Hollywood stars have chipped in to help a new Broadway show that was set to close due to low ticket sales.
via: Vibe
Play Ain’t No Mo, written by the youngest American Broadway playwright, Jordan E. Cooper, has announced a one-week extension of the show due to high-profile support.
The Lee Daniels-produced show was slated to conclude on Dec. 18 after opening on Dec. 1st. With support from Hollywood’s finest including Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Tyler Perry, Shonda Rhimes, Queen Latifah and more — the show will now go on another week until Dec. 23.
During Thursday night’s performance (Dec. 15), the 27-year-old writer announced the extension after a plethora of supporters joined the #saveAINTNOMO campaign, gaining the attention of the respective authorities.
“We are still fighting, but we’re not closing this week anymore! Cooper gratefully said on Twitter. “Y’all are some MIGHTY MIGHTY warriors, I can’t thank you enough for fighting with us. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket or sponsored one, or posted, or shared, or told someone. We’ve had sold out audiences.”
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. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket, sponsored one, or posted, or shared, or told someone. We’ve had sold out audiences. pic.twitter.com/TTHoA5R7AT
— Jordan E. Cooper (@JordanECooper_) December 16, 2022
Cooper added in another note: “THANK YOU!! Look what COMMUNITY can do! Ya’ll are showing up and showing OUT and I can’t thank you enough. Togetherness and belief is a MIGHTY power. We’ve won a battle, but we are still at war with parts of a system that must be examined.”
“Please continue to spread the word, we have to show that there is room for work like this. It’s so much bigger than ‘Ain’t No Mo.’ We’ve got work to do. New Tickets are on sale NOW! Get a seat and come take flight!” he said.
Cooper sent similar sentiments on Instagram, thanking celebrities who lent a hand in rallying for the extension of the Broadway show.
He also mentioned the “CRAZY contributions” received from the aforementioned celebrity supporters, as well as Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Sara Ramirez, Pinky Cole, Debbie Allen, Al Sharpton and more.
“THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Thank you God, you really be moving. Let’s keep going, y’all. #saveaintnomo,” he ended his caption.
Ain’t No Mo‘s extension emerges from Cooper’s open letter he posted to Instagram on Dec. 10 urging his peers and supporters to get “their hands on deck” with saving the show. In the letter he mentioned how Black plays are difficult “to sell” on Broadway and also how “traditional Broadway marketing doesn’t work for this kind of show.”
Cooper told People, “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.”
He went on, “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.”
Cooper added that it’s up to supporters to show up and fill seats if they really want to contribute to the show’s longevity.
“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.”
Supporters can purchase Ain’t No Mo’ tickets here.
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