BLACK NO MORE Musical premiering at the New Group in January 2022, with a buzzy creative team & cast — Page 3

Not really?

Yeah. It's not really uncommon. Weird how you're almost rooting for it to fail. Not interested in seeing it? Awesome. No need to comment about things you know nothing about then.

Cannot wait to see this in February. Brandon Victor Dixon is insanely talented!

Casting changes are really not uncommon and I don’t really find the credit changes that strange either tbh since those are people that Black Thought regularly collaborates with. The addition of the orchestrator also tracks to me. None of these people have created a musical before so I’m sure his input wound up being a larger piece of the puzzle than expected. Seems like there just may have been a conversation about equity and credit and that was rectified.

whatever is going on, I really hope the show starts tomorrow since I’m seeing it Friday!

I’m supposed to see the show, so hoping it goes on as planned! Will report back if it does!

HBBrock said: "I know Walter Bobbie was replaced by Howard McGillin. What was the other casting change?"

Gaelen Gilliland replaced Katie Thompson.

I’m guessing they are going on tonight (since we haven’t heard anything). Any BWW posters attending?

Anxious to hear about this

Saw the show tonight, and I’m a bit mixed on it but definitely more positive than negative. When this show is good, it’s GOOD. But then there are definitely moments where it drags and overall there are some pacing issues. It doesn’t quite flow together as effortlessly as it should (a lot of awkward/abrupt transitions) and the entire show is about 45 minutes too long (the show ran close to 3 hours tonight, we got out around 10:20).

But the cast is an embarrassment of riches (we know this already). Every single one of them gets their moment to shine (sometimes at the expense of the pacing) and I think Tamika Lawrence is absolutely the standout performance here (especially vocally). Brandon Victor Dixon is giving a great central performance as well, and really giving it his all (he on stage for most of the show!). The show is worth seeing just to see all of these talented actors shine on a stage together. It was cool to see Tarik Trotter, but you can definitely tell he is not an actor.

The music itself is nothing specially, although lyrically it’s quite strong. Some great choreography moments as well. Design is hit or miss. Costumes are a mix of period and modern, and while they’re often beautiful they felt inconsistent. Set is incredibly basic, and somewhat cheap looking, but it is saved by stellar lighting design.


Overall I definitely felt like the show had big “first preview energy.” There were a couple of flubbed lines, and long transitions. These will hopefully get better as the run goes on and trim off some of the run time. But I did really enjoyed it, and would even recommend it. I’m sure some people will say it’s the next Hamilton, although I am not quite convinced of that yet with the show in its current state. There is a lot of potential there though!

LaneBryant said: "The music very much pulling inspiration from Hamilton with quite a lot of rap throughout.

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!! PLEASE google BLACK THOUGHT. The man who composed this show, and plays the Dr., is one of the ARCHITECTS of HIP HOP and RAP. He is absolutely of the most prolific rappers of our time. Lin was listening to Black Though while he was still in lyrical diapers. Inspiration from this show does not come from a show that made rap palatable for White people. This show is inspired by actual, raw, Philly born hip-hop.

"

Thanks and I will, but I will refer you back to my post which clearly states I "Went in knowing nothing but the description on the website, and had never heard of the source material."

It's not just the rap, but as a whole musically that reminded me of Hamilton (clearly inspiration being the wrong word). It was a real mixture of Rap/Hip-Hop/MT.

I SO badly wanted to love this. There is some good, but I mostly just thought it was a mess. I’ll go more in depth tomorrow but I don’t think I’ll be using my tickets for the other performances I purchased.

Saw it tonight (Now last night. Tuesday)

The show started at 7:44. We got out at 10:15. They could very easily shave down about 10 to 15 minutes by cutting two songs in the second act. I didn't think "Helen's Requiem" was needed because we already knew how she was feeling and it felt like just a recap and not a revelation of any kind. There was another song after that could go.

The show is a strange mixture. There are songs (A lot feel cut off) and then scenes where they rap along with book scenes. I am still out to lunch on that all works together.

