James T. Lane portrayed choreographer Paul Williams in the American tour of “Ain’t Too Proud” and his many Broadway roles have included “Chicago” (Billy Flynn), “Kiss Me Kate” (Paul), “King Kong,” “The Scottsboro Boys” (Ozie Powell and Ruby Bates), and “A Chorus Line” (Richie Walters). Lane’s movie and television credits are equally impressive including his recurring role on Peacock’s “The Amber Ruffin Show.” He is one perfect example of a “triple threat” a performer who can act, dance, and sing.

It is a different “triple threat” that is the theme of the off-Broadway show of the same name currently playing at Theatre Row in Manhattan. In the autobiographical solo show written and performed by James T. Lane, he details that the triple threat that has threatened his life, his health, and his career is being “Black, gay, and an addict.”

In “Triple Threat” Lane carefully rehearses his life from his childhood in South Philadelphia, to success on the stage, to addiction and near death, to a return to a redeemed and self-purposed life in the present. Lane portrays the twenty characters who either nurtured him or threatened his life with the tyranny of systemic racism in the theatre in the institution and on the streets. Deftly directed by Kenny Ingram, Lane uses his artistic triple threats to share his important story of the triple threats that have threatened his existence and the paths back to recovery.

“Triple Threat” is one actor’s story that informs so many other stories of individuals who are trapped in the cycles of addition and depression and struggle to achieve agency amidst systemic racism.