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Jordan Cooper On Making History on Broadway, Will Smith & Tyler Perry bUying Out His Shows and More
Dec 21, 2022
Jordan Cooper is the youngest playwright in Broadway history making magic on the stage. He stopped by Sway In The Morning to talk about his latest work and getting more black plays on Broadway.
'Ain't No Mo'' is playing on Broadway now and turning heads. Cooper stars as Peaches in his own play, about a great exodus of Black Americans out of a country plagued with injustice.
The cast also features Marchánt Davis (Black History Museum), Fedna Jacquet (Gloria: A Life), Crystal Lucas-Perry (Bull in a China Shop, Ain’t No Mo’ at Public Studio), Ebony Marshall-Oliver (Seussical), and Simone Recasner (Ain’t No Mo’ at Public Studio). Hermon Whaley Jr. (Romeo and Juliet) will be the standby for Peaches and will perform Sunday matinees.
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
yeah man that's a clip from a play I got
0:04
to see on Broadway last night had to be
0:06
I know I heard you were sitting in the
0:08
fancy seat oh well you know they knew I
0:10
was coming so they pulled out the red
0:11
car okay okay we were on the phone at
0:14
the time and my sister on the coast of
0:16
thespian has been acting since the late
0:18
80s
0:19
she's done a lot of work theater work TV
0:22
work as well and I said hey let's go see
0:25
this play called ain't no mo
0:27
um it was written by a young man who's
0:29
the youngest man in history of Broadway
0:31
to write a playwright he goes by the
0:33
name of Jordan e Cooper He's fight way
0:36
of Texas uh he plays the role of peaches
0:38
if you go check this out he's a
0:40
phenomenal actor it was it blew me away
0:43
I was sitting in my box seats Mike Muse
0:46
I know you can appreciate box seats yes
0:49
and I had a bird's eye view or something
0:52
that really triggered a lot of thought
0:53
and when I went home Onika and I walked
0:56
back to her house on 42nd and we were
0:58
just unpacking all the different things
1:00
that we saw all but I was very impressed
1:03
by The Ensemble of a task that was on
1:05
ain't no mo in the writing by this young
1:08
man who's joining us this morning it's
1:10
produced by the one only Lee Daniels but
1:12
welcome the one and only Jordan e Cooper
1:14
to the show Jordan
1:17
how you doing man I'm good they got so
1:20
much for having me absolutely uh you're
1:23
from Texas yes what city what town yes
1:26
DFW Hearst Texas right outside of Fort
1:28
Worth
1:29
um what was that yeah exactly
1:32
but we rapping we wrap it we rap how
1:35
does a kid from hurts Texas end up on
1:39
Broadway but God man God listen I I just
1:43
I didn't know how to do anything else
1:45
I've been doing plays for the public
1:46
since I was 10 years old I'm just
1:49
hustling hustling I used to mow Lawns to
1:51
rent out theaters I used to sell
1:53
concessions I used to Usher I used to do
1:54
all these things trying to hustle to put
1:56
on my plays and then thankfully that got
1:58
me to New York and then when I started
1:59
doing my place in New York I was stand
2:01
in Times Square and hand out flies to my
2:02
plays and then nobody pay me no damn
2:05
attention but but now we on Broadway
2:10
we've done a few things the Miss Pat
2:12
show became really popular right yeah
2:14
yeah yeah talk about that yeah so the
2:17
misspass show uh basically I I met Miss
2:21
Pat I read her book and they were
2:22
looking to do a project with her um and
2:25
I think they were trying to put her on
2:26
Fox at the time and they were like we
2:27
don't have any concepts of a TV show and
2:29
so I read a book and I watched a comedy
2:31
I was like no she needs like to be on
2:33
premium like she needs to be herself and
2:36
so I wanted to make like the first
2:37
R-rated multicam family comedy okay we
2:41
we did that and we put it on BET plus
2:43
yeah okay come on so Jordan take us back
2:46
to like your introduction into plays
2:48
because it's interesting how there's a
2:51
lot of black youth that's never seen
2:53
anything on Broadway you know and the
2:55
majority of the time when you think
2:56
about the entertainment industry you
2:58
think about the titans of film and
3:00
television and music obviously but
3:02
sometimes we forget about the play side
3:05
yeah what was your intro yeah because
3:07
music music and film is is so accessible
3:09
