For the eighth year, Black Arts MKE is bringing back its holiday tradition of staging Black Nativity, a 1961 musical written by Langston Hughes. But this year’s production, which takes place Dec. 7-10 at Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall, will feature new directors and a new vision.
Stage director Ashley Jordan and artistic director Wanyah Frazier are reimagining every aspect of the play, from the sets to choreography and costumes to music.
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“This will actually be my first year working with Black Arts MKE at all,” Frazier said. “What I’m doing this year is helping guide the creative process for the production, working with the individual departments to reimagine what the show can look like artistically and then also engaging with some of the other artistic and educational aspects of the production from a higher level.”
Black Nativity tells the story of the birth of Jesus from an African American perspective, incorporating scripture, poetry, music and dance performed by an all-Black cast.
In assembling the production, Frazier’s creative team has been dedicated to elevating every facet. The two directors have worked together to ensure that the production is in alignment with both Hughes’ original writing and their reimagined vision, from the overall performance down to details such as lighting. Jordan worked on last year’s production as the assistant director.
“This year, of course, being the director, it’s much more hands-on,” Jordan said. “I often say art imitates life, and where do we get our ideas from? Life and our experiences. So, this year we’ll see some of those changes for sure on stage.”
Frasier worked with choreographer Debrasha Greye to craft vibrant and emotional dance sequences that pay homage to the late dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey, who was a member of Hughes’ original cast. Ailey is known for a very expressive style of modern dance that blended elements of ballet, jazz, hip-hop and other styles.
Music producer Antoine Reynolds will also return as music director for his seventh year to direct a full live band along with Drums Up Guns Down 414. “They will have their student drummers who will drum in one specific musical selection of the show,” Jordan said. “Without giving too much away, it is going to be explosive.”
This year’s production will have new songs and compositions alongside classic gospel hymns such as “Go Tell It On the Mountain.” “We’ll still see some hip-hop, we’ll still see some gospel and R&B, but it’s about finding our weightings for all of those different genres of dance and music,” Frazier said. “That artistry can come together, much as Black culture has, on stage.”
Returning stylists Kyndal Johnson and Vato Vergara have reworked costumes to embrace the African diaspora, and the stage design has expanded to include architectural elements representing parts of both Bethlehem and Milwaukee.
“There’s a dream sequence that happens, and we see what is current day, and we’ll see that through costumes and attire, and then what does the Bethlehem era look like? We’re building a new set that is multipurpose, multifunctional but still really hones in on that Afrocentric feel.”
Hughes’ work from Black Nativity resonates with Frazier and Jordan and inspires them to push in new directions.
“I like really trying to see what else things could be like,” Frazier said. “Langston Hughes, if you read some of his poems, was very much a disrupter as well. So, what I see as the core of his work is challenging something. We’re challenging his idea. We’re challenging how people should expect to see us, and what I hope to bring in the future is a challenge to how Blackness is perceived.”
Black Nativity has been bringing people together during the holidays since it first was performed in 1961, and it continues to take new shapes and stir audiences as a recent Milwaukee staple.
“It’s one of those shows where you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll celebrate, you’ll jump up because you’ll be in the Spirit,” Jordan said. “And it’s something for everyone.”
Tickets for the show are on sale at Black Arts MKE. There will also be a performance with ASL interpretation Dec. 9 at 2 p.m.
