BLACK NO MORE Musical premiering at the New Group in January 2022, with a buzzy creative team & cast- Page 3

[Lunalaaaaaaaa]

Posted: 1/19/22 at 6:37pm

Not really?

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 1/19/22 at 6:42pm

casting switches during rehearsals, added musician/lyricist crediting, day of cancellations.....

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/19/22 at 7:17pm

Yeah. It's not really uncommon. Weird how you're almost rooting for it to fail. Not interested in seeing it? Awesome. No need to comment about things you know nothing about then. 

Cannot wait to see this in February. Brandon Victor Dixon is insanely talented!

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 1/19/22 at 7:23pm

Sutton Ross said: "Yeah. It's not really uncommon. Weird how you're almost rooting for it to fail. Not interested in seeing it? Awesome. No need to comment about things you know nothing about then.

no need to comment on my comments either my dude, learn to ignore others lol 

 

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 1/19/22 at 7:42pm

Casting changes are really not uncommon and I don’t really find the credit changes that strange either tbh since those are people that Black Thought regularly collaborates with. The addition of the orchestrator also tracks to me. None of these people have created a musical before so I’m sure his input wound up being a larger piece of the puzzle than expected. Seems like there just may have been a conversation about equity and credit and that was rectified. 

whatever is going on, I really hope the show starts tomorrow since I’m seeing it Friday!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/19/22 at 10:17pm

I remain excited and curious about this show!

And remember, it does have a commercial producer with one of the best track records in the biz behind it: Jeffrey Seller (Hamilton, In the Heights, Avenue Q, Rent). Of course he also did Last Ship and Title of Show, but those were noble failures. He has my trust more than most other producers in this biz. So unless it gets absolutely eviscerated off-Bway, it will come to Broadway.

[Hamilfan2]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 9:21am

I’m supposed to see the show, so hoping it goes on as planned!  Will report back if it does!

[HBBrock]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 10:25am

I know Walter Bobbie was replaced by Howard McGillin. What was the other casting change?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 11:28am

HBBrock said: "I know Walter Bobbie was replaced by Howard McGillin. What was the other casting change?"

Gaelen Gilliland replaced Katie Thompson.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 2:26pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Gaelen Gilliland replaced Katie Thompson."

UGH! She was one of the main reasons I was looking forward to this so much. I guess we'll see how many performances they have under their belt before I go next week.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 4:01pm

I’m guessing they are going on tonight (since we haven’t heard anything). Any BWW posters attending?

[Mark_E]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 4:52pm

I’m going! 

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 10:02pm

Anxious to hear about this

[Mark_E]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 11:23pm

Well I enjoyed it. Went in knowing nothing but the description on the website, and had never heard of the source material. The music very much pulling inspiration from Hamilton with quite a lot of rap throughout. 

If anything, act one was fairly drawn out whilst act two (especially the last half hour) went by at lightning speed. Definitely more balance to be found here.

Performance wise, Brandon Victor Dixon and Tamika Lawrence were both standouts.

Look forward to reading others comments 

[Hamilfan2]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 11:36pm

Saw the show tonight, and I’m a bit mixed on it but definitely more positive than negative.  When this show is good, it’s GOOD.  But then there are definitely moments where it drags and overall there are some pacing issues.  It doesn’t quite flow together as effortlessly as it should (a lot of awkward/abrupt transitions) and the entire show is about 45 minutes too long (the show ran close to 3 hours tonight, we got out around 10:20).

But the cast is an embarrassment of riches (we know this already).  Every single one of them gets their moment to shine (sometimes at the expense of the pacing) and I think Tamika Lawrence is absolutely the standout performance here (especially vocally).  Brandon Victor Dixon is giving a great central performance as well, and really giving it his all (he on stage for most of the show!).  The show is worth seeing just to see all of these talented actors shine on a stage together.  It was cool to see Tarik Trotter, but you can definitely tell he is not an actor.

The music itself is nothing specially, although lyrically it’s quite strong.  Some great choreography moments as well.  Design is hit or miss.  Costumes are a mix of period and modern, and while they’re often beautiful they felt inconsistent.  Set is incredibly basic, and somewhat cheap looking, but it is saved by stellar lighting design.  
 

Overall I definitely felt like the show had big “first preview energy.”  There were a couple of flubbed lines, and long transitions.  These will hopefully get better as the run goes on and trim off some of the run time.  But I did really enjoyed it, and would even recommend it.  I’m sure some people will say it’s the next Hamilton, although I am not quite convinced of that yet with the show in its current state.  There is a lot of potential there though!

