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IMMEDIATE RELEASE PLEASE
LEE DANIELS
PRESENT
"IS NOT NO MO'"
JORDAN E. COOPERS
Critically acclaimed comedy
ON BROADWAY
PREVIEWS BEGIN NOVEMBER 3
OPENING ON BROADWAY ON DECEMBER 1ST
IM BELASCO THEATER
DIRECTED BY
STEVIE WALKER-WEB
WITH
JORDAN E. COOPER
HEADSHOTHERE
New York, NY (11. Juli 2022) – Producers Academy Award®CandidateLee DanielsAndBrian Anthony Morelandare thrilled to announce the hilarious comedyAin't no mo'written by and withJordan E. Cooper,premieres on Broadway at the Belasco Theater (111 W. 44th St.). Production begins Thursday, November 3, ahead of an official opening on Thursday, December 1, 2022.
After the critically acclaimed premiere at The Public Theatre,Ain't no mo'dares to pose the burning question: "What if the US government offered black Americans one-way airline tickets to Africa?" The answer is the high-octane comedy about blackness in America today from the mischievous mind of playwright Jordan E .Cooper ("The Ms. Pat Show"). Seamless merging of sketch comedy, satire and avant-garde theatre,Ain't no mo'will make you cry with laughter - and think through your tears.
"Not since the originaldream girl, a piece of theater moved me so much. I knew it would take something extraordinary to finally lure me to Broadway, andAin't no mo'is it. Jordan E. Cooper is a revelation and I can't wait for a whole new audience to witness what he has created. Broadway will never be the same!” said producer Lee Daniels.
Die New York TimesCooper heralded as one of "a generation of black playwrights whose deeply political and formally inventive works challenge audiences, critics, and culture at large to think in new ways about race and racism."
The director is part of the creative teamStevie Walker-Webbon its Broadway debut, and the design team has won three Tony Awards®winnerScott Pask(scenic design), twice Tony-nominatedEmilio Sosa(costume design) andAdam Honore(Blitz Design).Wagner Johnson Productionsact as management.
Additional casting for the Broadway production ofAin't no mo'will be announced at a later date.
"Exciting, confusing, combative, clever, humiliating, scary,
devastating and deep.”
– Jesse Green,Die New York Times
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CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES
Lee Danielsis an Oscar®nominated filmmaker whose work is characterized by authenticity and openness, offering audiences a unique experience and genuine insights into the characters with each of his projects.
In 2001, Daniels Lee founded Daniels Entertainment, a full-service production company that is home to inclusive storytelling and serves as a platform for diverse and underrepresented voices to create authentic and original content. LDE made his feature film debut withMonsterball, making Daniels the first African American producer of an Oscar-winning film. He is best known for his Oscar-winning filmPrecious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, which was nominated for six Academy Awards, including nominations for Daniels for Achievement in Directing and Best Motion Picture of the Year. In 2013 he released the critically acclaimed box office hitThe Butler by Lee Daniels, which tells the story of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), an African-American butler who served in the White House during seven presidential administrations between 1957 and 1986.
Daniels is currently working on his next film,liberation, will direct and produce an exorcism thriller he wrote for Netflix. The project stars Mo'Nique, Andra Day, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis, Rob Morgan and Caleb McLaughlin. The film is inspired by the true story of a mother who believed her children were possessed by demons.
In February 2021, Daniel's latest feature,The United States vs. Billie Holiday, was published by Hulu. Daniels directed and produced a drama centered around the trial of famous singer Billie Holiday (Andra Day) after she was arrested at her home for possession of narcotics. Daniels' work with Andra on the film earned her a Golden Globe Award® for Best Actress – Feature Drama and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
On the small screen, Daniels created the hit television series Empire (FOX), in which he wrote and directed the pilot, and continued to serve as executive producer on the series until the season 6 finale in April 2020. The groundbreaking drama, starring Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, with Timbaland producing the show's original music, premiered in January 2015 and broke ratings records in its first season.
In May 2021, Daniels signed a new multi-year overall deal with 20th Television, extending his previous deal with the studio, which began in 2014. He continues to create, develop, write, direct and oversee new projects under his banner, Lee Daniels Entertainment. His current and recent projects include the critically acclaimed hit series The Wonder Years, The Ms. Pat Show, and the upcoming Sammy Davis Jr. untitled limited series for Hulu, co-written and directed by Daniels.
In addition to his successful film and television career, Daniels is also a passionate advocate and philanthropist. He sits on numerous boards including The Public Theater and Ghetto Film School, a nonprofit organization that helps educate, develop, and celebrate the next generation of great American storytellers. Daniels is also a longtime LGBTQIA activist as well as a strong supporter of many charities.
Brian Anthony Morelandis a two-time Tony-nominated Creative Lead Producer for Broadway and was recently profiled asdiversity's 2020 "Top 10 Broadway to Watch".
With a passion for universal stories that bring new narratives into mainstream entertainment, Moreland firmly believes in theater's ability to inspire empathy, enlighten, and entertain audiences at the same time.
His previous works include:thoughts of a colored person,The lifespan of a factwith Cherry Jones, Daniel Radcliffe and Bobby Cannavale,The Sea Wall / One Lifewith Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge,The sound insidewith Mary-Louise Parker for Broadway, Charles Randolph-Wright'sCut openwith Blair Underwood, Joe Morton and Tisha Campbell andwhile we breathe.
Upcoming projects for Broadway include: August Wilson'sThe piano lessonStarring Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks and John David Washington, Directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson.
Moreland dedicates his free time to the Theater Development Fund (TDF) and is an active member of the Board of Governors of the Broadway League, where he is Co-Chair of the Multicultural Task Force, Trustee of the Board for Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids, and a Trustee of the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Stevie Walker-Webbis an award-winning director, writer and cultural worker who believes in the transformative power of art. A survivor of the poverty and associative violence that accompanies growing up black and poor in America, he creates work that liberates and reframes the narratives of marginalized groups. He is co-founder and CEO ofhundreds of thousands, a nonprofit arts and advocacy organization that brings visibility to the suffering and inhumane treatment of incarcerated mentally ill people and the policies that adversely affect their lives. He received an Obie Award for directingAin't No Mo(The Public Theater). He is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Theater, the Lily Award in honor of Lorraine Hansberry from the Dramatists Guild of America, a 2050 Fellow at the New York Theater Workshop, and a Wellspring Scholar. He is the founding artistic director of the Jubilee Theater in Waco, Texas and has created art and theater in Madagascar, South Africa, Mexico, Mississippi and across the Americas. His work has been produced by: The Public Theater, American Civil Liberties Union, The New Group, Cherry Lane, Zara Aina, Wooly Mammoth, Baltimore Center Stage, La Mama and Theater of the Oppressed-NYC. In addition to his art and advocacy work, Stevie currently teaches and creates art at Harvard University and New York University's Tisch School for the Arts. For more information on Stevie seewww.steviewalkerwebb.com
Jordan E. Cooperis a 27-year-old Obie Award-winning playwright and performer selected as one of themOUT MagazineThe entertainers of the year. his gameAin't no mo'was aNew York TimesCritic's Pick and in 2019 Cooper won a Special Citation Obie Award forAin't no mo'. He was recently selected as the winner of the Whiting Award for Drama. Jordan also starred as MC Tyrone in the final season of the groundbreaking FX series Pose. He recently created and executive produced his first television project, "The Ms. Pat Show," which has been hailed by critics as "one of the best radical sitcoms of modern times." He is currently the youngest black showrunner in television history and now also the youngest American playwright in Broadway history.
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