The songs are gorgeous. It is obvious that Jennifer Damiano is not a rapper and she seems off when she does it, but she had the best number, for me, in the show called "I Want to be Me". My foot was tapping and my hand was patting my knee. I really hope they record this. Even with her being slightly off with the rapping, it still worked. But just as the song got going, it ended. This happened with some of the songs.

Some transitions are awkward with dead space. Hoping that is just temporary. There was one noticeably flubbed line by Tracy Shayne. I think it was a rhyme and it looks like she just decided not to even try to correct it.

I am out to lunch on the choreography. A lot going on and it is not being danced as cleanly as it should for the type of movement they are doing. Synchronization and spacing was off. It looked a bit sloppy at times. And it was not always needed. But some of it was really good.

Across the board performances were really good. It was nice to see another side of Brandon, especially after he "turns white". A much lighter side of him. Lillias scatting in the opener was wonderful and she was good throughout. They really need to strengthen Ephraim's character in Act 1 along with his relationship with Tamika's character to make the ending more believable. And then there is Tamika Lawrence....I have known her for a while and always go to see her (I didn't see her in "Caroline though" That woman is just a force. The whole second act just feels like it belongs to her. She is sounding better than ever and had the audience almost on their feet and waving their hands in the air during the final number.

It has been mentioned here about a comparison to "Hamilton". I will surprised if it is not in the reviews. I was expecting the type of rap Tariq Trotter is known for. This is a softer very Lin style of rap. The phrasing is different but you can't help but think "Hamilton" during the scenes they rap in. Also, during one transition the music is a piano playing what sounds exactly like the opening to "It's Quiet Uptown" late in Act II. And add on the constant movement, the comparisons, or at least mentions of "Hamilton", will be there.

I don't know how they will, or if they will, balance this all out. They could take the rapping out and replace them with songs. As I mentioned, the actual songs are just gorgeous. And the band sounds incredible. They do need to work on the sound design a bit more as the band is overpowering at times and at times lyrics are lost. As mentioned here, the lighting is gorgeous. It is a pretty bare stage most of the time with small set pieces rolled in and out by the cast but the lighting just fills the space.

I am glad I saw it. It tells a good story and does not hold back. If the "N" word bothers you, do not buy a ticket. It is used a lot. But at that times, it was used much more freely. Also, they threw in a couple of current terms like "all the feels" in a few songs. Took me out of the time period of the show for a few seconds when that happened. I say see it if you are thinking about it. I don't know that this will make it to Broadway, if that is the goal, even with the talent on and off stage. But who knows, they could tighten this up and go for it. This would appeal to black audiences in a big way but it doesn't just hit you over the head real hard with the racism against blacks even though it is the crux of the story. it is also Ultimately about that and how black people abandoned their community.

Just my random thoughts.

Edit: They gave out show buttons and a two sided "Program" Which, for some reason, they ran out of. (I ended up grabbing one that was left behind) The digital program would not open for me on my Pixel after several tries. A really nice staff member used her phone, it worked and she sent it to me.

Updated On: 1/26/22 at 01:39 AM

Owen22 said: "Yes it needs at least 20 minutes of cuts. And it's unfortunate that it's based on a story that is a bit of an eye roll, though I'm sure it was very shocking when it first came out. But the way the story is told!!



What did you find to be "eye rolling"? I surely didn't roll mine. One thing I liked about the story is that it was pretty up front and blunt. It got its point across and I was not angry when I left the theater.

Matter of opinion. I had no problem with the science fiction aspect knowing it was inspired by a fictional book.

Having been in the south, I didn't find the racists to be cliched. Years ago I walked into a motel restaurant being the only black person and everyone literally stopped eating and stared. I had to stay there for the night and I didn't sleep. Decided to have breakfast somewhere else and the same thing happened. I left half my food on my plate and left. What I did like about the show is that they didn't over do it but pretty much got it right. I have been called the "N" word twice in the past 3 years. I didn't find it to be "quaint" at all.

Updated On: 1/28/22 at 01:50 PM