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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

LINCOLN CENTER THEATER
ANNOUNCES COMPLETE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM FOR
“THE WHOOPI MONOLOGUES”
A REIMAGINING OF
WHOOPI GOLDBERG’S ICONIC SHOW
DIRECTED BY TONY AWARD NOMINEE WHITNEY WHITE
AT LCT’S MITZI E. NEWHOUSE THEATER

 STARRING
DOMINIQUE FISHBACK
KECIA LEWIS
DANIELLE PINNOCK
KERRY WASHINGTON
KARA YOUNG

 PREVIEWS BEGIN TUESDAY, JULY 7
OPENING NIGHT SET FOR MONDAY, JULY 13

 HEADSHOTS CAN BE FOUND HERE

Rehearsal photos by Angela Marie Orellana HERE.

New York, NY (June 16, 2026) – Lincoln Center Theater announced today the complete cast and creative team for The Whoopi Monologues, a reimagining of Whoopi Goldberg’s iconic show, which begins performances on Tuesday, July 7, with an official opening night set for Monday, July 13 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65^th Street). Written by Whoopi Goldberg and directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Whitney White, The Whoopi Monologues will star Emmy Award Nominee Dominique Fishback (“Swarm,” “The Deuce”), Tony Award winner Kecia Lewis (Hell’s Kitchen), NAACP Image Award Winner Danielle Pinnock (“Ghosts”), Emmy Award-winning producer and Golden Globe-nominated actress Kerry Washington (“Imperfect Women,” American Son), and two-time Tony Award^® winner Kara Young (Purlie Victorious, Purpose), with Kai Heath, Denise Manning, and Pavar Snipe rounding out the cast as understudies.

To download cast headshots, please click here.

The Whoopi Monologues is produced in partnership with Whoop Inc./Tom Leonardis and Simpson Street Productions.

The creative team for The Whoopi Monologues includes Studio Bent: Adam Rigg & Anton Volovsek (Set Design), Tony Award winner Qween Jean (Costume Design), Cha See (Lighting Design), Fan Zhang (Sound Design), Hana S. Kim (Video Design), Nikiya Mathis (Hair & Wig Design), and The Telsey Office (Casting). Tiffany N. Robinson serves as the Stage Manager.

Tickets are currently on sale at LCT.org.

In 1984, then unknown monologist Whoopi Goldberg premiered her provocative, thought-provoking one-woman show on Broadway, torching the rulebook of traditional solo performance in one of the most electrifying debuts of the era. Now, the trailblazing work returns, reimagined for a new generation led by a remarkable ensemble of 5 women bringing Goldberg’s unforgettable characters back to the stage. Funny, vivid, and deeply human, these nuanced portraits feel as fresh and irresistible today as they were over 40 years ago.

BIOGRAPHIES

Dominique Fishback. Emmy, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, Gotham, and Independent Spirit Award nominee across stage, film, and television. After earning her B.A. from Pace University, she wrote and starred in her acclaimed Off-Off-Broadway solo play Subverted. Television breakthroughs include HBO’s “Show Me a Hero” and “The Deuce.” Notable film/TV: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Judas and the Black Messiah (BAFTA nomination), “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” (Critics’ Choice nomination), Project Power, and The Hate U Give. Most recently, she starred in and produced the hit series “Swarm,” earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress. Fishback began in MCC Theater’s Youth Company and is elated to return to the stage at Lincoln Center Theater and to be in such dynamic company honoring the legendary Ms. Whoopi Goldberg.

Kecia Lewis. LCT: Dessa Rose (Drama Desk Nomination). A Tony, Grammy, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Award winner, Lewis is a wildly celebrated storyteller whose career spans more than four decades across stage and screen. Kecia can currently be seen as a series regular opposite Tracy Morgan in “Crutch” for Paramount+ and will next appear opposite Annette Bening in the upcoming feature 42.6. Lewis earned critical acclaim and swept awards season for her performance as Miss Liza Jane in Hell’s Kitchen. Other Broadway credits include Children of A Lesser God, Leap of Faith, The Drowsy Chaperone, Once On This Island, Chicago, Aint Misbehavin’, The Gospel at Colonus, Big River, her debut in Dreamgirls.

