Ricardo Khan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ricardo Khan
Kahn in 2019
Born	November 4, 1951 Washington, D.C., US
Other names	Rick
Occupation	Playwright theater director
Known for	Crossroads Theatre

Ricardo "Rick" Khan (born November 4, 1951) is an American playwright and theater director. He has both African and Indian family roots. He helped start the Crossroads Theatre in New Jersey, which won a special Tony Award. Khan is also a well-known director in America and around the world.

As a writer, his first play, Fly, started in 2007. It later won several NAACP Theater Awards in 2018. This play, which Khan co-wrote and directed, tells the exciting story of the Tuskegee Airmen. These were brave American World War II heroes. Khan has also written or co-written other plays, including Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing, Freedom Rider, and Letters From Freedom Summer.

Early Life and Learning

Ricardo Khan was born in Washington, D.C., on November 4, 1951. He was the first of five children. His father, Mustapha Khan, came from Trinidad and Tobago. His mother, Jacqueline Driver, was from Philadelphia. They met while studying at Howard University.

The family later moved to Camden, New Jersey. His father was a respected family doctor for over 50 years. His mother raised the children and also worked as an educator and volunteer nurse. After his father passed away, a street was named after him in Camden.

Ricardo went to Quaker schools for most of his education. He grew up in city neighborhoods in Philadelphia and Camden. His parents were active in the American civil rights movement. They worked to improve their communities. Ricardo and his siblings joined many youth groups. These included the Boy Scouts, Little League Baseball, and the YMCA.

One day trip to New York changed his life. He saw the 1968 Broadway show Hello Dolly. It had an all-Black cast, and he was amazed. Soon after, he joined his high school drama club. This led him to use theater to bring people together. He wanted to help people from different backgrounds understand and respect each other.

He studied psychology at Rutgers College and graduated in 1973. He then went to the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. In 1977, he earned two master's degrees in acting and directing.

Theater Career

Starting Crossroads Theatre

After finishing school, Khan met L. Kenneth Richardson. They decided to start the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1978. They wrote down their goal on a napkin. They wanted to create a better space for Black theater artists. They aimed to tell more real and human stories about African Americans in the arts.

Khan first worked as a co-founder and executive director. Later, he became the artistic director in the late 1980s. He helped create and stage many plays by African-American writers. These plays showed full and honest characters and stories. During his time, Crossroads presented important American plays. These included works by August Wilson and George C. Wolfe.

The famous theater leader Joseph Papp called Crossroads one of his favorite theaters. In 1999, Crossroads won a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater. It was the first time a Black theater company received this award.

Khan once told the New York Times about Crossroads. He said, "Forming Crossroads was about trying to change the world. It was about being part of an artistic world that celebrates the human spirit."

New Journeys and Fly

In December 1999, Khan took a break from Crossroads. He spent a year in Trinidad and Tobago, his father's home country. Later, he traveled to South Africa. He wanted to find new ways to explore the African American experience. He believed that a global view could help African Americans define themselves.

While he was away, Crossroads faced financial problems and closed for a season in 2000. In 2003, Khan was asked to return and help reopen the theater. Crossroads has continued to be a strong force in American theater. Khan is now an Artistic Director Emeritus and still gives creative advice.

Since 1999, Khan has worked as a freelance director. He has worked at Lincoln Center in New York and the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He also taught at the University of Missouri. He lived in Trinidad and South Africa for some time. He also started The World Theatre Lab, a group of writers based in New York, London, and Johannesburg.

In 2005, Lincoln Center asked Khan to write a new play. He started writing Fly with Trey Ellis. The play was inspired by stories of the Tuskegee Airmen from World War II. Khan had first worked on a play about them called Black Eagles in 1989. He even found out that one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, Elwood T. "Woody" Driver, was his mother's cousin.

Fly first appeared at Lincoln Center in 2007 as a short play. Khan used a video-game like style on stage. He also included a "tap griot" character. This tap dancer showed emotions and parts of the story the airmen couldn't express. This helped reach younger audiences. After President Barack Obama honored the Tuskegee Airmen in 2009, Khan and Ellis expanded the play. It became a full-length show for all ages. Fly has been performed many times across the country. In 2017, a New York production was nominated for eight NAACP Theater Awards. It won three: Best Production, Best Lighting, and Best Choreography.

Other Important Plays

In 2013, Khan worked with Trey Ellis again. They wrote Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing. This play is about Jazz music and Negro Leagues baseball in 1945. This was the year Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball. Like Fly, this play first showed at Crossroads. Then it went on to other major productions.

In 2015, Khan created Freedom Rider. This play tells many stories at once. He worked with four other writers on it. It is about a group of college students, both Black and white, on a bus trip south in 1961. In 2018, Khan partnered with Denise Nicholas and Sibusiso Mamba for Letters From Freedom Summer. This play is a follow-up to Freedom Rider. It is set in 1964 during the fight for voting rights in Mississippi.

Special Events and Recognition

In 2016, Khan produced and directed the opening night celebration. This was for the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Many famous performers and artists were involved, including Oprah Winfrey and Stevie Wonder.

Khan holds a master's degree in acting and directing. He also has an honorary doctorate from Rutgers University. He is in the university's Hall of Distinguished Alumni. He has also served on the board of Theatre Communications Group. This is a national organization for professional theaters in America. He was its president from 1995 to 1998.