[LaneBryant]

Posted: 1/21/22 at 1:37am

The music very much pulling inspiration from Hamilton with quite a lot of rap throughout.

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!! PLEASE google BLACK THOUGHT. The man who composed this show, and plays the Dr., is one of the ARCHITECTS of HIP HOP and RAP. He is absolutely of the most prolific rappers of our time. Lin was listening to Black Though while he was still in lyrical diapers. Inspiration from this show does not come from a show that made rap palatable for White people. This show is inspired by actual, raw, Philly born hip-hop. 

 

[Mark_E]

Posted: 1/21/22 at 8:08am

LaneBryant said: "The music very much pulling inspiration from Hamilton with quite a lot of rap throughout.

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!! PLEASE google BLACK THOUGHT. The man who composed this show, and plays the Dr., is one of the ARCHITECTS of HIP HOP and RAP. He is absolutely of the most prolific rappers of our time. Lin was listening to Black Though while he was still in lyrical diapers. Inspiration from this show does not come from a show that made rap palatable for White people. This show is inspired by actual, raw, Philly born hip-hop.

"

Thanks and I will, but I will refer you back to my post which clearly states I "Went in knowing nothing but the description on the website, and had never heard of the source material."

It's not just the rap, but as a whole musically that reminded me of Hamilton (clearly inspiration being the wrong word). It was a real mixture of Rap/Hip-Hop/MT.

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/21/22 at 11:02am

Thanks for the report, Mark_E. Excited to eventually see this.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 1/21/22 at 10:53pm

I SO badly wanted to love this. There is some good, but I mostly just thought it was a mess. I’ll go more in depth tomorrow but I don’t think I’ll be using my tickets for the other performances I purchased. 

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 1/22/22 at 9:19am

Forgive me, this will be long. I’ll try to put just my general thoughts and then go into specifics behind a spoiler warning. 
- The very first thing I thought was “WOW, they have a huge cast.” There’s a lot of people on that stage. 
- The show is definitely too long. I found myself looking at the paper (they’re using digital playbills but give out a cast slip/song list) to see where we were and how much time was left until intermission/I got out of there  
- I, too, was one of the people who cringed when that other poster said this was pulling inspiration from Hamilton but honestly, I get it. That’s not to say I agree with it, but so it’s abundantly clear that so much of Lin’s flow was lifted from Black Thought (aka Tarik Trotter). If this goes anywhere after this production, they will never escape comparisons to Hamilton (it also didn’t help that the last world premiere I saw was in fact Hamilton @ the public). 
- Like Hamilton, I thought this was grossly over choreographed. Every single persons entrance and exit doesn’t have to be a modern dance moment. 
- (Like Hamilton) A lot of the rapping is very dense, you have to be really tuned in to try to pick up everything that is said.
- (Like Hamilton’s replacement casts) A lot of these theater artists just truly cannot keep up with the meter of the rap parts. In particular, I think all of Helen’s moments need to be switched into singing. Conversely, the actor who played Ashby did great with his rap moments. Kudos to him. 
- The cast IS an embarrassment of riches. Sadly I think most of them are being wasted. Ephraim Sykes didn’t leave MJ for this, did he? His character could easily be cut or just be a featured ensemble role. And cutting those songs would help with the timing. The best part of the night for me came early on, and that was Lilias White scatting. It was truly glorious. I kept thinking how we could have this….or Caroline or Change could still be running and Tamika could still be giving her (hopefully award winning) portrayal of Dotty. 
- One of the wigs in the ensemble is so egregiously terrible. She (really, her wig) pulled focus every time she was on stage. It looks like a Tyler Perry movie wig (anyone who knows the context of this particular dig will understand how bad it is)

 

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- I think the ”This Is Harlem” sequence is too long. Like, we get it….this is Harlem. Move on. There’s not much in the way of set pieces but the ensemble comes on and brings out huge letters that spell out HARLEM.

- I think there’s too much breaking of the fourth wall. It felt like lazy story telling. It makes sense for the Doctor since he is a narrator of sorts. For Max/Matthew? Not so much. 
- Speaking of, there’s a moment near the end of the show where they turn on the house lights and Matthew addresses the audience and tells them to “stop ****ing hating.” Nice message but the delivery made me roll my eyes. It just felt….too on the nose? But also not enough at the same time. And also anti-climatic?

