Sharon Washington (born September 12, 1960) is an American actress and playwright, best known for her work on stage. In 2018, her one-woman show Feeding the Dragon was produced Off-Broadway by Primary Stages, earning nominations for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. The play was subsequently published by Oberon Modern Plays and adapted as an Audible Original.
In 2023, Washington co-authored the book for New York, New York with David Thompson. The musical, which features music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb and Lin-Manuel Miranda, premiered on Broadway at the St. James Theatre. Loosely based on the 1977 film of the same name by Martin Scorsese, the production earned nine Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical.
A veteran stage performer, Washington has appeared on Broadway in The Scottsboro Boys at the Lyceum Theatre, as well as numerous Off-Broadway productions at The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater, Second Stage Theater, Vineyard Theatre, and New York City Center Encores!, among others. Her film roles include Debra Kane in Joker (2019) and its sequel Joker: Folie à Deux (2024). On television, she is best known for playing Joyce Thomas in the Starz original series Power Book III: Raising Kanan (2021–2025).
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Early life and education
Washington was born on September 12, 1960, in New York City to Connie and George King Washington. Her mother was a New York native who worked as a church secretary. Her father was a South Carolina native who served in the Navy, and later worked as a custodian for the New York Public Library.
Due to her father's work, Washington grew up in an apartment inside the St. Agnes branch of the New York Public Library on Manhattan's Upper West Side. She graduated from The Dalton School on the Upper East Side. She later matriculated to Dartmouth College, earning a B.A. in Government and African American Studies in 1981. After college, she worked as an assistant to Barry Grove, the Executive Producer of Manhattan Theatre Club. She subsequently earned an M.F.A. in Acting from the Yale School of Drama in 1988.
Career
Acting
Washington began her professional career in 1987 while still a student at Yale Drama School, appearing as Grace in the World Premiere of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson at the Yale Repertory Theatre, directed by Lloyd Richards. The following year she understudied the role of Frosine in Molière's The Miser at the Yale Rep, directed by Andrei Belgrader. After graduating from Yale, Washington made her Off-Broadway debut as Valeria in William Shakespeare's Coriolanus at The Public Theater, appearing opposite Christopher Walken in the title role. The production was directed by Steven Berkoff. In 2010, Washington made her Broadway debut as The Lady in the Kander and Ebb musical The Scottsboro Boys at the Lyceum Theatre, directed by Susan Stroman. The production received a record 12 Tony Award nominations, including for Best Musical.
Washington's early Off-Broadway roles include Helen in Shakespeare's Cymbeline at The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park (1989) directed by JoAnne Akalaitis, appearing opposite Joan Cusack as Imogen; Anne Neville in Shakespeare's Richard III at The Public Theater (1990) directed by Steven Berkoff, appearing opposite Denzel Washington as Richard; and Natella Abashwili (The Governor's Wife) in Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle at The Public Theater (1990) directed by George C. Wolfe, appearing opposite Charlayne Woodard as Gresha.
Her additional Off-Broadway credits as an actress, include Cheryl West's Before It Hits Home at The Public Theater/Second Stage Theater (1992) directed by Tazewell Thompson; Catherine Butterfield's Joined at the Head at Manhattan Theatre Club (1992) directed by Pamela Berlin; Arthur Laurents' The Radical Mystique at Manhattan Theatre Club (1995) directed by Laurents; Kia Corthron's Seeking the Genesis at Manhattan Theatre Club (1997) directed by Kaia Calhoun; Alan Ayckbourn's House & Garden plays at Manhattan Theatre Club (2002) directed by John Tillinger; Michele Lowe's String of Pearls at Primary Stages (2004) directed by Eric Simonson; David Hare's Stuff Happens at The Public Theater (2006) directed by Daniel J. Sullivan; J. T. Rogers's The Overwhelming at Roundabout Theatre Company (2007) directed by Max Stafford-Clark; Patrick Barnes's Let Me Put It This Way at The Public Theater (2008) directed by Maria Manuela Goyanes; Kander and Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys at Vineyard Theatre (2010) directed by Susan Stroman; Kurt Weill & Maxwell Anderson's Lost in the Stars at New York City Center Encores! (2011) directed by Gary Griffin; Colman Domingo's Wild With Happy at The Public Theater (2012) directed by Robert O'Hara, for which she was nominated for the 2013 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play; JC Lee's Luce at Lincoln Center Theater (2013) directed by May Adrales; Billy Porter's While I Yet Live at Primary Stages (2014) directed by Sheryl Kaller; Colman Domingo's Dot at Vineyard Theatre (2016) directed by Susan Stroman; Washington's own one-woman play, Feeding the Dragon at Primary Stages (2018) directed by Maria Mileaf; Queen Margaret in Shakespeare's Richard III at The Public Theater (2022) directed by Robert O'Hara; and Harvey Fierstein's La Cage aux Folles at New York City Center Encores! (2026) directed by Robert O'Hara.
Feeding the Dragon
In December 2009, a feature article in The New York Times entitled "Stoking the Furnace, and a Love for Books," chronicled Washington's unique childhood growing up within the walls of the New York Public Library. Her mailbox was subsequently inundated with people "wanting to write her story." Washington ultimately opted to write her own story, which eventually took the form of her one-woman play, Feeding the Dragon.
Feeding the Dragon had its world premiere at City Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA in October 2016. The play was later premiered Off-Broadway at Primary Stages in March 2018, in association with Jamie deRoy and Hartford Stage. All three productions starred Washington, and were directed by Maria Mileaf. While developing the script, Washington was a 2017-18 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Primary Stages. The play received critical acclaim, holding a score of 82% on the review aggregator Show-Score. Pete Hempstead, in a review for TheaterMania praised the production, writing "Washington has a storyteller's gift for animating her tale with lively and distinct impersonations of people from her past, and her easygoing delivery has a way of making us feel like we're taking part in a story-time hour. That endearing aspect of the show makes Washington a pleasure to watch."
Feeding the Dragon was nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. The play was subsequently published by Oberon Modern Plays and adapted as an Audible Original. As an audio play, Feeding the Dragon was selected as an "Audible Essentials Top 100 pick" and has been optioned for development into a live-action/animated YA series. Washington is currently working on a picture book adaptation of the play, entitled The Little Girl Who Lived in the Library for Scholastic. Washington's creative journey working on the play is chronicled in the award-winning documentary film When My Sleeping Dragon Woke directed by Chuck Schultz and Judah Lev-Dickstein.
New York, New York
In 2023, alongside David Thompson, Washington co-authored the book for New York, New York, a musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Inspired by and loosely based on the 1977 film of the same name by Martin Scorsese, the musical premiered on Broadway at the St. James Theatre with the first preview occurring on March 24, 2023. The cast, which was announced on February 1 of the same year, included Clyde Alves, Emily Skinner, and Janet Dacal. It officially opened on April 26, 2023, and closed on July 30, 2023, having played 33 previews and 110 regular performances.
Despite receiving mixed reviews and becoming a commercial disappointment, the Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, received nine Tony Awards at the 76th Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical, winning the award for Best Scenic Design in a Musical. Additionally, the production received six Drama Desk Award nominations, four Drama League Award nominations, and twelve Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, including for Outstanding New Broadway Musical.
Personal life
Washington has been married to documentary filmmaker Chuck Schultz since 2002. The couple lives together in Millbrook, New York.
Washington serves on the board of overseers for the Hopkins Center for the Arts at her alma mater, Dartmouth College. She previously served on the National Board of Directors for SAG-AFTRA.