Danielle Pinnock is a cultural force whose breakout performances and bold storytelling have established her as one of Hollywood’s most exciting and versatile voices. She is the scene-stealing star of CBS’ “Ghosts,” where she plays Alberta, a Prohibition-era jazz-singer — a performance that earned her the 2025 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

On television, Pinnock is also known for her fan-favorite turn as Sheldon’s no-nonsense math teacher Ms. Ingram on CBS’ hit comedy “Young Sheldon”; her standout appearance on ABC’s “Scandal,” opposite Kerry Washington and Viola Davis; her acclaimed recurring arc opposite Ray Romano and Peter Bogdanovich on EPIX’s “Get Shorty”; and memorable appearances on HBO’s Emmy-nominated A “Black Lady Sketch Show,” “This Is Us,” “This Fool,” and more.

Pinnock has also shared the screen with comedy icons Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross in the Prime Video holiday feature Candy Cane Lane.

A classically trained stage actor and playwright mentored by legendary artist Anna Deavere Smith. She is also the creator of the acclaimed solo documentary-theatre play Body/Courage, developed from over 300 real-life interviews exploring identity, resilience, and body acceptance. Pinnock was also directed by Colman Domingo in Geffen Playhouse’s Barbecue. Her stage work spans Off-Broadway and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the prize-winning play In Conflict. Major regional theaters including The Second City Chicago, Goodman Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Birmingham REP UK, and the Kennedy Center.

Pinnock’s voice work can be heard on Netflix’s “The Boss Baby: Back in Business,” Apple TV’s “Doug Unplugs,” Cartoon Network’s “ThunderCats Roar,” and Peacock’s “Where’s Waldo?”

A true multihyphenate, Pinnock’s laugh-out-loud social platform @BodyCourage has amassed millions of views worldwide, becoming a cultural touchstone for character-driven comedy that blends vulnerability, satire, and social commentary. Her viral characters and series — including her movie recaps, her cooking series Eating My Feelings Cause the World is Scary, the “Parisian Bedbug,” and the holiday favorite Mrs. Claus — have cemented her as a defining comedic voice of the digital era. This holiday season, Pinnock is giving Mrs. Claus her own mic with the new podcast Ho Ho Hold Up, premiering this November.

Pinnock is a proud graduate of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in the UK, where she earned her MFA in Acting with First Class Honors with Distinction, and of Temple University, where she received her BA in Theatre.

With a career that seamlessly bridges television, film, theatre, and digital media, Danielle Pinnock is a creative force shaping the future of storytelling.

Kerry Washington is an Emmy and NAACP Award-winning producer, SAG and Golden Globe Award-nominated actor, New York Times best-selling author, as well as a director, producer, and activist. Washington received widespread recognition for portraying Olivia Pope on ABC’s drama “Scandal.”

She rose to prominence as Olivia Pope on the hit ABC drama “Scandal,” breaking ground as the first Black woman since 1974 to lead a network TV drama. Across its seven seasons, Washington earned two Emmy nominations, a Golden Globe nomination, a SAG nomination, and two NAACP Image Awards, all for her role in the Peabody Award-winning series. Her expansive filmography includes Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Shadow Force, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Django Unchained, Ray, The Last King of Scotland, Save the Last Dance, Our Song, and many others.​

In 2016, Washington launched her production company Simpson Street, whose projects include Netflix’s American Son, the Emmy award-winning ABC special, Live in Front of a Studio Audience, The Fight, and Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere,” “Reasonable Doubt,” “UnPrisoned”, and her YouTube series, “Street You Grew Up On.”

Broadway acting credits include American Son and Race. As producer, she was proud to be a part of Gypsy (Drama Desk for Outstanding Revival) and Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch, both of which were also Tony Award nominees.

Washington most recently was seen starring in the AppleTV+ series Apple TV series Imperfect Women, which she also serves as executive producer. Up next, Washington will be seen in Ben Affleck’s Animals for Netflix.

A lifelong activist, Washington served on The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities under the Obama and Biden administrations. Washington was honored as one of TIME Magazine’s 2022 Women of The Year for her efforts.

Kara Young can currently be seen co-starring in the Amazon MGM feature film Is God Is and starring alongside Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle in the Broadway revival of Proof which has earned her a Drama League Nomination. She can next be seen in The Whoopi Monologues at Lincoln Center.

Previously, Kara was seen on stage starring opposite Nicholas Braun in Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries, which earned her a Drama League Nomination, Drama Desk Nomination, as well as a Lucille Lortell Nomination for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play. In 2025, Kara received her second consecutive Tony award for Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for her performance in Purpose. Kara made history as the first Black performer to be nominated four years in a row and is only the second actress to win two years consecutively. She also won a Drama Desk award and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama League Award for her performance.

