts Collective, directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent.32

New Heritage Theatre Group

By 2014, Beaty had developed five plays at the New Heritage Theatre Group in Harlem,3 and in 2024, Beaty was named the creative producer at the New Heritage Theatre Group.33

Film

Beaty was seen on the third and fourth seasons of HBO's Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry;34 as a guest artist on NBC's Showtime at the Apollo with Rueben Studdard;35 and on BET's 106 & Park.

Beaty was hired by Showtime to create an original half-hour series based on his play Emergency36 and by Spitfire Pictures to create an original screenplay about the life of George Moses Horton, an African-American poet born into slavery.

Beaty co-wrote and starred in the 2016 film Chapter & Verse, directed by Jamal Joseph.37

Music

In October 2008, Daniel collaborated with composer and violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain on an orchestral work titled Darwin's Meditation for the People of Lincoln that premiered at the BAM Next Wave Festival and continues to tour nationally and internationally.3839 His family musical Trippin’ was optioned by Disney and produced by Harlem Stage.

Teacher

After graduate school, Beaty began teaching acting, singing and writing in Brooklyn, Harlem, and the Bronx. Beaty has worked as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of the Arts at Columbia University.

Awards

  • 2004 Grand Slam Champion at the Nuyorican Poet's Café1
  • 2007 Obie Award5 for Excellence in Off-Broadway Theater for Writing & Performing
  • 2007 AUDELCO Award for Solo Performance
  • 2007 New York Culture Award for Best in Theater
  • 2007 Scotsman Fringe First Award for the best new writer at the Edinburgh Festival
  • Lamplighter Award from the Black Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C.
  • 2008 Edgerton Foundation's new American Play Award
  • 2008 Helen Hayes Award nominations for the best in theater in Washington, D.C.
  • 2008 winner of the Unique Theatrical Experience Award from the New Jersey Star Ledger
  • 2009 NAACP Theater Awards including Best Actor
  • 2010 NAACP Theater Award for Best Solo Show
  • 2010 AUDELCO Award for Solo Performance
  • 2010 Ovation Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play
  • 2011 Peter Slenderize Memorial Award from Theater Communications Group

Published works

References

References

  1. Lee, Felicia R. (1 October 2006). "A One-Man Rhyming History Slam". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  2. Richardson, Clem (8 September 2011). "One-man show, 'Emergency!' is serious work for actor/playwright". New York Daily News. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  3. Timberg, Scott (14 May 2014). "Putting Drama to Work to Soothe". The New York Times.
  4. Catlin, Roger (January 18, 2014). "Daniel Beaty in 'The Tallest Tree in the Forest' at Arena Stage: The singer's performance in 'The Tallest Tree in the Forest' is inspired by a great voice from the past". The Washington Post (Online).
  5. Haithman, Diane (20 April 2008). "A one-man show -- with a cast of dozens". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  6. Orel, Gwen (October 2006). "A Place the Heart Can Handle". American Theatre. 23 (8). New York, New York: 27.
  7. Reviews of Emergence-See!
  8. Reviews of Emergency at the Cutler Majestic Theatre
  9. Hernandez, Ernio (January 20, 2008). "Readings of Beaty's Resurrection Offered at Hartford Stage Jan. 20-21". Playbill. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  10. Reviews of Resurrection at Arena Stage
  11. Reviews of Resurrection at Hartford Stage
  12. Nichols, Larry (21 January 2009). "Hope and 'Resurrection'". Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  13. Reviews of Resurrection at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre
  14. George, D (25 September 2009). "6 men, 6 issues on the table in 'Resurrection'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  15. "Resurrection Reviews - Theatre In Chicago - Play Reviews". Theatre in Chicago. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  16. Metz, Nina (October 7, 2009). "Intriguing eta production needs to piece together the fragments -- chicagotribune.com". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  17. Reviews of Through the Night at Union Square Theater
  18. Lee, Harper (1 October 2012). "Through the Night (Review)". Cincinnati CityBeat. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  19. Carter, Alice T. (24 January 2012). "Review: Solo performer’s work lights up ‘Night’". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  20. Hyde, Paul (February 1, 2016). "Review: 'Through the Night' a soul-stirring drama". The Greenville News. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  21. Reviews of The Tallest Tree in the Forest
  22. Reviews of The Tallest Tree in the Forest at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
  23. Pender, Rick (29 September 2017). "Enriched by Mr. Joy's Community". Cincinnati CityBeat. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  24. Gans, Andrew (May 12, 2012). "Daniel Beaty's Mr. Joy, Directed by Sheryl Kaller, Begins Limited Run at The Riverside Theatre May 12". Playbill. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  25. Carter, Alice T. (2 February 2015). "Review: Single-actor drama 'Mr. Joy' opens dialogue on urban issues". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  26. Reviews of Mr. Joy at ArtsEmerson
  27. Byrne, Terry (May 7, 2015). "ArtsEmerson's 2015-16 season focuses on diversity - The Boston Globe". Boston Globe. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  28. Bergman, J. Peter (11 August 2025). "THEATER REVIEW: Chester Theatre Company's production of 'Mr. Joy' plays through Aug. 17". The Berkshire Edge. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  29. Hartigan, Patti (January 24, 2015). "Beaty's 'Breath & Imagination' celebrates a life that shouldn't be forgotten". Boston Globe. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  30. Reviews of Breath & Imagination at Hartford Stage:
  31. Reviews of Breath & Imagination at the Paramount Theater
  32. Reviews of Breath & Imagination at the Lyric Stage
  33. "Voza Rivers reveals new producer at New Heritage Theatre Group". Rolling Out. 30 December 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  34. "A One-Man Rhyming History Slam". The New York Times (Online). October 1, 2006.
  35. Rizzo, Frank (October 16, 2008). "TURNING PAIN INTO POWER: PLAYWRIGHT DANIEL BEATY BRINGS 'RESURRECTION,' A STORY OF BLACK MALE IDENTITY, TO HARTFORD STAGE". Hartford Courant. p. 16.
  36. Armstrong, Linda (September 22, 2011). "Daniel Beaty brings back 'Emergency' and 'Through the Night'". New York Amsterdam News. p. 19.
  37. Kenny, Glenn (2 February 2017). "Review: 'Chapter & Verse' Tells of Prison and Redemption". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  38. "From Bold Works to Bits of Americana". The New York Times (Online). September 8, 2008.
  39. Gener, Randy (February 2009). "POSITIVELY LINCOLNIAN". American Theatre. 26 (2): 10–11.
  40. Andracki, Thaddeus (January 2014). "Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 67 (5): 256. doi:10.1353/bcc.2014.0004.
External links