USE CODE: BWYBLK for $18 TICKETS

Hailed as the “most transformative Holiday shows in Atlanta,” Black Nativity: A Gospel Christmas Musical Experience, is produced and directed by Robert John Connor, with musical direction by Keith Wilson, and choreography by Dawn Axam is a soul-stirring one-act adaptation of Langston Hughes’ original Black Nativity, a play with music.

Dominion’s Black Nativity is set in a modern-day church on Christmas morning. Through powerful worship songs, dance, and gospel numbers, the show transports us to Mary & Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem and the events surrounding the most world-changing event in history, the birth of Christ.

As a special bonus, the Black Nativity Soundtrack featuring songs from the live stage production is available for purchase online on all major digital outlets, including Apple Music, Amazon Music, Google Play, and Tidal.

The post Now Streaming! Black Nativity: A Gospel Christmas Musical Experience appeared first on Broadway Black.

Dot, which has been called a “testament to the enduring bonds of family,” tells the story of “Dotty,” a family matriarch who’s dealing with dementia and squabbling children during the holidays. The play features a stellar cast including Marjorie Johnson who originated the title role when the production premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Ky. Johnson’s stage credits include The Little Foxes on Broadway and Hoodoo Love, M: The Mandela Saga, The House of Bernarda Alba off-Broadway. She’s also appeared on the big screen in American Gangster, Boiler Room, Life Breath, Hill and Gully, and Fleecing Led Zeppelin.

Sharon Washington, Stephen Conrad Moore, Libya V. Pugh, Colin Hanlon, Michael Rosen, and Finnerty Steeves join Johnson in the New York production. Susan Stroman, who won a Tony Award for The Producers, will direct Dot.

This isn’t Domingo’s first foray into playwriting. The Tony-nominated actor also penned a one-man autobiographical play A Boy and His Soul, for which he won a GLAAD Award: Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off–Broadway. He also wrote and starred in Wild with Happy.

Dot is scheduled to run through April 3, 2016 at the Vineyard Theatre. For tickets and more information visit vineyardtheatre.org.

Featured photo by Carol Rosegg

So nice to share opening night with my Selmafam. @vineyardtheatre pic.twitter.com/YJqzTD9APB

— Colman Domingo (@colmandomingo) February 22, 2016

The post First Look: Colman Domingo’s DOT at Vineyard Theatre appeared first on Broadway Black.

Saycon Sengbloh, Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, and Zainab Jah reprise the roles written by playwright and actress Danai Gurira.  Zombiephiles may know Gurira from her groundbreaking role as the sword-wielding Michonne on AMC’s “The Walking Dead” series.

The play, set in 2003 near the end of the civil war in Liberia, is about the survival and resilience of a group of women who are captives of rebels fighting the government. Nyong’o, who made her Academy Award-winning screen debut in “12 Years a Slave,” stars in the role of “Girl,” the youngest of four captive wives of a rebel commander.

Eclipsed seeks to promote empowerment through telling the true story of African women in the midst of struggle— the Liberian civil war. Experience the power of women exposed. Experience the joy within a struggle. Experience the reality that war is real and desperately needs to be stopped. Experience the power of women.

Speaking of women, the cast, director Liesl Tommy, and writer are made up of entirely female artists— and that’s a first on Broadway. History has been made and audiences are ready to celebrate and be empowered. 

We were certainly there to witness that history at the Golden Theatre for the first preview performance. Photos & more below!

Joined on stage after our 1st Broadway show by an audience of incredible #women artists. #TrailblazingWomen pic.twitter.com/FEYRBbRC1d

— Eclipsed on Broadway (@eclipsedbway) February 24, 2016

The post Danai Gurira’s Eclipsed Begins Broadway Previews appeared first on Broadway Black.

