Issa Rae News

The 2023 Fresh Fruit Festival will present the featured opening event: a premiere -- Katy Copeland's coming out and coming of age dramedy, Meet You Downstairs. LIMITED RUN: April 24 @ 8:00 p.m.; April 26 @ 8:30 p.m.; and April 30 @ 1:00 p.m.

“Pretty Girls Walk” has emerged as a phenomenon. The contagious track exploded on Instagram Reels with north of 220K Reel “creates,” including videos from icons such as Madonna, Kate Beckinsale, Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton and Nicole Scherzinger. On TikTok, the song has inspired over 400K “creates,” eclipsing 1 billion views.

Second Stage Theater will host a Winter’s Ball geared towards young professionals and arts patrons, featuring Michael R. Jackson and Common. The fundraising event will take place on Monday, February 27 at The Pierre Hotel. See

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and SJ Presents has announced the hysterical line-up for the Valentine’s Day All-Star Comedy Show.

Starring NAACP Image Award winner and eight-time Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award nominee Issa Rae, “Insecure” explores the Black female experience through best friends Issa (Rae) and Molly (Yvonne Orji), who must deal with their own flaws. The series also stars Jay Ellis, Natasha Rothwell and Amanda Seales.

The first official teaser video for the Barbie movie has been released! Directed by Greta Gerwig, the film stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferreria, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Ariana Greenblatt, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell, and more.

 TheaterWorksUSA in association with The Apollo, will present an invite only staged reading of Jason Reynolds’ New York Times best-selling young adult novel Long Way Down in a compelling new musical by Dahlak Brathwaite and Khiyon Hursey, directed and choreographed by Ken-Matt Martin on November 21 at Pearl Studios.   

Second Stage Theater's Broadway production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' play, Between Riverside and Crazy, directed by Austin Pendleton begins previews  tonight, Wednesday, November 30th. Meet the cast here!

The Civilians is presenting the newest members of The R&D Group, marking the Group’s 12th season. The R&D Group is comprised of playwrights, composers, and directors who work together as a writing group for nine months to develop new plays and musicals.

The nominations were announced live from Cipriani Wall Street by Emmy-nominated star of Pose and American Horror Story on FX, and now as Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway, Angelica Ross. Ross was joined by Jeffrey Sharp, award-winning film producer and the Executive Director of The Gotham.

Production has commenced on the fourth season of Robin Thede’s Emmy®-winning HBO Original sketch comedy series A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW. Returning this season as the core cast members are Robin Thede, Gabrielle Dennis, and Skye Townsend along with three new featured players: DaMya Gurley, Tamara Jade, and Angel Laketa Moore joining.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and SJ Presents has announced the hysterical line-up for the Valentine's Day All-Star Comedy Show.

 J. currently stars as a series regular on the acclaimed HBO series SUCCESSION, which will soon begin production on its fourth season. Her portrayal of “Gerri Kellman,” Waystar Royco’s General Counsel, garnered J. a Critics Choice Award nomination and has quickly become a fan favorite in the Emmy® Award-winning series. 

Vengeance, the directorial debut from writer and star B.J. Novak (The Office), is a darkly comic thriller about Ben Manalowitz, a journalist and podcaster who investigates the death of a girl he was hooking up with. The film’s ensemble cast includes Issa Rae, Ashton Kutcher, Boyd Holbrook, J. Smith-Cameron and Dove Cameron. 

Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy Award-winner COMMON will  make his Broadway debut in the role of “Junior” in the Broadway debut production of Stephen Adly  Guirgis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Between Riverside and Crazy, directed by Austin Pendleton.  

Kenan Thompson hosted the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards on September 12 on NBC. Notable winners included Sheryl Lee Ralph, Jean Smart, Zendaya, Amanda Seyfried, Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus, Succession, and more. Check out the complete list of winners below!

HBO Max has renewed the comedy series RAP SH!T, from Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominee Issa Rae, for a second season. Season one starred Aida Osman, KaMillion, Jonica Booth, Devon Terrell and RJ Cyler, RAP SH!T follows two estranged high school friends from Miami, Shawna (Osman) and Mia (KaMillion), who reunite to form a rap group.

The new season will feature Ace Vane, Emmy-nominee Demi Adejuyigbe, Desi Banks, Jerome Benton, Michael Blackson, Heidy De La Rosa, Emmy-winner Chris Hardwick, Emily Kinney, Ted Lange, Laci Mosley, Rashida Olayiwola “Sheedz,” Emmy-nominee Dewayne Perkins, Jay Pharoah, Emmy-nominee Issa Rae, Chance The Rapper, Amanda Seales, and more.

Watch the trailer for the Max Original unscripted series Sweet Life: Los Angeles, from Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominee Issa Rae, for its second season. The enterprising and charismatic core cast is comprised of Amanda Scott, Briana Jones, Cheryl Des Vignes, Jaylenn Hart, Jerrold Smith II, P’Jae Compton, Rebecca Magett, Rob Lee, and Tylynn Burns. 

The song arrives with an official music video, directed by FINNEAS’ longtime partner, actress Claudia Sulewski. The video features clips and snippets from life on the road during his sister Billie Eilish’s recent European tour. ‘Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa’ serves as the follow up to FINNEAS’ first release of 2022, “Naked.' Watch the new music video now!