In 2024, she starred on Broadway as ‘Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins’ in Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through The Cotton Patch, for which she won a Tony Award in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play. Additionally, her performance in Purlie Victorious also earned her an Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk Award and Drama League nomination.

Young was also recently seen starring in MCC Theater’s Table 17, which earned her a 2025 Lucille Lortel award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play. In 2022, she made her Broadway debut in Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s, for which she earned a Theatre World Award and her first Tony nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play. In 2023, she was Tony nominated for her work in Cost Of Living and won an Obie Award for her performance in the Classical Theatre of Harlem’s production of Twelfth Night.

Kara can be seen in Boots Riley’s “I’m A Virgo” for Prime Video, which earned her an Indie Spirit Nomination for Best Breakthrough Performance. She appeared in HBO Max’s “The Staircase” as well as Netflix’s “The Punisher” and starred in the winning Sundance Short, Hair Wolf. Kara also starred in MCC Theater’s All The Natalie Portmans, for which she received a Lucille Lortel Award Nomination. Her other stage credits include Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, New Englanders, Revolving Cycles Truly And Steadily Roll’d, and Pretty Hunger.

Kai Heath (she/her) hails from Harlem, New York. She is thrilled to be making her Lincoln Center Theater debut. Major love to my family and friends for all the support. Favorite Off-Broadway credits include: Kofa in Amani (National Black Theatre), Leticia in Blooms (Ensemble Studio Theater), The Rowdy in On Sugarland (New York Theatre Workshop), Messenger in Much Ado at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park. Regional credits: Averie in Dot (People’s Light Theater). Sade in Furloghs Paradise (Alliance Theater).

Denise Manning, AKA @TheHalfPintLegend, is a New-York City-based Actor-vist, Comedian, and Musician. Denise was a 2023 Drama Desk Nominee for Outstanding Lead Performance as Amani in AMANI written by A.K. Payne & directed by Josiah Davis. She was co-composer, performer and member of the producing team on the 2023 Capital Emmy Award-Winning PBS documentary The InHEIRitance Project and her narrative performance in the short film The Roll Call: The Roots to Strange Fruit earned her a 2023 New York Emmy nomination. She is the 2021 winner of Songs for our City along with Ben Wexler for their original Song/Composition: “A Place for Me”. Some of her favorite credits include: NYT Critic’s Pick World Premiere and tour of What to Send Up When It Goes Down written by Aleshea Harris & directed by Whitney White, 2022 Outfest Fusion Film Festival Official Selection For the Boys by Ellis Dawson & Mekhai Lee, Los Angeles Independent Shorts Awards Finalist Keep This Far Apart by Tyler English-Beckwith, God is A Comedian, a self-written and self-produced comedic short film and the 2021 Drama League nominated G.O.A.T by Ngozi Anyanwu. Her debut album Sorry I Miss(ed) You to be released later this year. If you want to keep in touch, check out Denisemichellemanning.com for more!

Pavar Snipe. Emmy-nominated producer, comedian, writer, and actress Pavar Snipe is probably best known for her roles as a whole menagerie of petty animals on ABC’s “When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren,” and as the voice of Angela Baker in DreamWorks’ “Dragons: The Nine Realms.” A dedicated disability advocate, she channels her personal experiences with Rheumatoid Arthritis into her comedy, promoting awareness with wit and authenticity. When she’s not performing, Pavar teaches “Funny Ha Ha: The Art of Comedy” at The New School in NYC. Her versatile career has been shaped by comedic training with The PIT Theater, UCB NY and LA, and Second City Hollywood. She was a writer in the CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase (2018), and a fellow in the SNL/PIT Scholarship and Showcase (2021). As a proud advisory board member of the Reelabilities Film Festival, she co-produces and hosts Reelabilities Live! at Lincoln Center. Her hilarious one-woman show Chronically Petty, was a part of the 2026 YALL Fest and was a part of the 2025 Black Women in Comedy Laff Fest. In 2025 she also launched her podcast “It’s Not Even Like That,” which focuses on disability representation in the media. Pavar is also a 2026 Yes and Laughter Lab finalist. Follow her journey at pavarsnipe.com

