NY Times Critic’s Pick: ‘Purlie Victorious’ Throws a Comic Funeral for Racism

Kara Young, a two-time Tony award nominee, 2022 Student Leadership Network (Em)Power Breakfast Honoree, and alumna of The Young Women’s Leadership School, shines in the Broadway revival of ‘Purlie Victorious’ with co-star Leslie Odom Jr.

By Jesse Green, Photo by Sara Krulwich
Published in The New York Times on September 27, 2023

Originally played by [Ruby] Dee, and now by Kara Young, Lutiebelle is a rich creation, sweet and hungry, down-home and dirty. Young, a two-time Tony nominee known mostly for dramatic roles, is also a daring comedian, finding in Lutiebelle a cross between Lucille Ball and Moms Mabley. That she is not afraid to go as far as the part can take her — with a gawky pigeon-toed gait and hilariously lustful line readings in a taffy-pulled Southern accent — is a sign of the freedom the play gives her (and everyone else) to represent a character instead of a race.