"Makes the smart decision to borrow only the novel’s rudiments. It dumps most of the silly names (Ezekiel Whooper, Rufus Kretin), thin caricatures (of W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, among others) and weirdly jovial tone in favor of a more serious look at internalized racism and the conundrums of assimilation. The result, directed by Scott Elliott, is a gorgeous mess...its tone is jumpy and its storytelling lumpy...But oh, what music and dance!"
Read more

"1/5 stars...The nicest thing I can say about 'Black No More' is that Tamika Lawrence is giving a Tony and Grammy Award-worthy performance. The cast is uniformly wonderful...The show assumes audiences will simply accept Max’s decision to become white, without exploring why. If the idea is that anyone would willingly become white to escape racism, that is racist. Schuyler’s book is a clear satire, but what works on the page often fails on stage."
Read more

"1.5/4 stars...Funnyish in parts, the humor is not deftly enough handled onstage. And lyrics sung by racist white Southerners...are disturbing and upsetting without being profound...Then comes the overwrought drama portion, in which you can sense lyricist and co-composer Trotter compromising to not stray too far from what we expect of a traditional musical...The tunes are lifted up by one of the best casts in New York — every single person is a glorious singer and actor. The musical is a colossal waste of talent."
Read more

"The first act keeps us on edge with its dramatic twists, eyebrow-raising language, and terrific performances...Despite the brilliant cast and the show's thematic daring, there is a palpable falloff in action during the second act as Ridley's book loses its satirical edge and humor, and slides into the melodramatic and preachy...It's enough if 'Black No More' gets us thinking about ourselves and talking about what we might need to do to dismantle hate; it doesn't have to offer the solution."
Read more

Black No More is certainly a daring attempt at something different, but it has structural issues -- it has at least three endings -- and it suffers from an excess of good intentions. In trying to spin a mordant social statement from its science-fiction premise, and in its insistence on thinking virtuous thoughts, it ends up with being perilously close to a sermon. It may be good for you. But it's not all that much fun.
Read more

"3/5 stars...If artistic ambition was all that counted in a new musical, 'Black No More' would be an unalloyed triumph...Never achieving a consistent tone and lacking the satirical comic bite that would have made its anti-racist messaging seem less heavy-handed, the show needs a lot of tweaking if it hopes to fulfill its obvious Broadway ambitions...The show proves more impressive in its theatricality than substance. Elliott delivers a propulsive staging, helped mightily by Jones’ strikingly innovative choreography."
Read more

"4/5 stars...'Black No More' is somewhat short of perfect, but during the first half-hour or so gives the impression it will be. As the storytelling dips and revives during the rest of the two acts, the result is still far from a letdown...The 'Black No More' strengths are so numerous it’s difficult deciding where to start. All right, with the score, conducted with taste and tang by Zane Mark at the keyboards and seven others."
Read more

Black No More, the new musical inspired by George S. Schuyler’s 1931 Afrofuturist novel, is the most exciting and inventive new show to be seen so far this season in New York though it is still in need of work. With a book by Academy Award-winning screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave), the stage version drops Schuyler’s scathing satire of Harlem Renaissance and Depression figures as well as its political election hijinks for telling a more direct story about race and racism in the United States. As brilliantly staged by Scott Elliott for The New Group, Black No More is also a play of ideas and will keep you thinking and debating long after the final curtain in this story of the sacrifices people have to make to change the world.
Read more