Magic/Bird Producers Find Their "Magic" Johnson; Kevin Daniels Will Play Basketball Star - Playbill.com

Magic/Bird Producers Find Their "Magic" Johnson; Kevin Daniels Will Play Basketball Star - Playbill.com

How come Lynn Nottage is not on Broadway?

History is being made on Broadway this season. For the first time EVER, three African-American women playwrights are being produced on the Great White Way at the same time. I made this observation months before the New York Times acknowledged the occurrence on this blog and on my Black Theater Online e-newsletter.

I say all praises, ashé, amen, hallelujah and whoo hoo for Katori Hall, Lydia Diamond and Suzan Lori Parks. Hall and Diamond are newcomers to the Broadway party with their plays The Mountaintop and Stick Fly, respectively. Parks has been invited to the dance before with her Pulitzer Prize winner Topdog/Underdog. She has written the book for the re-imagined musical theater production of the opera Porgy and Bess. Gershwin's Porgy and Bess will make its Broadway debut in a few short weeks.

While I embrace and celebrate the amazing groundbreaking work of these African-American women on Broadway, I find myself completely dumbfounded by the fact that the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage has not yet had her Broadway debut.

Why? How come? What is up with that?

The last four Nottage stage plays produced Off Broadway -- Intimate Apparel, Fabulation, Or The Re-Education of Undine; Ruined, and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark -- were hits with critics and at the box office. Additionally, the plays won many awards including the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Nottage can claim the successful playwright check list: Financial success – Check! Critical acclaim – Check! And a ton of accolades – Check!

I have a thought. Lynn Nottage has not made it to Broadway because she writes about black women. Why else would a play like Ruined, which won every major theater prize, was extended nine times and ran for nine months not transfer to Broadway? It could have run longer, but the producer, the Manhattan Theatre Club, had to begin its new season. Imagine my surprise when I heard that this Pulitzer Prize winning play could not find the financing to move to Broadway for a limited engagement. Potential investors asked, “Who/where is the audience for this show?” WHAAAAT? This is an important question. However, Ruined ran for nine months in front of sold out audiences. Once MTC’s large white subscriber base witnessed the beautiful play, its audience became more diverse, consisting of whites, African-Americans, Africans, women, and students. Small and large multi-generational groups of African American and African women especially, came to see women who looked like themselves onstage.

Most plays produced in the theater are about men. However, the audience is largely comprised of women. That said, wouldn’t it make sense that a woman who writes about women would find a welcome audience among women? I think so.

I believe that any play by Nottage would make a major impact on Broadway. However, I have some friends who believe that her Intimate Apparel, which starred the sublime Viola Davis off Broadway in 2004, should bow on Broadway for a limited engagement and again feature the talents of Ms. Davis. The two-time Tony winner and Oscar nominee is sure to be nominated for every film-acting award for her knock out performance in The Help. Broadway loves movie stars – especially ones who are at home onstage. Davis definitely fits that description! They also want Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe to direct. Wolfe can make a reading of the telephone book seem engaging, engrossing and exciting. Intimate Apparel has an interracial supporting cast and that opens the door for intriguing casting possibilities and a diverse audience.

It is time for Lynn Nottage to make her Broadway debut. Is Intimate Apparel the right choice? Award winning play – Check! Movie star – Check! World-class director – Check! All-star supporting cast – Check! Clearly defined audience for box office success – Check!

Is anyone listening? One can only hope -- Or begin the campaign.

One More Thing: 2011-2012 is not the year of the Black presence on Broadway

The current Broadway season has been lauded in some corners of the media – especially black media -- as the year of an extraordinary presence of African Americans on the Great White Way.

This proclamation is not quite true. Let's take a look at the last five or six years. Since 2005, the productions such as The Color Purple, Sarah Jones Bridge and Tunnel, Hot Feet, Gem of the Ocean, Radio Golf, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, FELA!, Memphis, Race, Ragtime, 110 In The Shade, Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, Thurgood, Passing Strange, The Scottsboro Boys, and Sister Act have featured the talents of many African Americans onstage and behind the scenes. The productions have run simultaneously or within the same season showcasing big film stars returning to their stage roots, reliable theater veterans and breakthrough performances. Long running productions such as The Lion King and Chicago continue to provide ongoing employment for African Americans. And how can we forget Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Bill T. Jones and Darryl Waters all winning Tony Awards in 2010?

