South Philadelphia-based playwright earns Tony Award nominee for ‘Fat Ham’

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The nominations for the 76th annual Tony Awards were announced Tuesday.

These are Broadway’s top honors, and the revival musical ‘Some Like It Hot,’ leads the season with 13 nods.

A South Philadelphia-based playwright is also celebrating.

James Ijames’ play, “Fat Ham” is up for a Tony Award.

Ijames is a Temple University graduate, a theater professor at Villanova University, and the co-artistic director at the Wilma Theater.

SEE ALSO: ‘Some Like It Hot’ leads Tony Award nominations with 13 nods

“Fat Ham” won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama last year and now, it’s a Tony Award nominee for Best Play.

“I’m over the moon,” Ijames says. “It’s just really lovely, and whirlwind. It feels like it’s been very fast, but I also feel like I’ve been like living with this play for a really long time. I’m just thrilled. I’m beside myself, but also trying to keep my feet on the ground.”

Ijames created “Fat Ham” during the pandemic.

It’s his comedic riff on “Hamlet,” set at a southern BBQ, with a Black family and a queer-focused narrative.

He debuted the show virtually at the Wilma Theater in 2021.

In 2022, the show had its first in-person production Off-Broadway in New York City.

“Fat Ham” then opened on Broadway on March 21.

Ijames tells our Alicia Vitarelli that the Philly audiences prepared him for this Broadway crowd.

“If you know it works in front of this local audience, then you know it can meet any audience,” Ijames says. “The Philadelphia audience is one of the most discerning audiences I’ve ever had to put my art in front of. I think I really learned how to be an artist here.”

Ijames says he has this message for his students, any creators and makers, and artists: “That thing that you dream, you’re dreaming it on purpose.”

The 76th annual Tony Awards are on June 11.