- What’s a brotha to do, what’s a sista to do, what are we gonna do need to be combined into one number. It could be a montage. Not three separate numbers one after the other asking the same thing over and over. 
- As much as I said the show is too long, the ending felt rushed. All of a sudden, Buni and Agamemnon are in love?

That’s what I can think of for now, if I can think of more I’ll edit this. Also, here’s a slight spoiler for those who like to know about gun sounds.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

During the scene when the house lights come up, there is a gunshot.
 

Song List: 

Act 1 
“This Is Harlem” - Max, Buni, Agamemnon, Dr. Crookman, Madame Sisseretta

“Max and Minnie” - Max, Minnie

“Yellow” - Max, Buni, Agamemnon, Minnie

“Heart Wants” - Max, Helen

“This Is Harlem (reprise)” - Buni, Agamemnon, Dr. Crookman, Madame Sisseretta, Minnie

“I Want It All” - Max, Buni, Agamemnon, Madame Sisseretta, Minnie

“Vitiligo” - Max, Buni, Dr. Crookkman

“Optimistic” -  Max

“Right Amount of White” - Buni, Madame Sisseretta, Minnie

“Lord Willing If The Creek Don’t Rise” - Agamemnon

“Nothing Moves But The Money” - Dr. Crookman, Minnie

“Divided Dance” - Max, Minnie

“Great White Way” - Max, Helen, Ashby, Mrs. Givens, Rev. Givens

“I Want to Be Me” - Helen

“Jubilee” - Max, Helen, Agamemnon, Minnie

“Who’s Gonna Take The Weight” - Buni, Madame Sisseretta, Minnie

“Family Dinner” - Max, Helen, Ashby, Mrs. Givens, Rev. Given

“A Black Tear” - Full Company


ACT 2
“Once Upon a Song” - Max, Helen, Ashby, Mrs. Givens,
Rev. Givens, Minnie

“Come Back To Us” - Max, Buni

“Ashy” - Helen, Buni, Ashby Mrs. Givens

“Live Your Truth” - Helen Givens

“The Call” - Buni, Agamemnon

“What’s A Brother To Do?” - Agamemnon

“What Is A Sister To Do?” - Dr. Crookman, Minnie

“What Are We Gonna Do” - Agamemnon, Dr. Crookman, Minnie

“Council” - Max, Rev. Givens, Dr. Crookman

“Takes One To Know One” - Max, Dr. Crookman, Minnie

 “Cut To The Chase” - Max, Helen, Buni

“Cut To The Chase (reprise)” - Max, Helen, Ashby, Dr. Crookman

“A Thousand Words” - Ashby, Dr. Crookman

“You Get What You Pay For” -  Ashby

“New Nigrahs” - Max, Rev. Givens

“Helen’s Requiem” - Helen

“My Hands Were Tied” - Max

“Hey Now, Crookman” - Buni, Dr. Crookman

“Agamemnon’s Dream - Agamemnon, Madame Sisseretta

“Victory For Love” - Full Company

Updated On: 1/22/22 at 09:19 AM

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/26/22 at 1:39am

Saw it tonight (Now last night. Tuesday)

The show started at 7:44. We got out at 10:15. They could very easily shave down about 10 to 15 minutes by cutting two songs in the second act. I didn't think "Helen's Requiem" was needed because we already knew how she was feeling and it felt like just a recap and not a revelation of any kind. There was another song after that could go.

The show is a strange mixture. There are songs (A lot feel cut off) and then scenes where they rap along with book scenes. I am still out to lunch on that all works together. 

The songs are gorgeous. It is obvious that Jennifer Damiano is not a rapper and she seems off when she does it, but she had the best number, for me, in the show called "I Want to be Me". My foot was tapping and my hand was patting my knee. I really hope they record this. Even with her being slightly off with the rapping, it still worked. But just as the song got going, it ended. This happened with some of the songs. 

Some transitions are awkward with dead space. Hoping that is just temporary. There was one noticeably flubbed line by Tracy Shayne. I think it was a rhyme and it looks like she just decided not to even try to correct it.

I am out to lunch on the choreography. A lot going on and it is not being danced as cleanly as it should for the type of movement they are doing. Synchronization and spacing was off. It looked a bit sloppy at times. And it was not always needed. But some of it was really good.