Hughie is set in the lobby of a small midtown hotel on the West Side of Manhattan where Erie Smith, a drunken, small time hustler, is mourning the recent death of the hotel’s night clerk, Hughie. Erie regales the new night clerk with tall tales of his glory days spent with Hughie. Join lead actor Forest Whitaker in his Broadway debut in conversation with director and Tony Award-winner Michael Grandage and other members of the cast and creative team.

The post Theater Talks: Hughie Presented By Schomburg Center appeared first on Broadway Black.

The program is billed as:

Some of Broadway’s top talents are joining forces on one of the most anticipated shows of the season, a star–studded revival of the 1921 musical “Shuffle Along,” with music and lyrics by the legendary Sissle and Blake, a new book by George C. Wolfe, , based on the original by F.E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles, and new choreography by Savion Glover. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to find out more when New York Times critic at large Wesley Morris talks with the show’s star, six–time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald, and its writer/director, Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe.

The post WATCH: Times Talks Shuffle Along with Audra McDonald & George C. Wolfe appeared first on Broadway Black.

“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean, by providence impoverished, in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?”

These are the words that start it all and we’re surprised that they were allowed on the telecast but we’re glad that they didn’t change that. They delivered such a powerful performance for the world to see & the impact of the opening lines are needed to draw in the masses. We were surely standing on our feet by the end of it.

Now, we know it’s already hard to get tickets for the show & once The Tony Awards come in June it’s going to be even harder but it’s the performances that air like this that make it even more special once you actually do get the chance.

Hamilton is the highly acclaimed, hip hop-infused story about America’s first treasurer, Alexander Hamilton. It has topped rap charts. It has beat out the almighty Lion King as top grossing musical TWICE. It’s members have appeared on a cypher on BET. And it has welcomed thousands of public school students into the theater to give the gift of the arts. Based on the biography of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Miranda has penned what has come to be one of the most influential and talked about shows of our generation. 

It also didn’t stop after the performance. Hamilton, the musical received more airtime when the musical won Best Musical Theatre Album & the award, as well as the acceptance speech, aired on the main telecast. Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of Hamilton, give a clever acceptance speech in the form a rap. He’s truly a remarkable genius with words.

The post Hamilton The Musical Performs & Wins on The Grammy Awards appeared first on Broadway Black.

After teasing the collaboration on their social media pages for days, the two Broadway stars finally gave fans what they’d been waiting for with this neo-soul version and music video of the Pippin favorite.

“We’ve been brainstorming about different musical ideas for concerts and albums. We soon realized we have the same musical taste for soul, funk, and R&B.  So I thought, to celebrate Valentine’s Day, let’s give Broadway lovers a new side of us they haven’t seen before while celebrating this classic musical theater tune!”

The video opens with the two having a sexy jam sesh at the piano and ends with a sing-off that makes you wish you could just grab a cocktail, a candlelit table in a corner and watch them and the band vibe all night long.

“The music video follows two artists finding a spark during their first collaboration. Patina and I couldn’t be more excited to give folks a taste of this new sound come Valentine’s Day. Got lots more brewing up musically. This is just the tip of the iceberg!”

If the rest of their collabos are as hot as this, we can’t wait!

The post Joshua Henry and Patina Miller Release Love Song Duet appeared first on Broadway Black.

Broadway Black writer Jerrica White had the opportunity to catch up with actors Lakisha Michelle May (Moxie), Chinasa Ogbuagu (Abasiama) and Chinaza Uche (Disciple) to discuss the play.

Chinasa Ogbuagu, Lakisha May, and Chinaza Uche all joined the production after doing workshops of the play. What seemed to draw them to the production was the idea that there were plenty of shows about African-Americans but less of Africans who live in America and what they bring to the culture.

For actress Lakisha May, who earned her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater and also holds a  BA from Spelman College, it was simple. She loved the fight of her character ‘Moxie’ a prostitute from the south who was not content with her station in life. May was able to contrast her personal history as a descendant of slaves and being the first in her family to graduate from college with the struggles of her character. Said May of the character,

She is a young woman that’s really fighting. One of her lines states “Just because I was born this way doesn’t mean I intend on staying this way”. She is trying to get out of this situation. What can you do?

