The Daddy Issue is a powerful cine-theatre experience from Writer and Executive Producer LarryJean Powell that explores themes of grief, connection, and the complexities of relationships for the queer+ kids in the black family unit. A mourning recording artist meets an older man at a bar, setting off an unexpected night that pushes him to confront pain, pleasure, and the will to live through his daddy issues. This is a live recording of a staged reading in motion—raw, sacred, and cinematic—captured at the legendary CBS Television City Studios. Starring LarryJean Powell, J. August Richards, and Joy DeMichelle, the piece unfolds with stand-up-level comedy, gripping drama, and unflinching honesty. Directed by Devere Rogers, with original score by Mahlick Ceesay and edited by Matt Rasku, it moves like an intimate soul-rock, spoken-word symphony caught on film. GO!
BIOS
larryjean powell (they/them) fka Larry Powell (he/him) is an infinihyphenate, interdisciplinary auteur from South Central Los Angeles—raised in Baldwin Hills with a camera in hand since childhood. they are a writer and actor on the 3x Emmy-nominated TV sitcom The Ms. Pat Show. as an actor, they’ve been nominated twice for the Ovation Award, three times for the NAACP Theatre Award, and once for the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Award, winning twice with the LA Drama Critics Circle. as a director, they are a
multiple Audelco and Audie Award nominee and the 2023 Audie Award winner for Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau. their digital series The Gaze received Daytime Emmy nominations in 2021, a Webby Honor, and a Micheaux Film Festival win and played as a #digiplay on Center Theatre Group and The Fountain Theatre's digital stages during lockdown. they returned to the Micheaux Festival in 2023, winning again for their cine-theatre piece Strong Friend, Let Go. their debut feature Mother’s Milk received the Special Jury Prize at the 2021 Seattle International Film Festival and screened at the Pan African Film Festival. as a writer, powell is a 2021 Rhimes Unsung Voices Commission recipient, the inaugural Circle of Confusion Fellow, a Cornelia Street American Playwriting Award winner, and a two-time O’Neill National Playwrights Conference finalist. their play The Daddy Issue originated and continues to be supported by NYC’s Obie Award-winning The Fire This Time Festival. Proud Los Angeles LGBT Center Artist in Residence.
Malick Ceesay is a musician, playwright, and sound designer with intention on multidimensional storytelling for the stage. As a sound designer, his most notable work is FAIRVIEW with UCLA TFT and We The People with WACO Theatre Company. Malick’s composition, design, and mixing credits include Snow in Atlantis, Def Poetics, Still Harvey Still, Antigone, Tell Me I’m Gorgeous at the End of the World, and FAIRVIEW. As a playwright, his most recent work SUPERAMERICA was workshopped and produced in UCLA TFT’s New Play Festival. Malick is currently a part of IAMA Theatre's Emerging Playwrights Lab for the 2024-25 season. His other plays include Dynamite, Waiting in Vain, The Jazz Equation, and Sacrosanct. His play BLOODSOIL, circa 87 was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill playwright conference 2022. He was also a finalist for National Black Theatre's "I AM SOUL” playwright residency in 2024. Nationally, Malick has worked with theaters and other institutions such as Ambiance Theatre Company, AMDA College of Performing Arts, Capri Theater, Full Circle Theatre, The Playwrights’ Center, Red Eye Theater, and REDCAT. Malick holds an MFA in Playwriting from UCLA and a BA in Theater from Augsburg University.
Joy DeMichelle (she/her) actress, intimacy choreographer, teaching artist and director recently closed GREENWOOD 1964 as Fannie Lou Hamer and was mostly recently seen on stage in MACBETH at A Noise Within. She has performed regionally in theaters such as Round House Theatre, South Coast Rep, Mark Taper Forum, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Denver Center, WACO Theatre and Crossroads Theatre (NJ) to name a few. Select television credits include: Grey’s Anatomy, Mike, All American, Snowfall, The L Word: Generation Q, For the People, Outlaw, and American Gun. As an Intimacy Choreographer, a few recent credits include the critically acclaimed production on Bacon at the Rogue Theatre, Jelly’s Last Jam at Pasadena Playhouse and various productions at USC and Chapman. Television/Film: Wild Rose, Imbalance, Stobe, We’re Not Married. Joy’s intimacy work includes workshops at CBS Studios Pipeline Challenge, Celebration Theatre, USC, Chapman University and CSULB Theatre Departments. Memberships include: SAG/AFTRA, AEA and National Alliance of Acting Teachers; Joy is a graduate of NCA & T University and holds a MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University where she was the recipient of the Bettenbender Award. To learn more visit www.JoyDeMichelle.com or IG: ActingWithJoy.
J. August Richards - A graduate of the USC School of Dramatic Arts, J. August Richards first came to prominence as vampire hunter Charles Gunn on Angel, followed by his turn as Mike Peterson/Deathlok on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. With over 250 hours of television to his name, he has starred in seven network and cable series, including Council of Dads and, most recently, Vampire Academy. His early film credits include The Temptations and Why Do Fools Fall in Love?. On stage, he has mesmerized audiences in Lobby Hero at The Old Globe and Space at the Mark Taper Forum. A three-time Daytime Emmy nominee for his work as a writer, actor, and director on the acclaimed digital series Giants, Richards continues to build a dynamic, multifaceted career across film, television, and new media.
Devere Rogers is an actor, playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born and raised in Atlanta, GA and a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts. As a performing theater artist, he has appeared in productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally. In TV, he has made appearances on shows like Abbott Elementary, Grey’s Anatomy, Sherman’s Showcase, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Will & Grace, to name a few. In Film, he has had starring roles in the My Spy franchise, Honk for Jesus, Tankhouse, and many more. As a director, he has directed shows in the Hollywood Fringe festival, co-directed The Latrell Show at IAMA Theater company, and numerous readings and workshops.