A machine turns Black people white in the musical 'Black No More'

An off-Broadway show, based on a 1931 novel, explores the results when a scientist charges Black people $50 each to change their race with his new invention.

Transcript

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

A new musical inspired by a satirical Afrofuturist novel called "Black No More" opens off Broadway tomorrow night. Set during the Depression, both the book and the musical examine race in America with an outrageous plot device - that an inventor comes up with a machine that turns Black people white. Jeff Lunden reports.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: In a dapper suit, Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought of The Roots, appears center stage to set the scene.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "BLACK NO MORE")

TARIQ TROTTER: (As Junius Crookman, singing) This is Harlem, the Big Apple's core, 70 or more years before there were any Apple Stores.

LUNDEN: Trotter wrote the lyrics and much of the music for the show. And he plays the evil Dr. Junius Crookman, inventor of the Black No More machine, which will turn any Black person white for $50. The doctor believes...

TROTTER: This Black No More device is the solution to race relations in America. I think the line is, to solve the American race problem as we know it. But yeah, you know, I don't think a solution is ever reached.

LUNDEN: And that is the Twilight Zone-like premise of "Black No More," which features a script by Academy Award winner John Ridley. The 1931 novel by George Schuyler has a take-no-prisoners attitude towards not just white supremacists and politicians but thinly veiled figures from the Harlem Renaissance, which choreographer Bill T. Jones finds offensive.

BILL T JONES: And when I read the novel, I must admit, I was kind of pissed about it. I like bad boys, too. I don't like smartasses, of course, particularly when they're Black ones making fun of Black people.

LUNDEN: So the challenge for the creative team, especially the writers, was to move the story from broad satire to something with a beating heart, says director Scott Elliott.

SCOTT ELLIOTT: I think that what they've come up with is a really fascinating morality tale.

LUNDEN: The central character Max is a man about town in Harlem. But he's been beaten down by racism in his job and romance.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "BLACK NO MORE")

BRANDON VICTOR DIXON: (As Max, singing) This shame, this shame is a part of me.

LUNDEN: So he chooses to go through the Black No More process and ends up in Atlanta, where he becomes a powerful figure in a white supremacist organization.

DIXON: It is purely about perception in both its literal and figurative sense.

LUNDEN: Brandon Victor Dixon plays the conflicted Max.

DIXON: People see him as white. He sees himself as white. But he's still the same guy making the same mistakes. Like, nothing has changed for him.

LUNDEN: To bring the point home, there is no physical transformation from Black to white on stage. Director Scott Elliott says he considered devices like white clothing or even white makeup but decided that would get in the way of the story.

ELLIOTT: I thought it would be ridiculous if we were making a comment about that because, first of all, you can't really do it. It would always be a facade, right? And how do you have a facade on your main character whose heart you want to locate, whose guts you want to locate?

LUNDEN: In a powerful second act moment, Max and Crookman, who's become white and goes by the name Blackmon meet and sing a song called "It Takes One To Know One."

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "BLACK NO MORE")

TROTTER: (As Blackmon, singing) Look at me and look at you.

DIXON: (As Max, singing) Look at you and look at me.

TROTTER: (As Blackmon, singing) I think I see a common thread that no one else around can see.

DIXON: (As Max, singing) That a common thread could be you and I both have something to hide.

LUNDEN: As the number progresses, the entire ensemble, male and female, Black and white, enter the stage wearing the exact same costumes, says choreographer Bill T. Jones.

JONES: Now they're all sort of mirroring each other and wondering, who are you? So I think that is a brilliant moment of the satire but also something that musical theatre can do with great verve. I'm very proud of that moment.

LUNDEN: Tamika Lawrence plays Max's friend Buni, who travels from Harlem to Atlanta to convince him to reveal his true identity. She says the show is emotionally engaging with a love story and tragedy, but it also touches on broader themes.

TAMIKA LAWRENCE: I think it makes us ask a lot of questions about ourselves and the roles that we play in this American capitalistic, sometimes hedonistic and hegemonic society.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "BLACK NO MORE")

LAWRENCE: (As Buni, singing) We've all seen better days, but the error in all our ways is we've been selfish.

LUNDEN: And while the show has ambitions for Broadway, Tariq Trotter says he hasn't watered down his own sense of sociopolitical commentary in the songs.

TROTTER: I've been able to stand on the same principles that I always have as an artist.

LUNDEN: For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "BLACK NO MORE")

LAWRENCE: (As Buni, singing) No time - take my hand and cry. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.