Chinasa Ogbuagu, a Nigerian-American actress brought a different perspective to the play. According to Ogbuagu Nigerian (Ebo) culture has informed much of who she is but when she travels to Nigeria she is also very aware of her ‘American-ness’. Culturally she was able to relate very well to her character.

School is important to the culture coupled with hard work which is the American dream… which came from immigrants..

For Chinaza Uche, the American dream has always been hard. The actor who holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts states simply,

The American Dream  has been built to challenge you. It is a battle to define “Who am I?” Defining oneself is a huge part of participating in the American Dream.

The actors were asked about how working with Mfoniso Udofia, who is known for her mixture of poetry and prose on stage, challenged them.  Said May,

There is a rhythm that is inherent in the work and while it may sound like the American South coming out of Moxie, it wasn’t easy.  The play is truly language intensive. My classical training was indeed used to approach the character.I feel that as a result of this work, I can now do anything and I look forward to the next language intensive play.

May reflects that she is left feeling she can do anything and do it in her own voice.

I am super grateful to be in this space and do this work.

For Ogbuagu, a deep respect for the genius of Udofia shaped a powerful experience.

She is so smart and she has found a way to write an amazing beautiful story that is also educating people on an experience that they are not familiar with and how could they be? I appreciate her for that.

According to the cast, Udofia was a stickler for punctuation and slash marks to keep the rhythm a certain way and for them, it worked. Said Ogbuagu,

When you adhered to the punctuation as written it flows and starts to work in a way that makes alot of sense.

As Ogbuagu and Uche ran lines together after rehearsals, this wisdom became evident and they both shared humorous moments realizing that if the stopped trying to do it their way, the dialogue worked a lot better. The cast collectively gave off an aura of warmth and respect when describing their impressions of Udofia. The playwright was repeatedly described as compassionate and strong and most importantly that she came through for the actors. Ogbuagu says,

That for me as an actor is everything. It’s really lovely. It’s everything.

The cast erupts into laughter as Uche adds,

You can really see who Mfoniso is as a playwright when you look at the scenes of Moxie!

Uche continues,

But truly, the compassion for the characters is huge. A great writer really takes care of the actor and she (Udofia) really does that by kind of telling us exactly what to do. There was always love and support to really develop what needed to happen. Yeah, she’s awesome.

The cast was also asked how director Ed Sylvanus Iskandar, who is Indonesian, added to the storytelling? According to Ogbuagu,

Ed has an immigrant experience of his own and while its not the same, he can understand some things and some things he had to learn too. He brought an amazing theatricality to this production and an elevation. Ed was able to come from a different experience and truly elevate the production. I loved that he did that.

Finally, the cast was asked what the wanted audience members to take away from Sojourners. 

May stated audience members should reflect on the intersection of Africans and African Americans.

It’s an opportunity for these two groups who are connected by the diaspora to be in the same space and deal with the stereotypes that each have of one other. There is a class story that can be taken away regarding the American Dream, especially from Moxie’s perspective.  The takeaway is that the American dream can’t always come in to fruition for everybody, particularly if you have brown skin.

Ogbuagu adds,

 Compassion and understanding of an experience different from your own. We are talking a lot about immigration with this election and a different understanding of immigrants; that not everybody  who comes to this country and wants to take over. People also have homes that they love. People want to come and they want to have an experience here, but then a lot of people do want to be able to go and come. Yeah, just compassion and understanding of somebody else’s experience.

Uche sums it up by saying,

Compassion is close to the word dimension. There are so many people who we overlook and I think that one of the things this play does is that it shows that if these three immigrants and this Black prostitute can have lives that are so rich and each have so much going on and have their own personal dreams, how many other people are we judging too quickly in our real lives and how many other stories are we not hearing? This is one family’s story and its so rich and so beautiful! There are black holes in our history that we don’t talk about where people were doing important shit! People were living important lives and I hope people leave with thinking, I want to know more about other people that I don’t know about.

