Pulitzer Prize winning author and playwright Katori Hall will look to continue her success in the television space with the second season launch of Starz’s hit drama series P-Valley.

The series, based on Hall's 2015 play Pussy Valley, follows the events revolving around a small, Mississippi-based strip club and the big characters who come through its doors. 

When she’s not serving as creator, writer, showrunner and director for P-Valley, Hall is active in the theater. She’s on tap to direct her 2021 Pulitzer Prize-winning off-Broadway play The Hot Wing King in 2023, and is collaborating on an upcoming U.S. Tour of the Broadway play Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, based on Hall’s 2020 Tony Award-nominated book. 

Hall spoke to Multichannel News on the eve of the June 5 second season premiere of P-Valley to talk about the success and expectations for the drama series, as well as the challenges of writing for both TV and the theater. A edited transcript of the conversation appears below. 

MCN: Does the success of P-Valley’s first season help or hurt the prospects for a successful sophomore campaign?

Katori Hall: It's interesting, I don't even try to think about it because it's a thing you can't replicate. The season one success was so unexpected – the show dropped at a crazy time in the middle of a pandemic – so you just can't replicate that given circumstance. I know that the interaction with the show is going to be different this time around; we're two years away from that moment versus being in the thick of it.  Right now people expect us to be excellent, but I am the type of person that really focuses on the things that I can control, and that’s the writing, directing and the creation of it all. I really think that across the board, from the writing to the acting to the directing, it's a show that's a thousand percent better.

MCN: You have talked a lot about the importance of authenticity in storytelling. Has Starz allowed you to tell the story you wanted to tell?

KH: Absolutely. From the page to the sound stage to the editing booth, I literally had so much control. This season was incredibly ambitious because we were outside and on location a lot. We were really aiming to go outside the borders of [fictional city Chucalissa, Ms.] so that audiences could travel the south with our characters. I'm really happy that I was able to achieve 90% of my goals creatively in season two.

MCN: What should viewers expect to see in season two?

KH: In season two we're going to get deeper into the lives of our characters. I think it's really important when you get inside of someone's bedroom or someone's closet -- you get to understand them so much better. I just feel as though we're going to pull those story threads and those power dynamics from season one, but they're going to play out in a more intimate way.

MCN: Now that you have two seasons of the series under your belt, do you have a preference between writing for television and playwriting?

KH: I prefer both … they are just very different from each other. I think about my latest play, The Hot Wing King, in which there’s just one space that I have all of my characters come in and out of. With a TV show like P-Valley, I now have 20,000 spaces and sometimes 50 scenes in one episode. I love being able to bounce back and forth between both mediums. I think being a TV writer makes me a better playwright and vice versa. Not a lot of writers get the opportunity to be able to bounce back and forth.

MCN: Having said that, are you working on any other television shows or plays at the moment?

KH: So with The Hot Wing King, which won the Pulitzer Prize last year, I'll be making my theater directorial debut in Atlanta in early 2023. That’s a project that I hold very near and dear to my heart because it’s based on my brother and his partner. Also Tina, The Tina Turner Musical which I worked on, is about to start its U.S. tour. I’m just really excited to jump back into the theater because it’s been dark for so long [due to the pandemic]. It felt like with P-Valley we did 10 movies and that was very taxing, so it ‘s going to be a breath of fresh air to be back in the theater again. ■ 

Longtime Fox News commentator Charles Krauthammer died Thursday after a bout with cancer, the network said.

In a statement, Fox News said Krauthammer – who joined Fox News in the mid 2000s while continuing to serve as a columnist for the Washington Post, where he won a Pulitzer Prize in for commentary in 1987 -- was an “inspiration to all of us and will be greatly missed." 

Krauthammer's death comes nearly two weeks after announcing he only had "a few weeks left to live" in a farewell letter that appeared in the Post.   

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and friend, Charles Krauthammer," said the Fox News in the statement. "A gifted doctor and brilliant political commentator, Charles was a guiding voice throughout his time with Fox News and we were incredibly fortunate to showcase his extraordinary talent on our programs. He was an inspiration to all of us and will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his beloved wife Robyn and his son Daniel."

The network on Friday will air a special Charles Krauthammer: His Words, which will include reflections on Krauthammer’s life and work by Fox News on-air personalities and contributors Bret Baier, Brit Hume, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Fred Barnes, and George Will, according to the network.

Baier tweeted Thursday night regarding Krauthammer's death: "R.I.P. good friend. I am sure you will be owning the panel discussion in heaven as well." 

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