Whoopi Goldberg (Author) is one of an elite group of artists who have won the Grammy, Academy Award, Golden Globe, Emmy and a Tony Award. She is a bestselling author, prolific producer, and successful entrepreneur, and she is recognized worldwide for her humanitarian endeavors. Born and raised in New York City, she performed in San Diego and the Bay Area. It was there that she created the characters which became “The Spook Show” and evolved into her hit Broadway show, Grammy Award-winning album and the HBO special that helped launch her career. Following a triumphant 20^th anniversary engagement, Whoopi: Back to Broadway, in 2004, that legendary production has now inspired The Whoopi Monologues.  Whoopi was last seen on stage in the iconic role of Miss Hannigan in Annie in the 2024 revival at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden.  She previously appeared on Broadway in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Xanadu.  She made her West End stage debut in 2011, in a special limited run as Mother Superior in Sister Act: The Musical, which she also produced in addition to the Tony Award-winning Thoroughly Modern Millie. Spanning decades, Whoopi’s filmography includes her Academy Award-nominated performance in The Color Purple, Sister Act, Ghost, for which she won the Oscar, and many others. Her 2024 memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me, became an instant New York Times bestseller and bestselling audio book.  She currently moderates ABC’s Emmy Award-winning “The View,” for which she has won a Daytime Emmy Award.

Whitney White (Director) is an Obie and Lilly Award-winning and two-time Tony Award-nominated director, actor, and musician known for her bold and innovative approach to storytelling. Most recently, White earned a 2026 Tony Award nomination for her direction of Bess Wohl’s Liberation, making her the first Black female director nominated for two “Best Direction of a Play” Tony Awards.

Her Broadway credits include Bess Wohl’s Liberation at the James Earl Jones Theatre, The Last Five Years at the Hudson Theatre, and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. She will next direct School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre this fall.

Off-Broadway, White directed Saturday Church at New York Theatre Workshop in 2025 and wrote, composed, and starred in Macbeth in Stride at Brooklyn Academy of Music, in addition to All Is But Fantasy with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Upcoming, she is set to direct a reimagining of The Whoopi Monologues starring Kerry Washington and Kara Young, with previews beginning July 7, as well as the English-language premiere of Ellen B. by Marius von Mayenburg at Steppenwolf Theatre beginning in April 2027.

Her film and television acting credits include Ocean’s Eight, Freeform’s “Single Drunk Female,” FX’s “Louie,” and NBC’s “The Playboy Club.” She also wrote for Boots Riley’s “I’m A Virgo” for Prime Video. Whitney received the 2026 Obie Award for Sustained Achievement in Directing for Liberation and the 2025 Drama League Founders Award for Excellence in Directing. In 2024, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding and, in 2025, for Outstanding Director at the Lucille Lortel Awards for Liberation.

Studio Bent (Scenic Design) unites designers Anton Volovsek and Adam Rigg in a collaboration devoted to bold, conceptually driven design. Combined and independent Awards: Tony Nomination, Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, three times Henry Hewes Design Award. Recent and upcoming credits include: BOWL EP Vineyard Theater, The Unknown Studio Seaview, Bocking Baltimore Center Stage, El Niño and Lincoln In The Bardo Metropolitan Opera, Nuit Sans Aube Paris Opera Comique/Berlin Staatsoper www.studiobentstudio.com

Qween Jean (Costume Design) is a proud Haitian Storyteller and human rights activist committed to protecting all humanity. She Is Tony Award Winning Costume Designer. Jean founded Black Trans Liberation, an organization that provides weekly fellowship, food, groceries and housing resources for the TGNC community. She is the author of Revolution is Love(Aperture). Qween is the 2026 José Esteban Muñoz Award Winner. This year she’s also received a Lucille Lortel Award, Obie Award and Drama Desk Award for Cats: The Jellicle Ball! Jean was a finalist for NYC David Prize. She was the cover of American Theatre Magazine entitled: A New Era! MFA from NYU Tisch. “NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL” Learn more at blacktransliberation.com

Cha See (Lighting Design) made history as the first Filipino lighting designer on Broadway with Oh, Mary! and Liberation. Her honors include the 2026 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for The Unknown at Studio Seaview, a 2026 Obie Award for Sustained Achievement in Design, and an Obie Citation for Wet Brain at Playwrights Horizons. Recent highlights include Oh, Mary! in the West End, Jesus Christ Superstar at Goodspeed, The Disappear at Audible, The Monsters at Two River and MTC, Trophy Boys at MCC, Josh Sharp: Ta-Da! at Greenwich Theatre, Hold Me in the Water at Playwrights Horizons, and You Will Get Sick at Roundabout. Upcoming: Particle Fever at La Jolla Playhouse and The Notebook at Theatre Group Asia. seelightingdesign.com | @seethruuu