Mfoniso Udofia and cast have done a wonderful job with Sojourners. It is a fascinating new way of seeing the immigrant experience and a different look at how we can define the American dream. Sojourners runs thru February 13, 2016, at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

The post Sojourners: A Different View of the American Dream appeared first on Broadway Black.

This year, the theme of Black History Month at the White House is “Honoring the Past While Celebrating the Present; 7 Years of Living African American History.” As part of this celebration, First Lady Michelle Obama will highlight the contributions African American women have made to dance by hosting a day-long dance workshop for local students.

The First Lady will welcome 51 local Washington, D.C. students to the White House. These students will work with iconic leaders in dance, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Judith Jamison, Debbie Allen, the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Virginia Johnson, and Hip-Hop choreographer Fatima Robinson. Each of these women have played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of African American women and girls in dance.

12:30pm ET – In the afternoon, the First Lady will join Judith Jamison, Debbie Allen, Virginia Johnson, and Fatima Robinson for a panel discussion. The panelists will take questions from the students in the audience on a variety of topics including self-confidence, health, hard work, and overcoming adversity.

4:15pm ET – Later In the evening, the First Lady will deliver remarks and introduce a student presentation. As a culmination of the workshops, these young dancers will tell the story of African American history and culture through dance.

Excited to be in DC for #DanceAtTheWhiteHouse with @fatima_noir & @dancetheatreofharlem’s Virginia Johnson! #BlackHistoryMonth

A photo posted by Debbie Allen (@therealdebbieallen) on Feb 8, 2016 at 7:25am PST

#ALVINAILEY dancer Jacqueline Green leads a group of young ladies in Mr. Ailey’s signature movement from his “Revelations.” @whitehouse @jagreen711 Stay tuned for more photos from @michelleobama’s #DanceattheWhiteHouse #BlackHistoryMonth celebration! #AILEYinDC #instaAILEY #AILEYontour

A photo posted by Alvin Ailey (@alvinailey) on Feb 8, 2016 at 8:42am PST

The post First Lady Michelle Obama Celebrates Black Women & Dance appeared first on Broadway Black.

Luckily for me and you, we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to enjoy the Mykal experience. He’s performing at the Apollo Theater on Friday, February 5 at 10pm, as part of  The Apollo Music Café series. 

Kilgore was recently seen on NBC’s broadcast of The Wiz Live! But he stole my heart with his rendition of “Crush on You” by Lyons & Pakchar. He snatched my edges with the Broadway Black exclusive video of “Defying Gravity.” He slayed me with his rendition of “My Heart Will Go On. And brought me back to life in The First Noel at The Classical Theatre of Harlem. On the stage, Kilgore has been seen in Hair, Motown the Musical, The Book of Mormon, and Marley. 

All extraness aside, Kilgore has surpassed someone to take notice of, he’s here. Living his best life.

Mykal Kilgore is originally from Florida and grew up in the church as one of nine children. His gospel roots are evident in his sound, which successfully combines a touch of gospel, soul and doo-wop. He attended Florida State University where he fell in love with theatre. Currently, Kilgore has been making waves with his work with Scott Bradlee’s Post Modern JukeBox, a rotating group of musicians producing covers of pop songs in jazz, ragtime, and swing styles. The group takes modern pop songs from artists like Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion and Lordes and reworks them into amazing vintage jazz and pop renditions. Be on the look out for his solo album coming later in 2016.

The Apollo Music Cafe Series is designed “to bring independent, cutting-edge artists to a forward-thinking audience.” This event was Curated by Dwight Jordan and will feature DJ Hard Hittin’ Harry. Get tickets HERE.

Take a look at what happened the last time Mykal was in concert below. We were there!

The post Mykal Kilgore Brings Life To The Apollo Theater’s Music Cafe appeared first on Broadway Black.