What’s Doin’ in Black Theater this Fall

Compiled by Celeste Bateman for ELMART Theatre Service*
(Updated 10/15/14)

This year, we saw great African American plays come and go far too soon, among them After Midnight, which garnered seven Tony nominations and received one for Best Choreography (Warren Carlyle); and Holler If Ya Hear Me which incorporated the music of rapper Tupac Shakur and closed on July 20th. But there’s always good news on the horizon for theater-goers who support African American theater. Following is a snapshot of what’s going on in Black theater: African American playwrights, plays and actors (in the NY-NJ area). This list is a work in progress and is by no means complete. Some theater companies have not announced their season as of this writing. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center will host a series of play readings by Jersey playwrights, African Americans and others. Read about it here NJPAC Stage Exchange. Enjoy!

William Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra
McCarter Theatre – Princeton, NJ
Through October 5

She was the seductive queen of Egypt and he one of the generals of Rome. Their tempestuous love affair would tear empires apart. Nicole Ari Parker (Boogie Nights, Soul Food) and Esau Pritchett (Fences) join director Emily Mann for this sizzling production of William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, one of literature’s great masterpieces. Full of romance, passion, and betrayal! (Source: McCarter Website)

Motown The Musical
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre – NYC
Through January 19

If you haven’t seen Motown the Musical, Broadway’s record-breaking smash hit that tells the true story (according to Berry Gordy) behind the beat that changed minds, get your tix in a hurry. Motown music touched lives and took the world by storm. Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations – Motown the Musical shows how these legendary artists and so many more created the soundtrack that transformed America. (Source: MTM Website)

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Broadway Theatre – NYC
Began September 9 for a Limited Run

KeKe Palmer (as Ella) making history as the first African American Cinderella on Broadway, and Sherri Shepherd (as Ella’s wicked stepmother) join the cast of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical from the creators of South Pacific and The Sound of Music that’s delighting audiences with its surprisingly contemporary take on the classic tale. This lush production features an incredible orchestra, jaw-dropping transformations and all the moments theater-goers love—the pumpkin, the glass slipper, the masked ball and more—plus some surprising new twists. (Source: Cinderella Website)

Lines in the Dust
Luna Stage, West Orange, NJ
September 15 – November 9, 2014

When Denitra loses the charter school lottery for her daughter, she must find another way to escape from their under-performing neighborhood school. The answer seems like a risk well worth taking but may end up requiring a bigger sacrifice than she ever could have imagined. It’s been exactly 60 years since Brown v. The Board of Education. Lines in the Dust questions how far we’ve come and more importantly, where we go from here. A world premiere by Nikkole Salter. Directed by Reginald L. Douglas. (Source: Luna Stage)

While I Yet Live
The Duke on 42nd St.-NYC
September 23-October 31, 2014

The Tony-winning star of Kinky Boots and Angels in America, Billy Porter premieres a new drama about coming of age in Pittsburgh amongst a bevy of fascinating and strong-willed women. Tony nominee Sheryl Kaller (Next Fall, Adrift in Macao) directs this exciting new play. The cast of While I Yet Live features Elain Graham, Sheria Irving, S. Epatha Merkerson, Kevyn Morrow, Larry Powell, Sharon Washington and Lillias White. Billy Porter, Playwright (Source: Primary Stages Website)

Carnaval
National Black Theater—NYC
October 21 – November 16, 2014

A year ago in Brooklyn, two young men mourned the untimely loss of their best friend. In his honor they decided, no matter where life took them, they would take care of his younger brother and get together on the anniversary of his death to celebrate the life he should have had. So, on a cold day in the winter of 1996, these three twenty-somethings board a plane for Rio De Janeiro for a taste of the good life: sun, fun, and, of course, women. But what starts out as a joyride takes an unexpected turn and the three sex tourists find themselves in a situation that will change their friendships and their lives forever. A New York premiere written by Nikkole Salter. Directed by Awoye Timpo. Featuring  Bjorn DuPaty, Tre’ Davis and Gabriel Lawrence.  (Source: NBT Website)

You Can’t Take It With You
Longacre Theatre-NYC
Through January 24, 2015

Double Tony Award-winner James Earl Jones returns to the New York stage this month as an eccentric grandfather in a revival of the 1930s romantic comedy You Can’t Take It With You along with Australian actress Rose Byrne, who is making her Broadway debut. The play, about a loving but odd American family, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937. The play opens on September 28 for a limited 19-week run. Jones heads a multiracial cast as the income tax-averse patriarch of the family in the role made famous by Lionel Barrymore in Frank Capra’s 1938 Oscar-winning film of the same name. (Source: Reuters)

brownsville song (b-side for tray)
Clair Tow Theater @ Lincoln Center Theater 3 – NYC
Previews begin October 4, 2014

