11th Annual Black Nativity
2026 BLACK NATIVITY BY LANGSTON HUGHES | DIRECTED BY ANTOINE REYNOLDS SR.
For the 11th consecutive year, Black Arts MKE (BAMKE) will produce Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity, December 10–13, 2026, in the Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall, Marcus Performing Arts Center. A Milwaukee holiday favorite, Black Nativity tells the Christmas story through scripture, poetry, dance, and song from the African American perspective. Each year, the production is reimagined with new themes and creative approaches while maintaining its core spirit of faith, family, and joy.
This year’s production is directed by Antoine Reynolds Sr., BAMKE’s Black Nativity by Langston Hughes Music Director of 10 years. Sheri Williams Pannell, one of Milwaukee’s most respected theater artists and educators served as an artistic advisor to the production. In his directing debut, Reynolds seeks to preserve the spirit of Black Nativity while grounding it within the contemporary Black religious and family experience.
“Faith and family are core values that have guided generations through uncertainty, struggle, celebration, loss, and transformation. This production brings those worlds together—the ancient and the modern, Bethlehem and the Black church, parent and child, struggle and redemption—to remind us why Christ came. The problems surrounding humanity may change their appearance from generation to generation, but the need for hope, redemption, grace, and transformation remains.”
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About Black Arts MKE
Black Arts MKE’s mission is to increase the availability and quality of African American arts and culture. We’re a Black-led performing arts organization who serves predominantly Black communities. We produce, present, and/or commission new performance arts works including classic works, readings, conversations, and festivals, as well as Black-led institutions focused on Black audience development, all rooted in the full diversity, complexity, and intersectionality of the Black Experience.