right but theater is a little bit harder
3:11
how I got into it was really through
3:13
bootlegs of old Tyler Perry plays right
3:16
okay so you go Tyler Perry's late 90s
3:19
early 2000s everybody was selling those
3:21
plays in the barber shops and the beauty
3:22
salons and I just had those bootlegs my
3:25
family brought those bootlegs and I was
3:27
already doing plays in my living room
3:28
and I would have my family watch and I
3:30
would cut up my mama's weave and make
3:32
wigs and cut up my dad's work uniform
3:34
and get in trouble but I I just didn't
3:36
know that it was a thing and then I saw
3:38
them watching this play and I was like
3:39
wait people actually do what I do in the
3:41
living room like that's actually a thing
3:43
and from then on it just became a
3:45
mission of mine to just to just tell
3:47
stories any way I could you just figured
3:50
it out yeah and little hearse word
3:51
what's the name Texas Texas
3:56
did they have theater yeah yeah I mean
3:59
they had a local theater like we had it
4:00
in Fort Worth there was a uh there was a
4:02
black theater company called Jubilee
4:04
Theater okay
4:05
um and I would go and I would Usher
4:07
there and I would I would clean up the
4:09
bathrooms and I would pick up up the
4:10
programs and then I started like stage
4:12
managing and I did the lights and I did
4:13
the sound and I builted sets so it's
4:15
like when it came on me to do my own
4:17
stuff I knew what to do because I was
4:19
doing it for for other stuff for so long
4:21
so it actually helps especially in the
4:23
showrunner World whenever I'm you know
4:24
doing Miss Pat and having to pick colors
4:26
for sets and having to do this and I
4:28
want that there or that there and I can
4:29
communicate with everybody because I I
4:31
did the work doing it for myself yeah
4:33
yeah this young man right here Jordan e
4:35
Cooper 27. he's three years older than
4:38
my daughter oh wow very impressive I
4:42
could be your daddy
4:46
your uncle I'll be your uncle yes
4:49
um you effortlessly and ain't no mo
4:53
um you combine black history with pop
4:55
culture in such a unique and sharp and
4:58
clever way now where did that come from
5:02
you know it really it I I just I love us
5:05
I love I love I love Black Culture um
5:07
and really ain't no more came from you
5:09
know I I have a very dark sense of humor
5:11
like I'm the dude always finding
5:13
something to laugh about at a funeral
5:14
like why she went abroad she going six
5:16
feet under
5:17
who put that wig on her head yeah uh she
5:20
gonna haunt y'all
5:21
um and I just had to find something to
5:23
laugh about when all these black uh
5:25
people were getting killed unarmed by
5:28
police uh and by strangers on the street
5:31
and then I had my own running with a
5:33
police officer at a 7-Eleven uh I was
5:35
standing next to a police officer I was
5:36
reaching up to grab a dollar 75 cent
5:38
slushie and I reached for the nozzle and
5:41
he he grabbed his gun he like put his
5:42
hand on his gun like like I was about to
5:44
do something I put my hands up and then
5:46
he just kind of like nodded and then
5:48
went on about his business but me I went
5:50
back to my door and being like damn I
5:52
could have died over a dollar 75 cent
5:53
slushie that didn't even taste that damn
5:55
good and and literally I had to think
5:58
about my worth
6:00
um my my
6:02
my existence and why I matter in this
6:04
world why we all matter and then I start
6:06
to think about well what if we just all
6:07
said deuces what if we just all said f
6:10
America like we gonna find something
6:11
else and so this idea of like all black
6:13
people going back to Africa came from
6:15
came out of that what if what if we all
6:17
just said by the Injustice and started
6:19
over and what would that look like and
6:21
that's what ain't no more came from
6:22
that's what ain't no more came from
6:23
citizens I I went because my good friend
6:26
Heather you know or Mike I believe you
6:28
know her to marvette brittle
6:30
um is one of the producers
6:33
I've known her for decades interesting
6:35
enough she and I was we bank at the same
6:38
place in about a couple months ago we
6:40
walked in the bank at the same time I
6:42
was like oh you bank here too I must be
6:44
doing something there all right
6:47
she was telling me about the play and I
6:50
said I have to come see it and I figure
6:52
