Ephraim Sykes, the Tony-nominated actor of Broadway’s Ain’t Too Proud and Hamilton, will join Brandon Victor Dixon, Lillias White and Walter Bobbie in the world premiere Off Broadway musical Black No More in January.
Inspired by George S. Schuyler’s 1931 Afrofuturist novel set during the Harlem Renaissance, Black No More features music and lyrics by Tariq Trotter (also known as The Roots’ Black Thought), book by John Ridley (12 Years A Slave) and choreography by Bill T. Jones. Scott Elliott will direct.
The New Group production will play a strictly limited engagement at The Pershing Square Signature Center from Jan. 11-Feb. 27, 2022, with an opening night on Feb. 8.
Also in the cast are Trotter, Jennifer Damiano, Tamika Lawrence, Tracy Shayne and Theo Stockman. Additional casting will be announced at a later date. The production was originally announced and slated for fall 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid pandemic shutdown.
The musical tells the story of Max Disher (Dixon), who’s eager to try the mysterious machine invented by Dr. Junius Crookman (Trotter) that guarantees to “solve the American race problem” by turning Black people white. The New Group describes the musical as “one Black man’s journey colliding with truths of race and identity.”