Will Power (performer)

Will Power is an award-winning American actor, rapper, playwright, and educator.

Career

Power has been a featured performer on Last Call with Carson Daly and Russell Simmons’s Def Poetry Jam on HBO. He also starred in the 1998 film Drylongso, a hit at Sundance, as well as being featured in the documentary All Fathers are Sons.

A pioneer in the genre of hip hop theatre, Power has created a unique fusion of original music, rhymed dialogue, and choreography. His adaptation of the Greek tragedy Seven against Thebes, entitled The Seven, recently completed a successful Off-Broadway run at the New York Theatre Workshop.

In January of 2010, “McCarter Theatre Center” premiered "Fetch Clay, Make Man". The play focuses on the relationship between “Muhammad Ali”, the famous boxer, and “Stepin Fetchit”, an African-American actor, on the eve of Ali’s 1965 defense of his heavyweight championship against “Sonny Liston”.

In addition to composing the music used in his shows, Power has also written lyrics and music heard on MTV, UPN’s Moesha, and NBC's Kingpin. He is also the lead vocalist of the Omar Sosa Sextet.

Power also teaches theatre and performance across the globe.

Awards and nominations

• Awarded a United States Artists fellowship for theater arts, 2008
• Won TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award, 2006
• Won Joyce Carol Thomas Award, NYFA Fellowship, 2005
• Won Jury Award for Best Theatre Performance at the HBO United States Comedy Arts Festival, 2004
• Won Trailblazer Award from the National Black Theater Network
• Nominated for Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance, 2004
• Nominated for two AUDELCO awards