I will see it at some point right but
6:54
then the play opened yeah
6:56
and no sooner did it open did Broadway
6:59
say we want to close it yeah and this is
7:03
the problem with Broadway
7:05
this is why movements like white
7:07
Broadway we see you guys started you
7:09
know it's it's it's Broadway uh when it
7:13
comes to these type of plays
7:15
has to learn how to support and and be
7:18
there for the long run these kind of
7:21
plays aren't common right right and it's
7:24
it's reaching it has the potential to
7:26
reach different demographics but
7:28
Broadway has to adjust to it not give up
7:30
on it right right and so what we're
7:32
seeing as a result of that you'll see
7:34
people like Tyler Perry
7:36
uh who buy out a house yeah you know
7:39
which cost about can I say the cost that
7:42
costs about it costs a lot of money to
7:44
buy all the seats right
7:46
and will have done that yeah um and this
7:49
is in effort to keep this going yeah
7:51
what are your thoughts on Broadway
7:53
um when it comes to these type of plays
7:55
you know um a lot of a lot of the world
7:59
changed after after the pandemic
8:01
happened and I think Broadway still has
8:02
a lot of work to do I think you know
8:04
it's it's already hard for theater
8:06
period after the pandemic uh but shows
8:09
of color got a little bit harder
8:11
especially when you don't have like a
8:13
Denzel starring in it or like a
8:14
celebrity that's automatically gonna do
8:16
the marketing for you right
8:18
um or it's not based on a movie that
8:20
everybody recognizes or or a song or
8:22
anything like that so so with black
8:24
plays specifically we have to let our
8:28
communities know that Broadway is for
8:30
YouTube that this is for YouTube like I
8:32
made I made this work for you because
8:33
traditionally we don't feel invited it's
8:35
not we don't got the money we got the
8:37
money you just know why would we go
8:38
there if it ain't nothing for us right
8:40
and so literally I've been saying the
8:43
problem with a Nomo was the marketing is
8:45
the same type of marketing that they do
8:47
for like Hello Dolly with Bette Midler
8:49
and the problem is I didn't write ain't
8:50
no more for necessarily the same
8:52
audience that would see Bette Midler and
8:53
Hello Dolly you know what I mean they're
8:54
welcome and I want them to come but it's
8:56
not necessarily the the Crux of the work
8:58
right and so I I've been saying you know
9:00
the same way that the black government
9:02
is strategic in putting liquor stores
9:04
and and and prisons and black
9:06
neighborhoods we have to be strategic on
9:08
Broadway and putting black Broadway
9:09
Billboards in black neighborhoods where
9:12
is the billboard on Church Ave where's
9:14
the billboard on 125th and Malcolm X you
9:16
know what I mean because the problem is
9:17
people don't know about it and with
9:19
ain't no mo they didn't get a chance to
9:21
know about it we were only open for two
9:22
weeks you know what I mean and I think
9:25
this fight that I'm doing right now is
9:27
the fight that it's so much bigger than
9:28
animals like no our shows belong here
9:30
too our audiences care too and we just
9:33
need the time to find them and we have
9:35
to do the work to find we can't just do
9:37
the same old song and dance that we've
9:39
been doing for the past 100 or so years
9:41
on Broadway it's like if we really want
9:43
to see change you got to put your money
9:44
with your mouth and put your talk with
9:46
your mouth is okay Jordan Jordan Cooper
9:48
is here uh youngest play right on
9:50
Broadway 27 years of age Mike Muse what
9:53
are your thoughts on this
9:54
yeah Jordan so great to meet you man
9:56
good to meet you too and it's so great
9:57
to hear your constitution of how you all
9:59
got started uh I saw the play which is
10:03
phenomenal but I saw the play after I
10:05
knew that it was closing and the entire
10:08
time I I was thinking about while
10:10
unpacking what I was saying on stage was
10:13
your bravery and and in my mind I was
10:17
just like how does this brother come out
10:19
day after day to face our audience
10:22
knowing that this play is going to close
10:25
and still delivers this incredible
10:29
performance and I didn't know what your
10:32
mood was going to be coming in today and
10:35
to see your head is just so unbowed I'm
10:38
just curious like how are you
10:40
reconciling this like just Jordan e
