Daniel Carlton
Work & Archive
Daniel Carlton performing with guitarist David Gonzalez.
Daniel Carlton portraying abolitionist Thomas Smallwood in a history-centered performance.
Black-and-white portrait of Daniel Carlton in suspenders.
Daniel Carlton in an auditorium. Venue and date not supplied.
Written by Cynthia Grace Robinson and directed by Daniel Carlton. Negro Ensemble Company and Penn Live Arts program, Cherry Lane Theatre, October 21–November 6, 2022.
Daniel Carlton with the Keep Marching company on set.
Potpourri! Staged Reading Series. Written by Karimah and directed by Daniel Carlton. September 24, 2022, Betty Carter Auditorium for the Arts.
Daniel Carlton with the Freedom Flight company on set.
Daniel Carlton working with a performer in front of a green screen.
Selected projects & press
Theater, touring, historical storytelling, and community-centered creation. Explore selected work below, with press coverage, production credits, and presenter resources placed alongside each project.
Touring & new work
FEATURED PROJECT · NATIONAL TOUR
PigFoot Mary's Harlem Renaissance
2025–2028 · Playwright & director
A two-actor play inspired by Harlem entrepreneur Lillian Harris Dean, known as Pig Foot Mary. The broader development and touring period is 2025–2028; First Woman LLC's announced national tour runs January 11–February 23, 2027.
2027 tour announcement · BroadwayWorld
The House of the Negro Insane
August 14–September 6, 2026 · Director
Daniel Carlton directed Terence Anthony's New York premiere for the Negro Ensemble Company at 59E59 Theaters. Set in a segregated psychiatric institution in 1935, the play explores survival, confinement, and the possibility of life beyond its walls.
Review · New York Amsterdam News
Hero: The Boy From Troy
2025 & 2026 national tours · Director
A musical about young John Lewis and the Civil Rights movement, written by Nambi E. Kelley with music and lyrics by Joe Plummer and produced by First Woman LLC. Daniel directed the first and second national tours.
2025 cast announcement · BroadwayWorld
2026 creative team · BroadwayWorld
Presenter information · Holden & Arts
Finding North
2020–Present · Performer & collaborator
Daniel performs all characters in this history-centered work about John P. Parker, a formerly enslaved man who helped others escape through the Underground Railroad. Written by David Gonzalez and developed further in collaboration with Daniel, the performance pairs storytelling with Gonzalez's blues guitar.
Performance & booking information · Holden & Arts
Teacher resource guide · NJPAC (PDF)
Freedom Flight
2023 · Playwright & director
A play with music for Mad River Theater Works, inspired by the story of Addison White and his escape from slavery to freedom in Ohio. The work connects that history with a fictional descendant's present-day experience and toured nationally after its January 2023 premiere.
Premiere feature · Yellow Springs News
Premiere listing · Antioch College
Keep Marching: The Road to the March on Washington
2024 · Playwright & director
Created for Mad River Theater Works, this play with music draws on oral histories of the 1963 March on Washington. Modern-day teenagers making a podcast and fictional descendants of march participants connect the past to the present.
Production information · Mad River Theater Works
Jabari Dreams of Freedom
2021–2023 stage work & digital adaptation · Director
Written by Nambi E. Kelley and produced by First Woman LLC, Jabari's story brings history, freedom songs, humor, and hip-hop together for young audiences. Daniel directed the stage production and digital film adaptation.
Production history · Holden & Arts
Hidden Inside
May 19–21, 2023 premiere · Co-playwright
Co-written with Nambi E. Kelley, Hidden Inside premiered at the Keen Teens Festival of New Work at Theatre Row, directed by Christopher Burris. A Saturday School drill forces students and a novice teacher beyond high-school archetypes toward honest connection. Published in The Keen Collection, Volume 10.
Premiere & creative team · Keen Company
Licensing · Concord Theatricals
This Ability
2021 · Co-writer & director
A Chicago Children's Theatre digital theater adventure co-created with Nambi E. Kelley. Young performers with disabilities take the center of a superhero story, bringing accessible storytelling and imaginative filmmaking together.
Harlem, history & community
Check Yo Invite, Parts 1 & 2
2019–2021 · Writer, performer & director
A Harlem Stage storytelling project rooted in Harlem history and Renaissance rent-party culture. The related Check Your Invite Too! radio play was written by Daniel and performed with Nambi E. Kelley.
Rent-party event archive · Harlem Stage
Radio-play event archive · Harlem Stage
March On
2015–2019 · Playwright & director
A history-centered theatrical work presented through Blackberry Productions, including appearances at the Apollo Theater and National Black Theatre Festival. Individual presentations included different directing collaborators; the 2015 poster in the photo archive credits Stephanie Berry.
2019 festival preview · Triad City Beat
When Smalls Had It All
2012 · Excerpts also presented in 2025 · Writer & performer
A multimedia verse play celebrating Smalls Paradise and Harlem's musical history, with Daniel as a poetic MC and musical direction by Claudia Hayden. The work connects jazz, characters, archival imagery, and storytelling across the club's eras.
First Woman Productions
2020–Present · Faculty member & creative collaborator
Daniel's ongoing relationship with Nambi E. Kelley's First Woman Productions includes teaching artistry and collaborations across stage and digital work, including Jabari Dreams of Freedom, Hero: The Boy From Troy, Blood, and PigFoot Mary's Harlem Renaissance.
Productions & collaborations · First Woman
Mad River Theater Camp
Teaching artistry & co-creation
Community-based theater-making with young people through Mad River Theater Works. The residency and camp work brings collaborative storytelling, performance, and original creation into youth programming.
Youth-theater feature · Yellow Springs News (2024)
Community-programming feature · Yellow Springs News (2025)
Selected stage & digital credits
Blood
Spring 2021 · Director
Daniel directed Nambi E. Kelley's Blood as a digital production for Gainesville Theatre Alliance during its virtual season.
Production credit · First Woman
What If…?
Fall 2022 · Director
Written by Cynthia Grace Robinson and presented by the Negro Ensemble Company in Our Voices, Our Time. The festival program was presented at Penn Live Arts and Cherry Lane Theatre.
Festival program · Penn Live Arts
The Return of Ira
April 2025 · Director
Daniel directed Jeffrey Sweet's short play for AND Theatre Company's Eclectic Evening of Shorts: Boxers & Briefs at the American Theatre of Actors.
Program & directing credit · AND Theatre Company
The Tallest Man in the World
March 6–17, 2019 · Actor
Daniel appeared in Ailís Ní Ríain's poetic play about love, memory, torment, and loss, directed by Ran Xia at The Tank.
Production listing & cast · The Tank
The Perry's Mission
2017 · Actor
Part of the Negro Ensemble Company's 50th-anniversary program at Theatre 80 St. Marks, paired with Rosalee Pritchett.
Review & acting credit · TheaterScene.org
Day of Absence
December 2016 · Actor
Daniel played John in the Negro Ensemble Company's anniversary production of Douglas Turner Ward's satirical comedy, directed by Arthur French.
Chasing Heaven
August 2011 · Actor
Daniel performed multiple supporting roles in Leah Maddrie's play, presented by MiddleMaddle Ensemble at the New York International Fringe Festival.
Review · The New York Times archive
Production announcement · BroadwayWorld
Press articles, reviews, production listings, and learning resources are labeled by type. Some archival pages may move or require a subscription. These links do not imply permission to reuse publisher images.