The Broadway Black approved production of Head of Passes by Tarell Alvin McCraney has officially been extended and rightfully so. It will now play until April 24th at the Public Theater. Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad leads the cast as Shelah, a woman who “must fight to survive the rising flood of life’s great challenges” as her family and friends come to celebrate her birthday.

Completing the cast and telling this moving story is Alana Arenas (The Bluest Eye) as “Cookie”, Francois Battiste (Bronx Bombers) as “Aubrey”, Kyle Beltran (The Fortress of Solitude) as “Crier”, J. Bernard Calloway (All the Way) as Spencer, Robert Joy as “Dr. Anderson”, John Earl Jelks (Holler If Ya Hear Me) as “Creaker Johnson”, and Arnetia Walker (Dreamgirls) as “Mae”.

It’s also time for a giveaway and this is a really special one for us! The return of “Mutha”, aka Phylicia Rashad, to an Off-Broadway stage is nothing to be taken lightly. She is currently serving the people all kinds of master class skills in the production of Head of Passes at The Public Theater. You can’t NOT see this show so, we want to give you the opportunity to do so.

If you don’t know why we’re so adamant about making sure you see it, read about our experience in our #WeWereThere article HERE. After you’ve finished that and you’re clearly sold on the experience, follow the rules below to qualify to win a pair of tickets to the April 22nd performance. There will be more than one winner and each winner will receive a pair of tickets to that show ONLY. If you can’t make it on that date you can still purchase tickets HERE.

How to WIN!:

1. Must be following @BroadwayBlack & @PublicTheaterNY on twitter

2. Like our Broadway Black Facebook page HERE!

3. Comment below & tell us: What has been your greatest challenge in life & why?!

Must enter before Wed April 20th at 5pm! Winners will be announced on that same day at 7pm!

Check out Head of Passes production photos by Joan Marcus below!

Giveaway made possible by our friends at PPLMVR! Thank you!

If you’re one of the hundreds of fans who’ve endured the pouring rain, shiftless crowds and the potentially lethal traffic of Times Square for a chance to win lottery tickets to the show of the century – you’re gonna love this.  The record-breaking Broadway musical, Hamilton, announced that it would be temporarily shifting it’s wildly popular lottery event to a digital format as of Jan. 5.

Citing dangerous overcrowding and inclement weather, the powers that be have decided to make some improvements to the potentially treacherous lottery event before reintroducing it in the spring.

“We love seeing so many fans show up to participate in the Ham4Ham lottery and show,” Hamilton producer, Jeffrey Seller, said in a statement. “But we need to figure out how to safely accommodate our fans without blocking traffic on West 46th Street.”

Shortly after it began its run at The Public Theater, Hamilton has offered the drawing to fans who can’t afford or even access the $150+ tickets to the currently sold out run. The stage phenomenon garners, at minimum, 500 entrants per drawing: excited fans who, line, crowd and essentially dominate the slim street accessing the Richard Rodgers Theater.

An innovation made popular in 1996 by the cult-classic Rent, lottery, student rush, general rush and “standing room only” has become the poor man’s guide to Broadway.

Hamilton is just one of many Broadway productions offering an affordable digital lottery for what has become quite an expensive medium.  Kinky Boots made the switch this summer and after 18 years on top of the Broadway ticket want list, The Lion King announced in November that they would be offering an online lottery.  Introduced just in time for the holiday season, the lottery would make tickets for the musical, which generally average around $130, accessible to theatergoers at a reasonable price.

UPDATE:  As of 11 AM on Jan. 5, Hamilton has broken the internet!  Since opening the digital lottery at 9:30 AM, BroadwayDirect, the website that hosts multiple Broadway show lotteries, has read a “Service Unavailable” message.  Twitter is all abuzz, including Lin Manuel Miranda who has assured Hamilfans, while he excels at many things, IT is not one of them.  Hopefully the site will be up soon…cause we’re trying to get tickets too!