10:42
Cooper not peaches yeah but just not the
10:45
right not the play right but just how
10:46
was Jordan e Cooper dealing and facing
10:49
that adversity
10:50
you know it's interesting
10:53
um because Jordan Cooper
10:56
you know believes that there's a space
10:58
for this kind of work because I love
11:00
theater so much and I love America so
11:04
much
11:05
and I think there's something
11:07
revolutionary and loving something that
11:09
wasn't necessarily meant for you
11:11
and loving it so deeply that it has to
11:12
make space for you and
11:15
I can't bow my head because no matter
11:18
what happens I have to speak up I have
11:21
to do the thing I have to deliver the
11:23
best because I'm proving that whoever
11:25
comes up after me shouldn't have to do
11:27
this work whoever comes up after me
11:29
shouldn't have to write letters and make
11:31
hashtags and do this and say please come
11:33
see the show and they should be
11:35
supported and I think that that me I'm
11:39
just so grateful that yes that I got
11:41
here at all yes no matter what happens
11:43
I'm just glad that I got to say what I
11:45
needed to say and hopefully somebody's
11:48
listening and hopefully you know we're
11:50
fighting to turn this thing around
11:52
hopefully people buy tickets and they
11:54
come out and they support but ultimately
11:56
I'm just glad that the thing got said
11:59
yeah come on yeah yeah that's great
12:02
Jordan e Cooper is here we're talking
12:04
about ain't no more still on Broadway
12:06
you know and maybe we'll get an
12:07
extension yeah yeah okay yeah let's get
12:10
an extension yeah okay it's at the
12:13
Belasco Theater
12:15
um ain't no more misses you know if you
12:17
had a chance to go back to Africa you
12:19
know would you jump on the plane one-way
12:21
ticket one-way ticket No Looking Back
12:24
eight eight seven four two three three
12:26
four five citizens what would you do we
12:28
have the youngest American playwright in
12:30
Broadway history yes the one and only
12:32
Jordan e Cooper have the B I know I love
12:34
it Jordan is funny before you even had a
12:36
chance to mention Mr Tyler Perry's name
12:38
as you were telling your story to Tracy
12:40
and Sway and Mike and us about giving
12:43
out fly he was the first person that
12:45
popped in my mind for some reason I was
12:46
like my goodness I remember when Tyler
12:49
Perry plays would come here to New York
12:51
The Beacon Theater in different places
12:53
like that and we heard about him in the
12:55
beauty parlors in the barber shops in
12:57
the living rooms to your point
12:59
um and you being a writer you have so
13:01
much to think about you know you're
13:03
writing out these plays and these
13:04
stories and now you jumping now I'm
13:06
gonna say jump to Broadway this journey
13:08
to Broadway and experiencing what you're
13:10
experiencing now what would you do
13:13
different like
13:14
um it's learning about the marketing now
13:17
you know and the ticket prices and
13:20
promoting to us that word of mouth those
13:22
what would you for your next play on
13:25
Broadway how would you approach it
13:26
differently listen what I've been what
13:29
I've been um
13:30
finding out in this past week is that
13:33
I'm actually in my comfort zone because
13:35
this is what I've always done for my
13:37
work I've always had to Champion my work
13:39
I always had to stand in the street and
13:40
give out stuff on the side yeah and
13:43
Galvanize the community to come together
13:44
and support theater I've always had to
13:45
do that and I think when I got to
13:47
Broadway I think it was going to be
13:48
something different I thought that there
13:51
was a different kind of support that
13:52
there was a different kind of marketing
13:53
support you're paying all this money
13:54
there's all this you know what I mean
13:56
you're thinking that like oh they're
13:57
gonna do the job for me I just got to
13:59
focus on the work being good right right
14:00
I just got to focus on the work being
14:02
good and so I was so focused on the work
14:04
being good that the only kind of thing
14:07
that I gave was I wanted to make sure
14:08
that there was affordable tickets so I
14:10
made sure that that we had tickets that
14:12
were 35 we had tickets that was fifty
14:14
dollars I I did what I could there
14:16
thinking that everything was good and
14:19
