‘Ain’t No Mo’’ to Close on Broadway - The New York Times

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Theater|‘Ain’t No Mo’’ to Close connected Broadway

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/theater/aint-no-mo-broadway-closing.html

The play, a biting drama by Jordan E. Cooper, volition person its last show connected Dec. 18, conscionable implicit 2 weeks aft opening.

In a country from the play, “Ain’t No Mo’,” the histrion Jordan E. Cooper is talking into an intercom astatine an hose terminal. Dressed successful drag, helium is wearing a vibrant, multicolored blouse, acheronian pinkish pantsuit, airy pinkish wig and a fascinator chapeau adorned with a feather. A level whose exterior is overlaid with a Kente signifier is parked extracurricular the gate.

Published Dec. 9, 2022Updated Dec. 10, 2022, 9:46 a.m. ET

“Ain’t No Mo’,” a raucously comic and provocative caller Broadway play imagining that the United States tries to extremity racism by offering to nonstop Black Americans to Africa, volition adjacent connected Dec. 18, a small much than 2 weeks aft opening.

The play is the 3rd amusement this autumn to abruptly truncate its planned tally based connected mediocre summons sales, pursuing the philharmonic “KPOP” and Gabriel Byrne’s one-man show, “Walking With Ghosts.”

“Ain’t No Mo’,” written by and starring Jordan E. Cooper, had a well-received Off Broadway tally astatine the Public Theater successful 2019. The Broadway tally opened Dec. 1 to positive reviews, but sold poorly from the get-go.

Just earlier the amusement began connected Friday night, Cooper wrote successful an Instagram post that the amusement is being forced to depart and urged fans to bargain tickets to support the amusement going. “Now they’ve posted an eviction notice,” helium wrote. “But convey God Black radical are immune to eviction notices.”

In a code astatine the curtain call, Cooper was rueful. “It’s a hard clip for shows of colour connected Broadway close now,” helium said, adding, “If we learned thing implicit that pandemic, it’s that the satellite has to change, whether we privation it oregon not, and it’s Broadway’s crook to bash the same.”

Last week — the week that ended Dec. 4 — the amusement grossed a paltry $120,901, which is good beneath its play moving costs, and had an mean summons terms of $21.36, which was the lowest connected Broadway. (The mean summons terms for each shows that week was $128.34.)

The show, directed by Stevie Walker-Webb, was the archetypal Broadway producing task by Lee Daniels, the Hollywood screenwriter, manager and producer, and the producing squad yet included Black Entertainment Television, the resistance queen RuPaul Charles, the playwright Jeremy O. Harris, the actors Lena Waithe and Gabrielle Union, the shot subordinate CJ Uzomah, the erstwhile hoops subordinate Dwyane Wade and others. The amusement was capitalized for up to $5.5 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; that wealth has not been recouped.

At the clip of its closing it volition person played 22 preview performances and 21 regular performances.

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