Purlie Victorious
CLIENT
Situation Interactive
TECHNOLOGIES
WordPress, PHP, JavaScript, SASS
YEAR
2023
EXTERNAL URL
The first Broadway revival in over 60 years of Ossie Davis’ 1961 comedy, starring Leslie Odom Jr. and directed by Kenny Leon. Another play revival in a run that included American Buffalo, for colored girls, and The Minutes — each with its own cultural weight and compressed timeline. This one carried a producer roster including Samuel L. Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, and Kerry Washington, and eventually became a PBS Great Performances broadcast.
Led the build end-to-end at Situation Interactive.
Background
A culturally significant revival with star power at every level — and no room for delay.
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch — Ossie Davis’ 1961 comedy about a Black preacher’s scheme to reclaim his inheritance from a plantation owner — was returning to Broadway for the first time in over 60 years. Kenny Leon directed, Leslie Odom Jr. starred in his first Broadway role since Hamilton, and the cast included Kara Young, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Billy Eugene Jones, Jay O. Sanders, and Heather Alicia Simms. The producer roster — Samuel L. Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, Kerry Washington, Alan Alda — amplified the stakes. Previews began September 7, 2023, at the Music Box Theatre. Like the American Buffalo and for colored girls revivals I had built earlier, this was a limited engagement where every day of ticket sales mattered and the site had to be launch-ready well before the first audience arrived.
The cultural weight of the production — and the visibility of its producers — meant the digital presence had to be polished and performant from the first public moment.
Implementation
Mature infrastructure deployed fast, with a design system bridging stage identity and digital experience.
By this point in the portfolio, the core architecture — ticketing calendar, cast profiles, media sections, structured CMS — was proven and could be deployed efficiently. The ticketing calendar rendered the full Music Box Theatre schedule with matinee and evening slots, availability states, and direct purchase links. The cast section handled the deep roster — Odom, Young, Calloway, Jones, Sanders, Simms — with structured profiles that the production team could manage independently.
What set this build apart was the design translation. The production’s visual identity — its typography, color palette, and photographic treatment — needed to feel consistent with the physical marketing materials (posters, Playbill, outdoor advertising). Every component was built against brand guidelines to create that continuity. The frontend was performance-optimized with responsive images, lazy loading, and compressed assets, keeping load times fast on mobile connections — critical for a show where social media campaigns drove a significant share of ticket traffic.
A clean handoff: launched ahead of the first preview and required no structural changes through the production’s full run.
Results
Six Tony nominations, a four-week extension, and a platform that carried the production from opening night to PBS.
The site supported Purlie Victorious through 23 previews and 151 performances at the Music Box Theatre, from the September 7 first preview through the February 4, 2024, closing. The production extended its limited engagement by four weeks beyond the originally announced closing date, driven by strong box office performance and critical acclaim. Six 2024 Tony Award nominations followed: Best Revival of a Play, Best Leading Actor (Leslie Odom Jr.), Best Featured Actress (Kara Young, who won), Best Direction (Kenny Leon), Best Scenic Design (Derek McLane), and Best Costume Design (Emilio Sosa). The production was recorded live at the Music Box Theatre in January 2024 and aired on PBS Great Performances on May 24, extending the show’s reach well beyond its theatrical run.
From limited engagement to Tony nominations to a PBS broadcast — the platform carried the production through every phase, including ones that were not part of the original plan.