then realizing that actually no this
14:21
system is not necessarily built for this
14:23
type of show so once we got that closing
14:26
notice I'm like wait what we just we
14:28
just opened we haven't even gotten a
14:30
chance I I know shows that have gotten a
14:32
year before even making any money and
14:34
they're still on Broadway you know what
14:35
I mean so I was just kind of confused
14:38
and that's when it was like all right
14:40
Jordan like you gotta you gotta be
14:42
Jordan you got you got to go back to
14:44
what you know and what you know is how
14:45
to be in these streets and you gonna be
14:48
in these streets and you're gonna sell
14:49
this show and you're gonna don't tell
14:50
people that this is the work that
14:51
belongs here and I think what I would do
14:53
differently is I would I would be in the
14:55
streets from the jump no matter where I
14:57
was no matter if I'm in the Valley or if
14:59
I'm on the mountain I gotta be in these
15:01
streets
15:02
um no matter what Broadway is no matter
15:03
no matter if I'm doing a show in a
15:05
two-digit CD I gotta be in these streets
15:07
well you in the streets now with us
15:08
you're all over the country right now
15:12
you in Iowa right now chuck chuck is on
15:15
the line from Iowa what's up what up
15:17
Chuck
15:18
what up family how's everybody doing ah
15:21
excellent brother we we sit next to a
15:23
legend right here soon to be yes sir yes
15:26
sir hey Mr Jordan though congratulations
15:28
man on all your success so far and I
15:31
know you're going You're Going Through
15:32
the stars but my question to you is
15:34
why do we have to depend on Broadway so
15:37
much why can't we not buy our own
15:40
building
15:41
um buy our own section of a city and
15:44
start a theater uh uh section
15:47
um you know what I'm saying have them
15:49
come to us yep
15:51
um Mr Muse maybe you can chime in on
15:54
that I mean there's enough money out
15:56
there that I'm sure it might be
15:58
difficult but it can happen yes and why
16:01
do we have to depend I mean it was
16:02
called the great right way for us for
16:03
some reason that is a a wonderful
16:06
question thank you so much for that uh
16:08
actually that's my goal uh my goal is to
16:11
buy a a theater on Broadway one day I
16:14
think all these Heavy Hitters who got
16:15
all this money I think if we bought our
16:17
own theater and we were the ones who
16:19
programmed what happens in that theater
16:20
there will be so much power in it
16:23
um I think I I believe in fighting for
16:25
Broadway just because it's a part of our
16:26
Legacy too when you think of something
16:28
like uh there's a play called shuffle
16:30
along that happened in 1921 and it was
16:33
considered one of the first musicals uh
16:36
especially a musical considering uh
16:38
modern music uh that of the time and it
16:40
was it was an all black cast and all
16:42
black creative team and basically every
16:45
every white composer who created the
16:48
hits of the next 50 years was in that
16:50
audience and saw it at least 10 times
16:52
and then they took what was done on that
16:54
stage and was able to create the magic
16:56
that they created right so so so it is
16:59
our Legacy too we've been trained to
17:01
believe that it's not we've been trained
17:02
to believe that we have to leave and we
17:04
have to go out and build our own thing
17:05
but in reality we got a claim was ours
17:07
what James Baldwin said your crown is
17:09
already bought and paid for you just
17:11
have to put it on and what we're doing
17:12
right now is is trying to say hey nah
17:15
this belongs to us too this is Ash's
17:17
true right and we got to put it on and
17:19
so that's what we're fighting for now
17:20
yes and to having our own stuff outside
17:23
we we need that I think every theater no
17:26
matter where you're listening from it's
17:27
beyond Broadway this is so much bigger
17:29
than broadway when we talk about how to
17:31
Market our stuff there's theaters in
17:33
your town wherever you at there's a
17:34
theme or somewhere at least 30 minutes
17:36
away from you that needs support that
17:39
needs help and you don't know about it
17:41
why because the marketing is the same
17:42
thing that has always been they don't
17:44
know you want to see it right and so
17:46
this fight that I'm doing right now is
17:47
so much bigger than broadway it's so
17:49
