Ebony Marshall-Oliver News

Quick Silver Theater Company (QSTC) will present a staged reading of Lisa Strum's She Gon' Learn.

The world premiere of AIN'T NO MO', written by Jordan E. Cooper and directed by Stevie Walker-Webb. AIN'T NO MO' opened just last night, Wednesday, March 27, at The Public Theater.

The world premiere of AIN'T NO MO', written by Jordan E. Cooper and directed by Stevie Walker-Webb. AIN'T NO MO' opens tonight, Wednesday, March 27, at the Public Theater.

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Get a first look below at the world premiere of AIN'T NO MO'!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Take a moment, grab your coffee, and catch up on the latest Broadway news!

The Public Theater announced today a one-week extension of the world premiere of AIN'T NO MO', written by Jordan E. Cooper and directed by Stevie Walker-Webb. Following its initial run in Public Studio in 2018, AIN'T NO MO' will begin previews on Tuesday, March 12 with a Joseph Papp Free Preview performance in The Public's LuEsther Hall. This vital new American play will now run through Sunday, April 28, with an official press opening on Wednesday, March 27.

Get a sneak peek below at rehearsals for the world premiere of AIN'T NO MO', written by Jordan E. Cooper and directed by Stevie Walker-Webb. AIN'T NO MO' begins Tuesday, March 12 with an official press opening on Wednesday, March 27.

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the world premiere play AIN'T NO MO', written by Jordan E. Cooper and directed by Stevie Walker-Webb.

The Public Theater announced the fifth season of PUBLIC STUDIO today, which will present two new plays this spring. Continuing The Public's commitment to nurturing new playwrights, the two plays will run in succession in The Public's Shiva Theater and be presented as pared-down productions with the low ticket price of $15. This vital program continues The Public's mission of making new work by emerging artists accessible to all audiences.

On Monday, July 24, 2017, The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, the organization who for the past 13 years has been dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, announced the 2017 nominees at its annual event, The IT Party.

'There was a musical version of Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun?': this has been universal response of friends who knew I reviewing RAISIN. Even Dev Bondarin, the artistic director of APAC (Astoria Performing Arts Center) who directed the current production, only became aware of the show in college, during an historical survey of musical theater. I will leave it to others to speculate why a musical nominated for nine Tony awards--including Best Original Score, Best Choreography, Best Book--and the winner of two statues (best musical and Best Leading Actress) has all but vanished from theatrical memory. But one hopes that Bondarin's production will restore Raisin to its rightful place in the musical theater canon, not because it takes up relevant social and political topics (which it does), but because it's a fine show with compelling music and lyrics by Judd Woldin and Robert Brittan and sharp, elegant by Hansberry's ex-husband and literary executor, Robert Nemiroff and Charlotte Zalztberg. (The cast album also won a Grammy in 1975.)

The award-winning Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) will present a limited engagement of the critically acclaimed musical Raisin this Spring. Winner of the 1974 Tony Award for Best Musical and based on Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking play, this timeless musical will return to New York City after a 42-year hiatus, May 4 - 27, 2017, at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 30-44 Crescent St (at 30th Road), Astoria, NY 11102.

The Black History Month feature is "Ain't No Mo' " by Jordan E. Cooper, an uproarious odyssey that portrays The Great Exodus of Black Americans out of a country that is plagued with injustice.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents 'ALICE WONDER' in concert on October 21st. This new musical comedy tells the story of Alice Wonder, a stressed out and overworked widow who's life takes an unexpected turn when she falls down a manhole into a magical, outrageous and uproarious, soul-filled wonderland. There are a lot of changes from the Wonderland we all know and love. The Cheshire Cat becomes Cat Daddy and the Queen of Hearts is an evil Drag Queen searching for soul. Alice is redrawn from a curious and imaginative girl who has to make her way through a series of bizarre obstacles, to a woman who has to do the same thing just to be reminded that life is a Wonderland, and singing your blues can sometimes be the very thing that sets you free.

Dallas Theater Center announced today complete details for the award-winning hit musical Dreamgirls. This modern-day classic is led by director and DTC Associate Artistic Director Joel Ferrell. Dreamgirls will begin with a Pay-What-You-Can performance on Friday, June 10 and will run through Sunday, July 24. Press Night will be Friday, June 17 at 8 p.m. Tickets to Dreamgirls are on sale now at www.DallasTheaterCenter.org and by phone at (214) 880-0202.

By 2009, when the musical MEMPHIS opened on Broadway, America had nearly 60 years since the Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s. But, despite significant progress, headlines even today continue to affirm our society's failings in the areas of discrimination and prejudice. Monday night, when the house lights faded for opening night of MEMPHIS at Theatre Three, the crowd cheered. Although I was just as eager to support the company's newest production, I'd not considered how moved I would be by the historic, but still timely themes.

Memphis is set in the 1950s where rock 'n' roll was born: the seedy underground nightclubs, radio stations and recording studios of the musically-rich Tennessee city. With an original book and score by David Bryan (keyboard player, songwriter and founding member of Bon Jovi) and Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and All Shook Up!), it tells the fictional story of Huey Calhoun, a white radio DJ with a passion for R&B music and Felicia Farrell, an up-and-coming black club singer that he meets one fateful night on Beale Street. Despite the objections of their loved ones (Huey's close-minded mama and Felicia's cautious brother, a club owner), they embark on a dangerous affair. Filled with high-octane dancing, songs that perfectly capture the era, and an absorbing tale of fame and forbidden love, the show offers soaring emotion and roof-raising rock 'n' roll.

Theatre Three presents the Tony Award-winning rock 'n' roll musical MEMPHIS by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro, running April 28 - May 22, 2016, with opening night set for May 2. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!

Theatre Three presents the Tony Award-winning rock 'n' roll musical MEMPHIS by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro, running April 28 - May 22, 2016, with opening night set for May 2. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!