Rehearsal photos by Angela Marie Orellana
Caryn Johnson got on a stage in the Bay Area with characters her imagination created long before the stage. A surfer girl. A little girl who dreamed of long blonde hair. A junkie. A man at the Valley of the Kings. By the time Broadway called in 1984, the world had a new name for her. Whoopi Goldberg.
Lincoln Center Theater opens The Whoopi Monologues July 13 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, previews starting July 7. Five women carry those original characters now — Dominique Fishback, Kecia Lewis, Danielle Pinnock, Kerry Washington and Kara Young — directed by Whitney White. The material is 42 years old.
Whoopi is an actress the way Barbra Streisand was in Funny Girl. While Billy Crystal, Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor were owning arenas and HBO specials, Goldberg took her stand-up to Broadway and showed us her inner “theater kid.” The EGOT catapulted Whoopi to new heights of stardom. The Oscar nomination for The Color Purple came two years after the debut . Her win for Ghost six years after that. A Grammy, Tony, Emmy, Golden Globe followed- earned across genres and decades worth of raw talent, vulnerability and personal truth.
They say the people who can make you laugh are highly intelligent. There’s truth in that. The comics who hold grief inside a punchline, who read a room before the room knows what it’s feeling. Goldberg was doing that in 1984. The world just called it funny.
The View made us see Whoopi’s influence beyond comedy revealing her political and journalistic mind. Since 2007, Whoopi, along with fearless co-hosts discuss race, gender, politics and power – in front of a live audience where Whoopi and the panel hold influence over millions. The View turned her comedy career into intellectual fodder. She began as the funny girl but her roles showed so much depth. She won a Daytime Emmy for that work. Her 2024 memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me, hit the Times bestseller list the week it dropped. Last year’s Annie revival at Madison Square Garden, where she played Miss Hannigan, reminded anyone paying attention: she’s still a stage presence.
The cast assembled for this production get the material as talented and accomplished artists in their own careers. Fishback wrote and starred in her own Off-Off-Broadway solo show before Swarm brought an Emmy nomination. Lewis has four decades on stage and a Tony for Hell’s Kitchen. Pinnock built Body/Courage from 300 real interviews under Anna Deavere Smith’s mentorship. Washington’s Simpson Street is a co-producer — she is behind producing and acting for this project. Kara Young won back-to-back Tonys in 2024 and 2025, the first Black performer nominated four consecutive years.
Whitney White earned her second Tony nomination this year directing Liberation, the first Black female director nominated twice for Best Direction of a Play. Tony winner Qween Jean designed costumes. Nikiya Mathis — the first wig designer to receive a Special Tony Award — handled hair and wigs.
The many faces of Whoopi — Celie, Oda Mae Brown, Miss Hannigan. Now we get to see her depth on one stage, played in its totality by magnetic women who hold depth of their own. The strength Whoopi carries as a creator is legendary. This show gives you every reason to attend. Pick a character, get comfortable, and be open to a twentieth century rendezvous with Whoopi’s incredible mind.
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The Whoopi Monologues previews July 7 and opens July 13 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, New York. Tickets at LCT.org.