The best kept secret about the black presence on Broadway is contained within its biggest hit, The Book of Mormon. The musical, created by the forces behind the South Park television show, won nine Tony Awards including Best New Musical in 2011. What is the secret? Half the cast is African American, including Nikki M. James who won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

With all that being said, 2011-2012 is clearly NOT the year of an extraordinary number of Black folks on Broadway. What is extraordinary? The visions of three African American women playwrights are being produced on Broadway -- the pinnacle of American commercial theater.

I'm Back...With a few thoughts

I watched the Tony Awards a few weeks ago and I was supremely entertained by the broadcast. From the opening number (Broadway's is just not for gays anymore), to the song and dance number featuring past and present Tony hosts Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris respectively, to Chris Rock's hilarious rant before announcing the Tony for Best Musical, I had a great time watching the show from the comfort of my livingroom. I've attended the ceremony several times and felt no real need to go this year.

Despite my joyous Tony watching experience, I felt a huge wave of disappointment. Yes, it was great to see Nikki M. James win a Tony, witness the enormous talents of the cast from the long shuttered production of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, be excited by the sleek presence of Samuel L. Jackson, and cheer as Patina Miller and the cast of Sister Act took the stage after an intro from their lead producer Whoopi Goldberg. However, my disappointment came from the lack of work created by people of color. Yes, you can see many African Americans performing on the Great White Way. But no. Our stories are not being told. And if they are told, they are not written by African Americans. And it is not because Black playwrights aren't writing about Black folks. There is a wealth of material out there that can appeal to a wide audience.

Where do we find these stories? Largely at African American theatres. Companies such as Negro Ensemble, New Professional Theatre, Freedom Theatre, Penumbra Theatre Company, Crossroads Theatre, African Continuum Theatre, Ensemble Theatre, Congo Square Theatre, New Federal Theatre, Ebony Repertory Theatre and so many more are producing stories that cover all aspects of Black life. These are the companies where artists such as August Wilson, Charles Fuller, Lynn Nottage, Denzel Washington, Alfre Woodard, Samuel L. Jackson and others got their start.

African American theatre needs support. Funding. In-kind services. Volunteers. If you are able to provide time, talent or resources to an African American theatre company, please, by all means get involved. Erich McMillan-McCall did just that. He is a New York-based actor who became acutely aware that these companies, long mainstays of employment for artists of color, were stuggling to survive during the economic downturn. He created Project1Voice to raise awareness and funds for African American theatres.

On June 20, 2011, 19 theatres in 15 cities participated in benefit staged readings of the classic Alice Childress comedy-drama TROUBLE IN MIND. Through sheer faith and the courage of his convictions, Erich pulled together this unprecedented event under the umbrella of 1VOICE, 1PLAY, 1DAY. It proved to be the spark that the participating theaters needed to introduce or reintroduce themselves to their communities. One person -- Erich-- made a difference for 19 theaters. You can be the difference for a company, too.

If you want to find out more about Project1Voice visit http://www.project1voice.org/. If you want African American stories told, support theater companies by being in the audience -- with a ticket that you paid for. Although it is wonderful to see our favorite film and television stars onstage -- especially on Broadway, backup emerging artists with your presence in the theater. If you are a journalist, mention them in your column or on your blog. Got a radio program, television show or web cast? Give a shout out, read a PSA, or grant a quick interview. Black media must stop waiting for mainstream media to tell us who or what is important. Seize the moment. Be part of creating the "next big thing." If you have the financial resources and can invest in a commercial theatrical venture, do so. Contact the Broadway League. They are actively looking for producers of color. It makes no sense to me that the amazing Lynn Nottage has not had any of her work moved to Broadway -- including her Pulitzer Prize winning drama RUINED. Somebody needs to change this! Release your inner-producer!

It looks like there will be at least two plays on Broadway this season, both written by African-American women -- The Mountaintop by Katori Hall and Stick Fly by Lydia R. Diamond. Stew, the brillant mind behind PASSING STRANGE will return to The Public Theater with a new work about a Black gospel artist and a White record producer. And you know that Woodie King, Jr's New Federal Theatre will offer something rich and provocative for our theatrical palates.

So support Black theater, playwrights and artists. They, and the stories they tell, are worthy of your time and attention. No matter where you find them.