MASHUP OF ‘BLACK’ LOVE
Stars in ‘Afrofuturistic’ musical
Some heavyweights from the worlds of film, music and theater joined creative forces to prepare the satirical musical “Black No More” for its upcoming world premiere.
John Ridley, who scored an Academy Award for writing “12 Years A Slave” in 2013, teamed up with rap music veteran Tariq Trotter for the musical based on George S. Schuyler’s Harlem Renaissance novel about Dr. Junius Crookman, who devises a way to make any person white to fix America’s race problem.
Trotter — also known as Black Thought of three-time Grammy Award-winning hip-hop band The Roots — composed the music and will also star in the production alongside Brandon Victor Dixon, Jennifer Damiano, Tamika Lawrence and Theo Stockman.
“It’s always rewarding for me to work in a new medium,” Trotter told the Daily News. “What excites me is the opportunity to tell a traditional love story, albeit unconventional. At its core, this show is about the transformative power of love.”
Theater company The New Group will present the production Off-Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center in October.
Featuring choreography by Tony Award winning dance veteran Bill Jones and musical supervision by Tony Award winner Daryl Waters, “Black No More” will be helmed by New Group’s founding artistic director Scott Elliott.
“It wasn’t a musical when it came to me,” Jones said. “John Ridley introduced me to the book. After I read [it], I thought it could possibly be a compelling musical and sent it to Tariq. He got excited about it and that’s how the musical was born. So I was attracted to it before it existed.”
Officially titled “Black No More: Being an Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the
Land of the Free, AD 19331940,” the 250-page tome and its themes involving technology is an archetype of what’s now called Afrofuturism — an amalgam of black culture and science fiction.
“When I first read George Schuyler’s novel, I was so blown away by its biting wit and depth I wasn’t sure I could ever find a proper home for it,” Ridley told The News. “I could not be more grateful to Tariq, Scott and Bill for their artistry, collaboration and fearlessness.”
“Black No More” struck a chord for Elliott, who has previously produced the racially charged office drama “Rasheeda Speaking” — starring Academy Award-winner Dianne Wiest and Tony Award-winner Tonya Pinkins — Jeremy O. Harris’ irreverent “Daddy,” and Donja R. Love’s HIV-centered “one in two.”
“I love stories about identity and how identity interacts with humanity as a whole,” he said. “This particular story is so interesting and complicated because it’s about how what’s on the outside isn’t necessarily what’s on the inside and what’s on the inside isn’t necessarily what’s on the outside.”
“I was excited to see how that could create something combustible, and I’ve never shied away from works that are provocative,” he added.
Trotter, who can be seen nightly with The Roots on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” may be new to theater but he’s no stranger to acting.
The Philadelphia native — considered one of the greatest MCs in hip hop — has previously appeared in the films “Brown Sugar,” Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled,” “Brooklyn Babylon,” “Night Catches Us” and the James Brown biopic “Get On Up.”