Columbia at Home: A Visit with Tom Kitt, Kwame Kwei-Armah, and Rita Pietropinto-Kitt
Channel: Columbia Alumni
Date: 11/09/2020

For a conversation about the possibilities and challenges of theater in this moment (and in the future), hear Pulitzer and Tony-winning composer Tom Kitt ’96CC and playwright, actor, and director Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theater in London. Kitt, together with fellow Columbia Brian Yorkey ’93CC and Kwei-Armah, created The Visitor, a musical based on Thomas McCarthy’s acclaimed independent film of the same name. The pandemic postponed the show’s world premiere, originally scheduled for this spring at The Public Theatre in New York.

The Visitor's storyline has current resonance as our nation struggles with issues of immigration, race, identity, and understanding across differences. As the show's publicity states, “Widowed and living alone, Walter is a college professor whose life has lost a sense of purpose. When he discovers two young undocumented immigrants living in his New York apartment, the drummer Tarek and jewelry maker Zainab, Walter finds himself in the middle of their battle to stay in an America that’s lost its better angels.” You will watch a video clip of a song from the show, and also show and discuss “Oh, Columbia,” the song Kitt composed in May for the 2020 virtual Commencement. Our host is the actor, drama educator, and former CAA chair Rita Pietropinto-Kitt ’93CC, ’95SOA.