After Midnight The Cotton Club Musical

October 2022

After Midnight is a Broadway musical that premiered in 2013. The revue is based on an earlier 2011 revue, titled Cotton Club Parade conceived by Jack Viertel. This revue of song and dance highlights the music of Duke Ellington, Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields, Harold Arlen, and Ted Koehler.

Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous

November - December 2022

Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous A lifetime ago, actress Anna Campbell and manager Betty Samson ignited a major theatrical controversy with a performance of monologues from August Wilson’s Fences that came to be known forever as Naked Wilson. After decades of self-imposed exile in Amsterdam to escape the critics, they receive an invitation to perform the show at a women’s theatre festival promising to be “angry, raucous, and shamelessly gorgeous.

Raisin In The Sun

March 2023

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry – The title comes from a poem by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a Black family's

experiences in south Chicago, as they attempt to improve their

financial circumstances with an insurance payout following the death of the father, and deals with matters of housing discrimination, racism and assimilation.

A Commercial Jingle For Regina Commet

June 2023

The musical follows two writers, appropriately played by Wyse and Fankhauser, plucked from obscurity by a world-famous pop star named Regina Comet. She wants them to create an anthem for her supernova pipes—and her new perfume.

Click here for the digital handill

Jungle Book Kids

July 2023

After surviving a dangerous encounter with a band of monkeys led by King Louie, Mowgli and Bagheera are forced to run for their lives. When Shere Khan returns, our heroes must rally their fellow animals into battle and restore peace throughout the jungle.

Season 6: 2021/22

During Season 6, the rapidly growing BRTKC company showcased the following productions

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

October 1st thru October 10th

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom It’s 1927 and Ma Rainey, the "Mother of the Blues," is recording new sides of old favorites in a rundown studio in Chicago. Fiery and determined, Ma Rainey fights to retain control over her music, while her cocky trumpet player Levee dreams of making his own name in the business. More than music goes down in August Wilson's riveting portrayal of rage, racism, self-hatred and exploitation.

Memphis

February 5th thru 20th

We have gained many new Patron, Donor and Season Ticket Holders over the year many missed out on some of our earlier production so we’re bringing back a crowd favorite. Memphis the musical by David Bryan , lyrics by Bryan and Joe DiPietro and a book by Joe DiPietro. The show is loosely based on the story of Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips and his love affair with Black music and a Black woman who embodies it in the 1950s.

Redwood

March 13 thru March 22

Pass Over by-Antoinette Nwandu – Moses and Kitch stand around on the corner –talking shit, passing the time, and hoping that maybe today will be different. As they dream of their promised land, a stranger wanders into their space with his own agenda and derails their plans. Emotional and lyrical, Pass Over crafts everyday profanities into poetic and humorous riffs, exposing the unquestionable human spirit of young men stuck in a cycle just looking for a way out. A provocative riff on Waiting for Godot, Pass Over is a rare piece of politically charged theater by a bold new American voice.

Pass Over

April 8-10, 14-17th

Pass Over by-Antoinette Nwandu – Moses and Kitch stand around on the corner –talking shit, passing the time, and hoping that maybe today will be different. As they dream of their promised land, a stranger wanders into their space with his own agenda and derails their plans. Emotional and lyrical, Pass Over crafts everyday profanities into poetic and humorous riffs, exposing the unquestionable human spirit of young men stuck in a cycle just looking for a way out. A provocative riff on Waiting for Godot, Pass Over is a rare piece of politically charged theater by a bold new American voice.

Texas in Paris

February 18 thru March 6th

Texas in Paris is the musical journey, based on true events, of two singers, a man and a woman—one white, one black—invited to France to perform in a concert series. They have never met, have no professional singing experience and face the challenge of working together and co-existing in an unfamiliar world. Apprehensive of one another, they struggle with preconceptions but forge a surprising spiritual bond that transforms their onstage performance and their lives.

The Meeting

May 14-16, 20-22

"The Meeting" is a play by Jeff Stetson that imagines a fictional meeting between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X in a hotel room in Harlem in 1965, just one year before Malcolm X's assassination. The play is a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of the two men's differing ideologies and approaches to the Civil Rights Movement. The dialogue is intense and deeply engaging, providing insight into the two leaders' contrasting visions of the future of the movement. The play challenges audiences to confront their own beliefs and biases and to engage in meaningful discussions about the ongoing struggle for social justice and equality. Through its masterful storytelling, "The Meeting" remains a relevant and poignant work of theater that continues to inspire and provoke audiences to this day.

