Culture Shock: The Collaboration Hits Broadway
Two legendary artists return to the city in a new Broadway play, The Collaboration
Two legendary artists return to the city in a new Broadway play, The Collaboration
Text: Ava Manson
Decades may have passed since the intimate friendship of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat first captivated the New York City art scene with its collaborative genius, but some accounts of the eclectic pair have still yet to be told. It’s a storied tale of strangers turned companions—Warhol with his international acclaim and newcomer Basquiat with a raw young voice. Two artists at the helm of a quickly changing creative frontier, it was an observers’ dispute if the partnership was worthy of critique or praise.
Four-time Oscar-nominated writer Anthony McCarten knew the pair’s story was one worth telling. Determined to leave vanity to the canvas, he set off on a journey for the truth, imagining the theatrical masterpiece, The Collaboration, in which he shapes Warhol from diary entries and Basquiat from 600-plus paintings. Featuring a renowned cast, from Paul Bettany as Warhol to two-time Tony Award nominee Jeremy Pope as Basquiat, The˜Collaboration is an electric onstage pursuit to uncover the art world’s most publicly hidden past.
The Collaboration by Anthony McCarten and Kwame Kwei-Armah opens at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway December 20, 2022.