Across the board performances were really good. It was nice to see another side of Brandon, especially after he "turns white". A much lighter side of him. Lillias scatting in the opener was wonderful and she was good throughout. They really need to strengthen Ephraim's character in Act 1 along with his relationship with Tamika's character to make the ending more believable. And then there is Tamika Lawrence....I have known her for a while and always go to see her (I didn't see her in "Caroline though" That woman is just a force. The whole second act just feels like it belongs to her. She is sounding better than ever and had the audience almost on their feet and waving their hands in the air during the final number.

It has been mentioned here about a comparison to "Hamilton". I will surprised if it is not in the reviews. I was expecting the type of rap Tariq Trotter is known for. This is a softer very Lin style of rap. The phrasing is different but you can't help but think "Hamilton" during the scenes they rap in. Also, during one transition the music is a piano playing what sounds exactly like the opening to "It's Quiet Uptown" late in Act II. And add on the constant movement, the comparisons, or at least mentions of "Hamilton", will be there.

I don't know how they will, or if they will, balance this all out. They could take the rapping out and replace them with songs. As I mentioned, the actual songs are just gorgeous. And the band sounds incredible. They do need to work on the sound design a bit more as the band is overpowering at times and at times lyrics are lost. As mentioned here, the lighting is gorgeous. It is a pretty bare stage most of the time with small set pieces rolled in and out by the cast but the lighting just fills the space. 

I am glad I saw it. It tells a good story and does not hold back. If the "N" word bothers you, do not buy a ticket. It is used a lot. But at that times, it was used much more freely. Also, they threw in a couple of current terms like "all the feels" in a few songs. Took me out of the time period of the show for a few seconds when that happened. I say see it if you are thinking about it. I don't know that this will make it to Broadway, if that is the goal, even with the talent on and off stage. But who knows, they could tighten this up and go for it. This would appeal to black audiences in a big way but it doesn't just hit you over the head real hard with the racism against blacks even though it is the crux of the story.  it is also Ultimately about that and how black people abandoned their community. 

Just my random thoughts.

Edit: They gave out show buttons and a two sided "Program" Which, for some reason, they ran out of. (I ended up grabbing one that was left behind) The digital program would not open for me on my Pixel after several tries. A really nice staff member used her phone, it worked and she sent it to me.

 

Updated On: 1/26/22 at 01:39 AM

[Owen22]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 12:12am

Yes it needs at least 20 minutes of cuts. And it's unfortunate that it's based on a story that is a bit of an eye roll, though I'm sure it was very shocking when it first came out. But the way the story is told!! I really loved the choreography and even more so the score! Hip hop, R&B, rock and roll, Golden Age Broadway style tunes, excellent 30s pastiche numbers -- there's even a Dionne Warwick/Burt Bacharach type song! Such a diverse and melodic score -- yet still very cohesive! One of the best I've heard in a minute, possibly since Hamilton or the Brit Amelie. This should get reviews good enough to send it to Broadway.

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 12:56am

Owen22 said: "Yes it needs at least 20 minutes of cuts. And it's unfortunate that it's based on a story that is a bit of an eye roll, though I'm sure it was very shocking when it first came out. But the way the story is told!! 

 

What did you find to be "eye rolling"?  I surely didn't roll mine. One thing I liked about the story is that it was pretty up front and blunt. It got its point across and I was not angry when I left the theater. 

 

[Owen22]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 7:31am

The whole science fiction aspect: a machine that can turn a black person white is something we've seen before or at least a variant of. The Atlanta racists were all cliched, as was their story. Max's denouement was predictable. All things that were probably very original coming from an African-American writer in the thirties! But now seems quaint.  The attempt to mirror contemporary politics with science deniers did not sit well with the plot. The most original part of the show was Bunni, who I found a very interesting character.

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 1:50pm

Matter of opinion. I had no problem with the science fiction aspect knowing it was inspired by a fictional book.

Having been in the south, I didn't find the racists to be cliched. Years ago I walked into a motel restaurant being the only black person and everyone literally stopped eating and stared. I had to stay there for the night and I didn't sleep. Decided to have breakfast somewhere else and the same thing happened. I left half my food on my plate and left. What I did like about the show is that they didn't over do it but pretty much got it right. I have been called the "N" word twice in the past 3 years. I didn't find it to be "quaint" at all. 

Updated On: 1/28/22 at 01:50 PM