PRODIGY
THE SERIES
CONCEIVED BY DENISE WOODS
LOG LINE
The tragedy of September 11th 2001 changed the course of thousands of lives. Living just miles away from the epicenter, five young, Black, burgeoning artists were among them. With dreams of stardom, personal challenges and a fierce determination to succeed at any cost, these prodigious hopefuls get a taste of what it takes to “make it” at a world-renowned New York conservatory. Do they have what it takes? They have four years to prove themselves.
Much like the dramatic tone of Whiplash, Prodigy explores the the joy and pathos that accompany artistic genius. Exacerbated by systemic racism, sexual identity challenges and societal mores, the artistic genius for a person of color can be an asset or a liability. The struggle for emotional balance can be volatile and very lonely.
TONE
STORY
Set in the early 2000’s, Desiree, JoJo, Jackson, Donna and Milan are five Black artists from varied backgrounds that have chosen to take the “classical” route as their form of artistic expression. As a result, they are often met with curiosity, ridicule, even disdain. The tireless pursuit of their dreams is something that none of their friends or family members dare to attempt, they are “the first.” Their acceptance into the highly competitive Adler School has taken courage, confidence and fierce determination. However, the challenges of maintaining their cultural and artistic authenticity, while balancing a near impossible work schedule, will be the source of these artists’ survival or ruin.
CAST
DESIREE
Desiree is a Black female opera singer from Washington, DC. Her father is the pastor of a historically Black Baptist Church of major significance. Born Dexter Newhouse III, Desiree becomes estranged from her family and the church community when she bravely makes the decision to identify as a transgender woman. By the time we meet this stunningly gifted singer, she has fought back from homelessness and a near death gender affirmation surgery in Thailand. She is determined to prove to the world that she has what it takes to be a coloratura soprano.
ZENDAYA
JO JO
Jo Jo is a Black jazz pianist from New Orleans, he lives and breathes New Orleans music, culture and history. Not only is Jo Jo a musical genius, he’s a historian and one of the few African-Americans that can trace their lineage back to West Africa. His cultural pride empowers him to rise above the challenges of being in the competitive Adler environment. Jo Jo is able to embrace the harshness that he sees in the world because he is so deeply rooted in the beauty of his own world. Wise beyond his years, Jo Jo’s profound spiritual connection to his ancestors is his anchor.
CHRIS O’NEAL
JACKSON
Jackson is a Black actor from Oregon, however, he was deemed a football phenom at a young age. When Jackson enrolls in a theater course at his junior college, “just for the fun of it,” he surprisingly becomes obsessed with acting, particularly with performing the complex characters of Shakespeare. He ends up trading hours of practice time for hours of rehearsal time. To the adamant disapproval of his family, Jackson decides to give up football completely after being accepted to several of the finest acting training programs in the nation. While auditioning for The Adler School in New York, his odyssey of self-discovery leads him to the first real love of his life. THIS will leave him questioning all he has ever known about life and love.
IAN DUFF
DONNA
Donna is a Puerto Rican dancer from a Bronx working class family. She’s a beautiful blend of African and Latin roots, with a hip-hop, ballet and modern dance flair rolled into one beautifully expressive body. Unfortunately, she doesn’t see her beauty or her talent. In her mind, her muscles are too masculine, her legs aren’t long enough and her feet are too flat. Donna’s body dysmorphia disorder leads her parents to suggest auditioning for The Adler School as a remedy, little do they know that the school’s misguided dance culture will only add to their deepest fears.
ALYCIA PASCUAL-PEÑA
MILAN
Milan is a Black violist from Akron, Ohio. She is the descendant of Black generational wealth, both her parents are second and third generation physicians respectively. Milan was expected to follow her family’s professional trajectory, but instead found at an early age that music and activism were her true calling. Encouraged and supported by her family, Milan brings an unprecedented level of student-led activism to The Adler School. After years of being in constant battle with the world’s injustices, she is forced to seek inner peace when a horrific assault nearly takes her life. The result of which leads her to become one of the early members of the “Me Too” Movement several years later.
AMANDLA STENBERG
MICHELE
Michele, an alumna of The Adler School, is the first Black Drama Department faculty member in the school’s history. Having gone to the school, she quickly becomes a mentor and an ally for the students of color in all departments. Michele’s decision to return home to New York at the height of a successful Canadian stage career is a conscious choice to impact the lives of the young Adler artists that are following in her footsteps. Once back in New York with her 5-year-old son, Michele is delivered a devastating health diagnosis which challenges her to hold the lives of her students together as she fights for her own life and the future of her little boy.
ANIKA NONI ROSE
RICO
Rico is an accomplished, classical Spanish guitarist who hails from Seville, Spain. Enrique Esperanza, called Rico while growing up, has changed his professional name to Henry Esperanza since joining the ranks of the American classical music world. As an upper level administrator at The Adler School, Henry is perceived to be brilliant and extremely capable by some and outright Machiavellian by others. It becomes quite evident over time that his allegiance to the Adler board supersedes his commitment to its students. With closely guarded secrets of a sordid past, it’s just a matter of time before Rico’s ticking time bomb explodes.