Blood At The Root

November 5-7th

"Blood at the Root" is a thought-provoking play written by Dominique Morisseau that addresses critical social and political issues. The story is set in a fictional southern town and revolves around the hanging of an effigy of a black student from a tree on the high school campus. This event serves as a catalyst for the town to confront its own deep-seated prejudices and tensions, as the students, both black and white, are forced to come to terms with their beliefs and values. The play is a powerful examination of the complex and intertwined relationships between race, identity, and justice in contemporary America. Through its intense and thought-provoking dialogue, "Blood at the Root" challenges audiences to confront their own biases and preconceived notions, and to engage in meaningful discussions about the issues that continue to divide our society. 

Blues in the Night

September 9th thru October 13th

Blues in the Night is a musical revue conceived by Sheldon Epps. Set in a rundown Chicago hotel in 1938, the dialogue-free show focuses on three women's relationships with the same snake of a man, their interweaving stories told through the torch songs and blues of Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Gordon Jenkins, and Alberta Hunter, among others.

Blood Knot

November 15th thru December 1st

Morris and Zachariah are half-brothers raised by the same mother in South Africa's segregated Port Elizabeth. Morris has a lighter skin tone and can pass as white, while Zachariah is darker and works to support both of them. They dream of owning a farm together but are saving their money to make that happen. Zachariah has developed a pen-pal relationship with a white girl and fantasizes about her falling in love with him, but Morris warns him that it would only bring trouble due to the segregation laws. When the girl says she's coming to visit, the brothers agree to have Morris pose as Zachariah to avoid trouble. Morris buys new clothes and starts acting like a white man, treating Zachariah as an inferior. When the girl cancels her visit, the brothers start a new role-playing game, but tensions rise as Morris secretly holds disdain for Zachariah, and Zachariah harbors thoughts of killing Morris. The play ends with no resolution, as the brothers remain together but unable to bridge the gap between them caused by their different skin tones.

How I Learned What I Learned

February 7th - March 1st

Originally written and performed by August Wilson himself in 2003, How I Learned What I Learned is the autobiographical story of a young black artist's journey through the hardships of growing up in the Hill District, ultimately leading to his success as a writer. The one-man show paints a vivid portrait of Pittsburgh and its characters, defining an era through Wilson's distinctive poetic lens.

The Colored Museum

The Colored Museum electrifies, discomforts, and delights audiences of all colors. This satirical comedy by George C. Wolfe redefines our ideas of what it means to be black in contemporary America. In eleven "exhibits" it undermines black stereotypes old and new and examines questions of blackness.

This show contains strong language and adult situations.

The Colored Museum was brought to you by a generous grant through the NTDF Neighborhood Tourist and Development Fund

Passing Strange

Passing Strange is a comedy-drama rock musical about a young African American's artistic journey of self-discovery as he travels through Europe!

Dreamgirls

Based upon the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, James Brown, and others, Dreamgirls follows the story of a young female singing trio from Chicago called "The Dreams".

The African Company Presents Richard III

In 1821, forty years before Lincoln ended slavery and fifty years before black Americans earned the right to vote, the first black theatrical group in the country, The African Company of New York, was putting on plays in a downtown Manhattan theatre to which black and white audiences flocked.

Stick Fly

Adept at capturing the experience of the upper-middle-class African-American, Diamond lays out two families' worth of secrets in this precise play. With only six characters, she constructs a vivid weekend of crossed pasts and uncertain but optimistic futures.

On Martha's Vineyard, an affluent African-American family gathers in their vacation home, joined by the housekeeper's daughter, who is filling in for her mother. The family patriarch is a philandering physician; one of his sons has followed in his footsteps, while the other, after numerous false starts in a variety of careers, is a struggling novelist. Both bring along their current girlfriends to meet the family for the first time.

With such highly - perhaps over - educated vacationers, the conversation and the barbs fly, on subjects ranging from race to economics to politics. But there is also more than enough human drama, which reaches its climax when an old family secret comes out.

Through lively exchanges and simmering wit, the family tackles a history filled with complications both within the family and in the outer world.