Lillias White Joins Brandon Victor Dixon In Off Broadway Musical ‘Black No More’

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Tony Award-winning actor Lillias White will join Brandon Victor Dixon and The Roots’ Tariq Trotter this January in the Off Broadway world premiere of Trotter’s new musical Black No More.

The New Group production will begin a strictly limited engagement at The Pershing Square Signature Center on Jan. 11, with an opening night on Feb. 8 and closing Feb. 27.

More from Deadline

Inspired by George S. Schuyler’s 1931 Afrofuturist novel set during the Harlem Renaissance, Black No More features music and lyrics by 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.

Also in the previously announced cast: Walter Bobbie, Jennifer Damiano, Tamika Lawrence, Tracy Shayne and Theo Stockman. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

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.”

White won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1997 for her performance in Cy Coleman’s The Life. She was nominated for a Tony Award again in 2010 for Fela Kuti’s Fela!.

Black No More was originally announced and slated for fall 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid shutdown.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.