WES BENTLEY
DENISE WOODS
Denise Woods has been the ‘voice behind the voice’ of a stellar array of actors for the last twenty years. Most recently she has been in the media spotlight for having coached British actress Naomi Ackie for her starring role as Whitney Houston in the Sony Pictures film I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and is currently coaching Golden Globe winning actor David Oyelowo in the Paramount+ Bass Reeves series directed by Taylor Sheridan. Denise coached the Netflix feature films The Harder They Fall starring Idris Elba, and A Jazzman’s Blues, Tyler Perry’s magnum opus. As the creative consultant for Halle Berry’s directorial debut of the film Bruised, she contributed to the authenticity of Berry’s performance in the deeply demanding starring role. Denise was also the vocal coach for Mahershala Ali’s Academy Award and Golden Globe winning performance in the film Green Book and the third season of HBO’s True Detective. She coached Don Cheadle in the critically acclaimed Showtime series, Black Monday, Academy Award winning actor Common, Academy Award nominated actor Will Smith for the title role in the film Ali, and Ken Watanabe for his work in the film The Last Samurai. Her dialect coaching talent can also be experienced in the characters of Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Mahershala Ali in the 20th Century Fox film Hidden Figures and in the Focus Features film Harriet, starring Cynthia Erivo in the title role. Denise worked with Audra McDonald on her fourth Tony Award winning performance in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess on Broadway. Her book, The Power of Voice, was released by Harper One Publishers in 2021 and her critically acclaimed podcast Our Voices On The Yard is the inspiration for Prodigy, The Series.
Our Voices On The Yard: Reel | Youtube Channel
Creator/Executive Producer
Tyrone Davis
Tyrone Davis is a director, producer, educator, and Associate Artistic Director at Center Theatre Group. He previously served as CTG’s Audience Engagement Director where he provided leadership and direction for audience engagement programming at the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. He is the producer of CTG’s Not a Movement, But a Movement initiative which celebrates and amplifies the pipeline of Black artists and stories, presented in partnership with The Fire This Time Festival of NYC and Watts Village Theater Company.
Before joining CTG Tyrone served as Community Artistic Director with American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco where he commissioned, developed and directed new work. Select credits include: Snakes by Chris Webb, Top of the Pyramid by Nikkole Salter, Crack. Rumble. Fly. by Aleshea Harris, and Black Butterflies by Darren Canady. Select producing credits include: Crowndation by Angelica Cheri, Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris, Blues for an Alabama Sky directed by Phylicia Rashad, King James directed by Kenny Leon, Twilight Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna Deavere Smith, and Fetch Clay, Make Man directed by Debbie Allen in collaboration with SpringHill. He is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts School of Theater M.F.A. acting program and holds a B.A. in theater from California State University, Northridge.
Producer/Showrunner
James Anthony Tyler
James Anthony Tyler is the recipient of the 3rd Annual Horton Foote Playwriting Award, an inaugural playwright to receive a commission from Audible, and a 2016 Theatre Masters Visionary Playwrights Award recipient. He is currently a Playwrights Center Core Writer, and most recently was the recipient of The Playwrights Center’s McKnight National Residency and Commission and a member of Circle X Theatre Company’s Evolving Playwrights Group. His plays include Some Old Black Man (Berkshire Playwrights Lab at St. James Place and 59E59 Theaters, and a University Musical Society filmed production), All We Need Is Us (Keen Company, currently streaming on all podcast platforms) hop thA A (Currently streaming on Audible), Artney Jackson (World Premiere at Williamstown Theatre Festival, 2018 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award), and Dolphins and Sharks (LAByrinth Theater Company and Finborough Theatre in London). He’s a 2021/2018 MacDowell Fellow, a 2021 Hermitage Artist Resident, a 2018 Djerassi Fellow, 2018-2019 Amoralists Wright Club Playwright, 2017-2018 Nashville Rep Ingram New Works Playwright, 2016-2017 Ars Nova Play Group Resident, 2016 Working Farm Playwrights Group Resident at SPACE on Ryder Farm, 2015-2016 Playwrights’ Center’s Many Voices Fellow, 2014-2015 Dramatists Guild Fellow, and he was a member of Harlem’s Emerging Black Playwrights Group. He has a MFA in Film from Howard University and a MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University. He is also a graduate of The Juilliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program. For television, he was the Staff Writer for the OWN Network show “Cherish the Day” created by Ava DuVernay, and was most recently in the writers’ room for a new Apple + Drama Series starring an Academy Award winning actress.
Writer/Producer
Prodigy: The Series. 2023.
CONTACT AND INQUIRIES:
DENISE WOODS
WOODS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC
dwoodsca@gmail.com