Valerie A. Peterson

Off-Broadway Review: The New Group’s “Black No More” at The Pershing Square Signature Center (Closed Sunday, February 27, 2022)

February 15, 2022 | black no, Off-Broadway, pass over, pershing square, water for > | "Black No More", Akron Watson, Angela M. Sauers, Anthony Tidd, Antonio Brown, Brandon Victor Dixon, Daryl Waters, Derek McLane, Edward Watts, Elijah A. Carter, Emily Fischer, Ephraim Sykes, Gaelen Gilliland, Howard McGillin, James Poyser, Jeff Croiter, Jennifer Damiano, John Ridley, Leanne Antonio, Lillias White, Malaiyka Reid, Mars Rucker, Mary Page Nance, Monique Carboni, Nevin Steinberg, Nicholas Ranauro, Nicole Iovino, Nikiya Mathis, Nyla Watson, Oneika Phillips, Oween Jean, Pershing Square Signature Center, Polanco Jones Jr., Rhaamell Burke-Missouri, Ryan Fitzgerald, Sarah Meahl, Scott Elliott, Tamika Lawrence, Tariq Trotter, Telsey + Company, The New Group, Theo Stockman, Tracy Shayne, Valerie A. Peterson, Zachary Daniel Jones, Zane Mark

A clue in in the “New York Times” crossword puzzle on Tuesday, February 15th was “Prefix with futurism.” The correct answer: ‘Afrofuturism,’ defined as “a cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to explore the African-American experience and aims to connect those from the black diaspora with their forgotten African ancestry.” In 1931, George S. Schuyler explores the Afrofuturism literary…

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Off-Broadway Review: The New Group’s “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” in The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center

The question that remains in my mind is why anyone would attempt to create a musical based on the dated 1969 motion picture “BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE?” Granted the meant to be comedy written by Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker for the big screen ventured into uncharted territory with infidelity, the sexual revolution and wife swapping making…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Peace for Mary Frances” at the New Group at Pershing Square Center’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre

There are many victims in the new family drama penned by Lily Thorne, but perhaps the audience is the most unfortunate casualty, having to suffer through this slow, protracted, insipid production for over two-and-a-half hours and wishing that “Peace for Mary Frances” would have come much sooner. The structure of the play is problematic: the series of short scenes ranging…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Downtown Race Riot” at the New Group at Pershing Square Signature Center’s Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre

The 1970s was a decade of unrest across the United States. Racial divides were exacerbated by socio-economic disparities and rising tensions between members of minority communities and the systemic racism inherent in the majority white population. This unrest was particularly evident in urban areas like New York City and, more specifically, in the West Village of Manhattan. One such riot…

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Off-Broadway Review: “The Whirligig” at the Pershing Square Signature Center’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre

“And the wheel goes round and round./And the flame in our souls will never burn out./And the wheel, and the wheel goes round.” – Rosanne Cash, “Wheel” Under the brooding branches that overarch Derek McLane’s visually stunning set that “goes round,” Julie’s (played with sumptuous death-dodging life by Grace Van Patten) life coalesces into a gripping surreal reality in Hamish…

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