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. ■ 

Paramount Plus will have the Tony Awards on Sunday, Sept. 26, and Paramount Plus and CBS will both air The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back! after the Tony's, the live special offering a concert and presenting a small number of major Tony Awards. 

The 74th annual Tony Awards, celebrating the best in theater in the 2019-2020 Broadway season, happens at 7 p.m. ET Sept. 26 and The Tony Awards Present airs 9 to 11 p.m. ET/PT. That can also be viewed on the CBS app. 

The 2019-2020 Broadway season was of course interrupted by the pandemic, which closed theaters in March 2020. The Tony Awards were initially scheduled for June 2020. 

The Tony Awards are presented by the Broadway League and The American Theatre Wing.

The Tony Awards Present is a live concert event featuring Broadway talent, and the special will also present the Tony's for Best Play, Best Revival of a Play and Best Musical. 

“We are thrilled to bring the best of Broadway to television viewers who have been through so much without the joys, comfort and excitement that live theater provides,” said Jack Sussman, executive VP, specials, music, live events and alternative programming, CBS Entertainment. “With the combined power of CBS and Paramount Plus, the show will honor this year’s Tony Award nominees and winners in a new format unlike any other, and celebrate the iconic music, memorable performances and unique personalities that make Broadway so special.”

Broadway shows are set to resume in September. 

“After this devastating past year and a half for our industry, our city and for the entire world, we are excited to finally be able to celebrate the return of Broadway, our Tony Award nominees and winners in this new and exciting format,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League, and Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing. “There is nothing that compares to the magic of live theater—and we are thrilled to be able to share its celebratory return and the incredible talent and artistry of the abbreviated 2019-2020 season with theatre fans everywhere.”

The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back! will be produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions and White Cherry Entertainment. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are executive producers for White Cherry Entertainment. Weiss will direct. 

 Disney Plus has released a first-look trailer for the film version of the hit Broadway pay Hamilton, which debuts on the streaming service July 3. 

The film, which was slated to debut in theaters in fall 2021 but in May was moved up to launch on Disney Plus, was filmed at The Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in June 2016is and stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, who earned a Tony Award for his starring role in the play as Alexander Hamilton. 

Disney will move its film version of hit Broadway play Hamilton from the theaters to Disney+ in July.

The film, which was slated to debut in theaters in fall 2021, will stream on Disney+ beginning July 3, according to Disney executives. The movie, which was filmed at The Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in June 2016, is produced by Jeffrey Seller and Thomas Kail, as well as Lin-Manuel Miranda, who earned a Tony Award for his starring role in the play as Alexander Hamilton. 

The Hamilton film provides Disney+ with new, high-profile content in the midst of a content production slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“No other artistic work in the last decade has had the cultural impact of Hamilton—an inspiring and captivating tale told and performed in a powerfully creative way. In light of the extraordinary challenges facing our world, this story about leadership, tenacity, hope, love and the power of people to unite against the forces of adversity is both relevant and impactful,” said Robert A. Iger, Executive Chairman of The Walt Disney Company in a statement. “We are thrilled to bring this phenomenon to Disney+ on the eve of Independence Day, and we have the brilliant Lin-Manuel Miranda and the team behind Hamilton to thank for allowing us to do so more than a year before planned.”

Added Lin-Manuel Miranda: “I’m so proud of how beautifully Tommy Kail has brought ‘Hamilton’ to the screen. He’s given everyone who watches this film the best seat in the house. I’m so grateful to Disney and Disney+ for reimagining and moving up our release to July 4 weekend of this year, in light of the world turning upside down. I’m so grateful to all the fans who asked for this, and I’m so glad that we’re able to make it happen. I’m so proud of this show. I can’t wait for you to see it.”

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