Fan Zhang (Sound Design). Kim’s Convenience (National Tour), Good Bones, Jordans (The Public), Trophy Boys (MCC), At the Wedding (Lincoln Center Theater), The Far Country, Paris (Atlantic Theater), Snow in Midsummer (Classic Stage), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Second Stage/Women’s Project), Pumpgirl (Irish Rep), Suicide Forest (Ma-Yi). Regional: Ahmanson, A.C.T, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Steppenwolf, Milwaukee Rep, Long Wharf, Studio Theatre, Kravis Center, Huntington, Old Globe. Member of Local 829. Awards: Drama Desk, Henry Hewes, AUDELCO. Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama. Fanzhangsound.com

Hana S. Kim (Video Design) she/her. Broadway: The Outsiders, Redwood, Real Women Have Curves, The Old Man And The Pool, Summer 1976. Off-Broadway/New York: Sumo, The Harder They Come, Eve’s Song (The Public Theater), A Knock On The Roof (NYTW), Everything Rises (BAM), Magdalene (Prototype Festival). New music/opera: Monkey King (San Francisco Opera), L’Orfeo (Santa Fe Opera), Sweet Land (The Industry), The Anonymous Lover (LA Opera). Awards: Tony Awards, Princess Grace Award, Sherwood Award from CTG, Helen Hayes Award, LA Drama Critics Circle Distinguished Achievement Award among others. www.hananow.com

Nikiya Mathis (Hair & Wig Design) made Broadway history as the first wig designer to receive a Special Tony Award for her work on Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. Her Broadway design credits include Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Purpose, The Heart of Rock & Roll, and Death of a Salesman. She has also designed wigs for television, film, and actresses including Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose & Danai Gurira. An Obie, Drama Desk, Henry Hewes, and Black Women on Broadway Award winner, she teaches masterclasses nationwide. OurBlackTRESSES.com

ABOUT LINCOLN CENTER THEATER

LCT’s mission is to bring exceptional theater to life. Building on a legacy of artistic excellence, LCT strives to expand what is possible: to make the magic of theatre more palpable, empowering visionary artists and extending the invitation for the community to join in celebrating the power of live performance. To see that mission to fruition in a new era at the New York institution, commencing with the current 2025-2026 season, Lear deBessonet assumed the role of Kewsong Lee Artistic Director, alongside Managing Director Mike Schleifer, Executive Producer Barlett Sher, Stacey and Eric Mindich Producer Nicole Kastrinos, Executive Director of Development and Planning Naomi Grabel, and LCT3 Artistic Director and Producer Maria Manuela Goyanes.

Following the season launch on July 30, 2025 with the free Silent Disco Listening Party of the Warriors concept album by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis, deBessonet opened her inaugural season at the Vivian Beaumont Theater with a new production of her celebrated New York City Center Gala revival of Ragtime, the American premiere of the 2025 Olivier Award-nominated play Kyoto and the family opera Amahl and the Night Visitors at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, The Comedy Series, Night Side Songs, and A Woman Among Women with LCT3 at the Claire Tow Theater, and An Evening with Kelli O’Hara in January as well one special gala concert presentation of Man of La Mancha in May at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The season also includes upcoming productions of The Whoopi Monologues at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater; and The Reading Series with LCT3 at the Claire Tow Theater.

Founded in 1985 by Board Chair Hon. John V. Lindsay, Executive Producer Bernie Gersten and Director Gregory Mosher, and led for 33 years by André Bishop, LCT is one of the leading nonprofit theaters in the country, producing an annual season of plays and musicals that have been seen by millions around the globe. It is one of 11 autonomous constituents of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Each year, the three theaters that make up LCT welcome nearly 300,000 audience members to its home on the Lincoln Center campus.

Over the last 40 years, LCT and its outstanding productions have received many of the highest accolades, including 87 Tony Awards, 97 Drama Desk Awards, 79 Outer Critics Cricle Awards, 33 Obies, 11 NY Drama Critics Circle Awards, and one Pulitzer Prize, as well as two finalists.

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