much bigger than ain't no mo it's like
17:50
hey no we got to take what's hours what
17:52
belongs to us and we don't know that it
17:54
belongs to us so ain't nobody trying to
17:55
take it
17:56
hey Chuck
17:58
thanks for your question Chuck you're a
18:00
citizen of sway in the morning that was
18:02
good Jordan if I could just add on yeah
18:05
and just add a different Dynamic of that
18:07
I think that far too often black
18:09
Americans don't always see ourselves in
18:14
these spaces for whatever reason black
18:16
Americans have been thought and taught
18:18
that Broadway isn't for us Hollywood
18:21
isn't for us who told you that lie right
18:24
that is a lie that was told Broadway for
18:27
a young Jordan e Cooper who was in his
18:30
living room in some rural town of Texas
18:38
at eight years old was making wigs and
18:41
creating uniforms and performing in a
18:44
living room in a play that Jordan e
18:46
Cooper deserves a shot to be on this
18:49
great right way this destination for so
18:51
many actors and thespians who believe in
18:53
the power of Live Theater because New
18:55
York City is a global destination for
18:58
the world and so the beauty of black
19:00
plays and playwrights to have the
19:02
opportunity to sit here in New York city
19:04
where the destination of the world can
19:06
land on to see black playwrights and to
19:09
see our stories as American stories we
19:11
deserve that right to be told we just
19:14
need to and I'm going to say something
19:15
maybe it's written that you don't want
19:16
to say but we have to put the onus on us
19:19
yes yes
19:20
and I get it yes I understand the
19:23
structure of Broadway and the marketing
19:24
and the segmentation the same marketing
19:26
segmentation is in Hollywood too with
19:28
how they Market our black films too as
19:30
well but at some point black Americans
19:32
you got to say you know what I want to
19:33
see live theater it's okay to see live
19:36
theater I'm going to spend my 100 bucks
19:38
like I would spend on Jordans Air Force
19:41
Ones and I'm a support a young Jordan e
19:43
Cooper who has a dream to be on it so
19:45
black stories can be told on the world
19:48
stage at some point we have to take the
19:51
onus on ourselves when y'all come up to
19:54
New York stop just only going to a
19:56
restaurant into a sports bar I'm not
19:58
gonna name those names I'm not dissing
19:59
that right but like stop just going to
20:01
see two things when you come up here in
20:03
New York City right like New York City
20:04
is for every one right and stop in on
20:07
Broadway
20:09
actors on plays that are not majority
20:12
written for black audiences and support
20:14
that actor too as well so that then they
20:16
can get cast in a musical like carousel
20:18
right or whatever because that's their
20:20
dream like we just have to start putting
20:23
our money like where our mouth goes and
20:26
stop waiting for someone else to do it
20:28
for us thank you for that yeah thank you
20:31
Mike news for bringing that in yo Mike
20:33
Muse Mike Muse want to um work with you
20:35
okay so and I just want to can we make
20:38
it where anytime I come to one of your
20:39
plays I get boxies come on
20:43
I got you I got you I got you okay
20:47
you got to take advantage of this young
20:49
man I got you only three years older
20:52
than my daughter I know how to work here
20:54
listen I'm afraid of boxes yeah I think
20:58
about Lincoln I can't do it oh you can't
21:00
do it because that's what he got yeah
21:02
I'm sure the hell you put that on the
21:04
boxes
21:12
yo listen this is incredible citizens if
21:15
you is playing until when it's playing
21:17
as of now it's playing until December
21:19
18th we fighting to extend it uh we
21:22
should know something today or tomorrow
21:23
and if we extend it that's us winning
21:26
the battle but we got to get ready for
21:27
war there you go you got it you got to
21:29
come out you got to support you got to
21:30
get those tickets and come have a good
21:31
time come have church with us we'll be
21:33
talking it up too as well proud of you
21:35
Jordan e Cooper you're amazing
21:38
you already done what you set now to do
21:41
is happening right now so
21:43
congratulations to you absolutely and
21:45
your family okay ain't no mo go get
21:48
these tickets Belasco Theaters on West
21:50
44th Street here in New York City
#Arts & Entertainment