Jordan E. Cooper.Photo: Bruce Glikas/WireImage
Stars are aligning to keep the acclaimed new playAin’t No Mo’on Broadway.
Cooper and a star-studded group of supporters used the #saveAINTNOMO campaign to keep it alive, and at Thursday night’s performance, they announced a one-week extension. Now it’ll run at least until Dec. 23.
“We are still fighting, but we’re not closing this week anymore! Y’all are some MIGHTY MIGHTY warriors, I can’t thank you enough for fighting with us,” Cooperwroteon Instagram. “Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket or sponsored one, or posted, or shared, or told someone about the show. We’ve had sold out audiences all week.”
Cooper then thanked a list of celebrity fans for their “CRAZY contributions,” includingWill Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tyler Perry, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Sara Ramirez, Shanda Rhimes, Queen Latifah and more. “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Thank you God, you really be moving. Let’s keep going, y’all.”
In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, Cooper says, “I’m so incredibly honored and grateful that these amazing artists I’ve admired have radically stepped up. Not only to say that this show belongs on Broadway, but that shows just like it also belongs there.”
“It takes time to build an audience when you don’t come to Broadway with pre-buzz, IP or a celebrity lead. Especially for shows of color who’s audiences don’t traditionally believe that anything on Broadway concerns them,” the star continues. “Marketing has to look different for us, it takes time. Artists who’ve come before me have worked hard on this, I’m glad to continue that fight, and I’m glad all of these amazingly generous people have joined us on the battlefield.”
Emma McIntyre/Getty; Emma McIntyre/WireImage; Frazer Harrison/Getty
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This surge of celebrity supportfollows in the wake of Cooper’sopen letter to save the show, in which he calls for “all hands on deck with urgency.” In the letter, Cooper also compares the play toThe Wiz, which, despite receiving a closing notice on its opening night in 1975, went on to be a hit.
“Ain’t No Mo' needs your help! It’s a new original play that’s BLACK AF, which are both things that make it hard to sell on Broadway,” the playwright and star wrote in his letter. “Now they’ve posted an eviction notice, we ‘must close’ December 18th. But thank God black people are immune to eviction notices.”
“People are coming and calling it the best theatrical experience of their life, but traditional Broadway marketing doesn’t work for this kind of show,” he continues. “We’re doing something new on Broadway but is Broadway ready? I believe great things happen in this world when the world ain’t ready.”
Inan interview withVariety, Cooper explained that “it takes more than a week to build an audience.”
Opening night ofAin’t No Mo'.Bruce Glikas/WireImage
“Shows like this need time to build buzz,” he said. “Our disadvantage was that we didn’t go straight from Off Broadway to Broadway because of COVID. We had to build our buzz from the ground up, and it takes more than two weeks to do that.”
The playwright also thanked the stars and fans who’ve contributed to the fight to keepAin’t No Mo’alive: “It’s so beautiful to watch the community work. Seeing these people put their money where their mouth is is overwhelmingly nice. We show up for each other, and it’s not doing it out of charity.”
When asked whether he thinks the show’s closure will have “a chilling effect on similarly ambitious and unconventional plays,” Cooper said, “That’s why I’m fighting.”
If you want to supportAin’t No Mo', Cooper’s letter offered a solution: “In the name of art, in the name of resistance, in the name of we belong here too, in the name of every story telling ancestor who ever graced a Broadway stage or was told they never could, BUY A TICKET and come have church with us. Radical Black work belongs on Broadway too.”
For tickets and more information, visit theAin’t No Mo’website.
source: people.com
