AIN’T NO MO On Broadway - Reviews & News Thread — Page 5

Merch is in the alcove on orchestra left for anyone interested

Just got out of tonight’s performance and HOLY CRAP.

I honestly am still processing what I saw, but I know (despite it needing a little more tightening) it was one of the GREATEST new pieces of theatre I have ever seen. It’s loud, crude, subversive, intelligent, heartbreaking, thoughtful and riotously funny.

Nik Alexander was on tonight (and will be for the weekend) as Peaches and I never would’ve guessed he was the understudy based on how he hit every comedic note with surgically precise sass. The rest of the cast is uniformly off-the-charts excellent, with the highest praise reserved for Crystal Lucas-Perry (who has one vignette where she uses a litany of accents to great comedic effect) and Marchant Davis (who perfectly swings between the comedy and tragedy in multiple scenes - including a very loud and bombastic start).

THIS MUST BE SEEN. If you don’t know, or you aren’t sure, GO! There are $29 tickets on TodayTix. If you don’t go, you’re gonna wish you had.

This extraordinary new play left me in tears and exhilarated as great theater should. I can’t think of any play in recent years I thought after the curtain- I have to see this again right away. Every performer is worthy of accolades, the design is perfection, and the direction perfectly balanced the satire with the pathos. Is that the right word? For those who have seen it, I was gobsmacked at how the dining room scene was in its own way as horrifying as one of the dining room scenes from Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt. We just know what’s up ahead. Nik Alexander was on for Peaches, but was still breathtaking. I just can’t say enough great things about this play. That it is on Broadway is a triumph unto itself. May audiences take the ride. Is it possible to ever let the past go?

kwoc91 said: "The acting was great across the board. I'm a huge Ebony Marshall-Oliver fan, and I can DEFINITELY see why Crystal Lucas-Perry left 1776 for this."

In some ways I think Lucas-Perry choosing Ain't No Mo over the lead role in 1776 says more about the questionable relevancy of 1776 then Sara Porkalob critiquing the musical in an interview was.

John Adams is the most memorable character in 1776 and in theory 1776 was the likelier commercial hit, having succeeded on Broadway in previous incarnations (not that it's selling well in reality). Lucas-Perry still saw more value in taking a less high profile role in Ain't No Mo, which I believe is currently the worst grossing show on Broadway.

Personally, I found Ain't No Mo largely unsuccessful, every single scene could have been shorter and the ending didn't tie the individual sketches together as well as I had hoped. However, it's clearly a better showcase for actors, and I admired the big swings it was taking.

1776 looks at the legacy of slavery in America through the hypothesis, supported by facts they partially make up, that the South would never have seceded from England if slavery was banned. Ain't No Mo examines the ways African-Americans are unable to escape institutional racism even after slavery was abolished.

A play about people actually impacted by slavery is inherently going to be more interesting than watching a bunch of White characters (regardless of who plays them), argue over if slavery was a necessary evil.

It's gross, not interesting to watch, and apparently not interesting to play either.

Jonathan Cohen said: "in theory 1776 was the likelier commercial hit, having succeeded on Broadway in previous incarnations (not that it's selling well in reality). Lucas-Perry still saw more value in taking a less high profile role in Ain't No Mo, which I believe is currently the worst grossing show on Broadway.“



I doubt that ticket sales (even potential ticket sales) factored into her decision.

She didn’t stand to gain financially from greater ticket sales to either show. They’re both limited runs, so neither one would’ve promised her steady employment. As far as her income is concerned, it would just be a matter of how many working weeks she could log, and how much she was getting paid for those weeks.

Ain’t No Mo is currently scheduled to run about 7 (?) weeks longer than 1776, so that’s an additional 7 weeks that she’ll be employed. Granted, Ain’t No Mo might not make it until then, but even if it runs 1 week past 1776’s closing, that’s a net gain for her.

Not to mention she was probably getting paid scale for 1776. So assuming her pay at ANM is better, she could have gained financially even if ANM closed even sooner. Plus, it was reported in Playbill that she was rehearsing ANM while still in 1776, meaning she would’ve been getting 2 paychecks at the same time, during that 3-week period.

And all of that is on top of the fact that she’s getting an additional Broadway credit, and the additional industry exposure that comes with that. I’d wager that a solid number of industry people saw 1776 before she left, and those that didn’t have an opportunity to see her in this. And for those that see her in both, she’ll make an even greater impression.

Updated On: 12/1/22 at 09:09 AM

Having seen this a couple nights back I really hope that press send black and POC reviewers to this because I honestly feel the experience will be completely different for black and white audiences.

As a white man, this wasn't for me, but I could see several black audience members howling with laughter while I would only have the occasional chuckle. From a critical perspective though, its hard for me to find fault in the the material itself, when I can see that it clearly was hitting the notes for its intended audience. It rides the fine line between sketch comedy and performance piece, which could use a slight bit of tightening, but each sketch does accomplish the double edged sword of comedy and commentary. My only real technical gripe with the piece is that you feel the 1 hour and 50 minutes and it could use an intermission. Thematically it could of been worked into one of the recurring Peaches "sketches" where she would announce that the plane is having technical difficulties and we need to delay the boarding process for 15 minutes. Especially as the show does not have a true narrative structure there is no climax/progression within the vignettes, it just felt its runtime.

The performances were all fantastic though, and throughout it I kept being amazed by how each performer disappeared into the characters in each vignette especially Lucas-Perry. Her performances kept reminding me of Uzo Aduba in Orange is the New Black being simultaneously heartbreaking and hilarious.

Once again, while I can appreciate the piece, it just was not for me. It's very similar to A Strange Loop, in that while A Strange Loop is unabashedly proud about being written and intended for big, black, and gay audiences, Ain't No Mo is clearly written for black audiences. I am happy producers are taking the risk and trying to expand the Broadway audience with pieces like this and I hope it works out in the long run.

Saw a couple nights ago and love it. Cooper is a huge, huge talent. Hard to believe he wrote that at what 24 years old?

Audacious and very entertaining, with a cast that's next level. So many stand out moments. That CAST! If it were to be a hit, Tonys all around. Absolutely agree it could lose 3-5 min from each sketch, though. Tighten the whole thing up.

It has a tough road ahead but I hope it can find an audience.

ACL2006 said: "So what closes first, this or KPOP?"

Did KPOP hurt you or something? You waste no opportunity to write its death warrant in every grosses thread, and in this thread, which is about another show entirely.

And that isn't even including the repeated assurances that the show was closing on November 27 (which obviously didn't come true).

The vendetta is really something else.

Updated On: 12/2/22 at 10:07 AM

For the lottery players among us, I won the lottery for tomorrow afternoon and it gave me Center Orch AA 103 for $35.

Recalling what I do from last week, I'm right in Peaches' line of fire so I'm excited. Excited and scared. Lol.

I see zero similarities between this and “In Living Color”. Can you expand on what you mean? (Genuinely curious, not being snarky).

I mean…sure if we’re looking at that comparison in a VEEEEERY broad way. I think this show would benefit greatly from the segments being the length of those skits, actually.