LCT3 presents the New York premiere of brownsville song (b-side for tray), written by Kimber Lee (fight, tokyo fish) and directed by Patricia McGregor. Set in and around the Brownsville neighborhood in Brooklyn, brownsville song is a bold tale of Tray, a spirited African-American 17 year old, and his family. This new play moves fluidly from Tray’s earlier life in a complicated, loving household to life after Tray is gone when his family’s resilience is challenged by tragedy. The cast features Sheldon Best, Sun Mee Chomet, Lizan Mitchell, Chris Myers and Taliyah Whitaker (Source: LCT Website)
Bootycandy
Playwrights Horizon-NYC
Through October 12

Sutter is on an outrageous odyssey through his childhood home, his church, dive bars, motel rooms and even nursing homes. A kaleidoscope of sketches that interconnect to portray growing up gay and Black, Robert O’Hara’s subversive, uproarious satire crashes headlong into the murky terrain of pain and pleasure and… Bootycandy. The cast of Bootycandy features Phillip James Brannon, Jessica Frances Dukes, Jesse Pennington, Benja Kay Thomas and Lance Coadie Williams. (Source: Horizon Playwrights Website)

Letters from Zora: In Her Own Words
Crossroads Theatre Company, New Brunswick, NJ
October 9-19, 2014

Inspired by the life and times of renowned Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston, the play showcases the life that was filled with artistic and literary triumphs and stagnated by abject poverty and self-doubt. Her prose, her life, her distinctive array of friends and foes, as well as her very unique view of a jazz age world, will permeate this performance starring veteran actress Vanessa Bell-Callaway (Coming to America, What’s Love Got to With It, Bebe’s Kids), in the role of Zora. (Source: Crossroads Theater Company)

Lift
59E59 Theatre– NYC
October 21—November 30, 2014

Walter Mosley, the acclaimed novelist best known for his bestselling Easy Rawlins mystery series, will soon premiere Lift, his first full-length play, and the first of his dramatic works ever to come to the Big Apple, in an Off-Broadway production in October 2014 as part of 59E59 Theaters’ 5A Season. Lift had its world premiere at Crossroads Theatre Company in New Brunswick in April 2014. In Lift, two ambitious co-workers meet for the first time when a catastrophic event traps them in a skyscraper elevator. In the darkness, Theodore “Big Time” Southmore and Tina Pardon form an intimate bond, sharing their deepest fears and darkest secrets, touching on issues of race, culture and class. (Source: Classicalite.com)

Accept “Except “LGBT NY 
New Federal Theatre @ Castillo Theatre—NYC
October 23—November 23, 2014

Accept “Except “LGBT NY is about the struggle for justice in America from slavery to modern day Gay Rights. It tells the story of 22-year olds brought together after being chased by angry mobs; a male from the plantation era (18th Century) and a female from the penitentiary era (21st Century).  In December of 1865, the 13th Amendment transferred ownership of slaves and involuntary servants from private owners to government entities – from plantations to penitentiaries.  The Accept “Except”series: Male, Female, LGBT and others explores this one exception of the 13th Amendment. Written by Karimah. Directed by George Faison. (Source: NFT)

Our Lady of Kibeho
Signature Theatre–NYC
November—December 2014

In 1981, a village girl in Rwanda claims to see the Virgin Mary. Ostracized by her schoolmates and labeled disturbed, everyone refuses to believe, until the impossible starts happening again and again. Skepticism gives way to fear, faith, and fate, causing upheaval in the school community and beyond. Based on real events. Written by award-winning playwright Katori Hall and directed by Michael Grief. (Source: Signature Theatre Website)

Repairing A Nation
Crossroads Theatre Company, New Brunswick, NJ
February 2015

Repairing A Nation returns to the Crossroads stage as a fully staged production you won’t want to miss! The Davis family meets for what should be a text book Christmas holiday season in their native Tulsa, Oklahoma, 2001 B. O., (Before Obama). But when Lois and the family join a class action lawsuit for reparations against the state for its participation in the Tulsa Riot of 1921, old family wounds are ripped open and we discover that the government isn’t the only one being asked to apologize. Directed by Marshall Jones, III. Written by Obie Award-winner Nikkole Salter (Source: Crossroads Theatre Company)
Grandma’s Quilt
Negro Ensemble Company—Venue TBD
December 2-7; December 9-14, 2014

