2023: The year in review in Black theater

Adrianna Hicks as Sugar in “Some Like It Hot” on Broadway (Matthew Murphy photo) by& Linda Armstrong, Amsterdam News 2023 was a year of Black greatness on and off Broadway. It was a year of Black acting veterans like Stephen McKinley Henderson starring in “Between Riverside and Crazy” at the Helen Hayes Theatre; a year of reviving Black classics like “Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch,” penned by the late Ossie Davis; a time when new Black voices were heard on off-Broadway with “Triple Threat” by James T. Lane.& It was a time of fantastic Broadway musicals that starred Black talent. like “Some Like It Hot” and “Spamalot.”& There was just so much to embrace when it came to Black folks in theater productions in 2023. Milestones included productions like “Mama, I Want to Sing” celebrating 40 years, and priceless theater companies like the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn commemorating 50 years of telling our stories in the special way that only that theater can do. Let’s take a look back at 2023 in theater. In January, Broadway audiences got such a thrill when Stephen McKinley Henderson brought his role of Pops—Walter Washington—to Broadway at the Helen...