Howard McGillin . . .
The New Group has announced that the new musical Black No More will begin previews January 18, with an Opening Night set for Tuesday, February 15, at the Pershing Square Signature Center, a schedule update due to Covid-19. Previews were previously slated to begin January 11. The show will play thru February 27.
The company has announced that Howard McGillin (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Anything Goes) and Gaelen Gilliland (Legally Blonde, Spongebob Squarepants) have joined the cast in the roles for which Walter Bobbie and Katie Thompson, who had to withdraw from the production, were previously announced.
The complete cast features Leanne Antonio, Rhaamell Burke-Missouri, Elijah A. Carter, Jennifer Damiano, Brandon Victor Dixon, Ryan Fitzgerald, Gaelen Gilliland, Polanco Jones Jr., Zachary Daniel Jones, Tamika Lawrence, Sarah Meahl, Howard McGillan, Mary Page Nance, Oneika Phillips, Nicholas Ranauro, Malaiyka Reid, Mars Rucker, Angela M. Sauers, Tracy Shayne, Theo Stockman, Ephraim Sykes, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Akron Watson, Nyla Watson, Edward Watts and Lillias White.
Black No More is a new musical inspired by George S. Schuyler’s Afrofuturist novel set during the Harlem Renaissance. It’s the story of Max Disher (Brandon Victor Dixon), who’s eager to try the mysterious machine invented by Dr. Junius Crookman (Tariq Trotter) that guarantees to “solve the American race problem” —by turning Black people white.
With Book by Academy Award winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave); Lyrics by two-time Grammy Award winner Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter (The Roots); Music by Tariq Trotter, Anthony Tidd, James Poyser and Tony Award winner Daryl Waters (Memphis); Choreography by two-time Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones (Spring Awakening and Fela!), and directed by The New Group’s founding Artistic Director Scott Elliott, Black No More is one Black man’s journey colliding with truths of race and identity. www.thenewgroup.org