A vivid, poignant and engrossing journey told throughout the eyes of a single character from age 13 through her 90’s. The play begins around the 1920’s, travels through both World Wars and ends on a Christmas morning.  The backdrop is rural, Southern America. An ordinary woman weaves anguish and aspiration, triumph and tragedy and just plain living into an extraordinary quilt. Using scraps and rags that represent the significance of her life and the mingled souls she knew and loved; her story reflects the struggle of an American culture. Written and performed by Karen Brown: (Source: NEC)

A Lovely Malfunction
Negro Ensemble Company—Venue TBD
February 5-8, 12-15, 19-22, 2015

A woman in her mid-fifties awakens to a boiling pot of dashed dreams, pent-up desires and marital disillusionment as her only daughter returns fleeing to the nest for guidance, comfort and solace over her recent marital strife.  The ensuing action lives; weaving wit and purpose in an engaging comedic romp. It speaks to a new discovery of women; with razor sharp language and beautifully crafted irony. Her struggle is to fix her life. This relationship comedy examines marriage, yearning, love, and female self-actualization; and is nothing short of A Lovely Malfunction for the world to digest. By Shontina Vernon, Featuring: BeBe Drake and Ralph McCain . (Source: NEC)

Her Portmanteau
National Black Theater-NYC
February 26 – March 1,  2015 

Her Portmanteau was developed during the NBT’s inaurgual I Am Soul – Playwright Residency program and tells the story of legacy and forgiveness. Trapped within a small New York apartment, matriarch Abasiama Ufot and her two eldest children must construct a new definition for their family. As vaults are opened and old pains are re-lived, three women from three different generations, attempt to build the bridge across very different worlds. Written by Mfoniso Udofia and directed by Victor Maog. (Source: NBT Website)

Autumn
Crossroads Theatre Company, New Brunswick, NJ
April 2015

Newark-born playwright, Richard Wesley’s new play, Autumn, tells the story of Frank Longley, a veteran big-city mayor who is in line to become the first Black governor of his state and suddenly finds his place in history threatened when his party decides to throw the nomination behind a dynamic, young politician who is also Black and just so happens to be the mayor’s protégé. (Source: Crossroads Theatre Company)
Fathers and Sons
Negro Ensemble Company—Venue TBD
April 16-19; April 22-25; April 28-May 1, 2015

A family drama set in the present, highlights a son’s battle to overcome a cycle of fatherly neglect and absenteeism that has plagued generations of his family. While he and his wife struggle to cope with their young child’s disappearance, the negative impact of parental dysfunction is beautifully delivered by a drug using father and a wayward, trumpet playing grandfather. Written by Michael Bradford. (Source: NEC)

Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine
Two River Theater, Red Bank, NJ
April 11 – May 3, 2015

Zeke is a “walking outburst.” Judith is a “seeker of knowledge.” As their worlds collide, they discover the true meaning of history, sacrifice, and legacy. Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson presents his provocative, daring, and immensely powerful world-premiere drama about America’s relationship to race—and the power of hope and possibility in all of our lives. Santiago-Hudson directed Two River’s critically acclaimed productions of August Wilson’s Jitney and Two Trains Running. As a playwright, Ruben won an Obie Award for his solo show Lackawanna Blues and numerous awards for his HBO screenplay. He is currently co-starring in Public Morals, produced by Steven Spielberg, which will air on TNT in 2015. (Source: TRT Website)

The Burnin’
(By Progress Theatre Company)
@ National Black Theater—NYC
May 2015

Inspired by the historic 1940 Rhythm Club Fire and a tragic 2003 event where patrons of a popular urban nightclub were killed, The Burnin’, is an a capella musical that straddles time between two clubs to offer an imaginative exploration of the night of the fires and the ensuing media coverage. Trapped inside, patrons’ club personas melt away, changing their destinations, intertwining their lives and exposing their struggles and desires for life once survival becomes hypothetical. The Burnin’ re-imagines and re-interprets the events as they unfold onstage simultaneously. The piece…examines the complexities of race, gender and community during times of survival. The Burnin’ traces how African Americans receive and redefine legacies of Black identity and freedom to accommodate their contemporary realities. Written and directed by Cristal Chanelle Truscott. (Source: NBT Website)

ELMART Theatre Service | c/o Celeste Bateman & Assocs., LLC
P.O. Box 4071 | Newark, NJ 07114 | (973) 705-8253 | ElmartTS@aol.com

*ELMART Theatre Service provides bus rides from Newark, NJ to the Black theater
(Broadway, Off-Broadway and Regional) in the tri-state area.