Reid’s hit revue, which premiered in 2012, makes its Birdland debut on Feb. 8 to take the audience on a sensational musical ride through 1934 Harlem.

According to press notes, Drop Me Off in Harlem,

 is an evening of club-hopping to the music of Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington and Andy Razaf…through the elegant nightclubs and working class speakeasies that made uptown gay and delightful, however dull and depressing downtown Manhattan could be. In 1934, on a Saturday night in New York City, if you were boozin’ and jazzin’, you were doing it in Harlem.  In this club-hopping journey, Reid propels us into a night of uptown enchantment using his unique arsenal of talents.

Reid, a stunning vocalist and accomplished dancer, was most recently seen in After Midnight and has also appeared on Broadway in Mary Poppins, The Wedding Singer, La Cage aux Folles, Never Gonna Dance, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Follies and Kiss Me, Kate.

Hughes is currently gearing up for the City Center Encores! production of Cabin in the Sky which opens on Feb. 10 with a limited five-night engagement through Feb. 14.  Additional Broadway credits include Beautiful, Ghost the Musical, Book of Mormon, Ragtime, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Chicago. 

Broadway at Birdland presents Drop Me Off in Harlem Monday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m.  All tickets $30, $10 food/drink minimum.

The post Carly Hughes Joins T. Oliver Reid in Drop Me Off In Harlem appeared first on Broadway Black.

Taking a page from NBC after three years of record-breaking musical broadcasts, FOX is hoping to become the second network to reach ratings gold with the live presentation.  The three-hour telecast will feature songs from the 1972 stage production as well as the 1978 film.

FOX has made a few minor changes that may give NBC a run for its money.  Firstly, the event premieres on a Sunday, which may make the broadcast more accessible to families, theater lovers, and most importantly, theater performers.  Over the years, NBC has scheduled their events on Thursday night, which made it difficult for theater performers (a highly supportive and pivotal demographic) to enjoy the event live, since they too are performing at that time.  In addition, FOX announced they would be performing the show in front of a live audience, a missing element critics noted affected the energy in live filmed adaptations of staged shows.

FOX announced in May that Cinderella star KeKe Palmer would be joining the cast as “Marty Maraschino”, one of the infamous Pink Ladies.  Along with Palmer is Disney heartthrob Jordan Fisher as “Doody” and Broadway Black spotted Bring It On alum “Gregory Haney” and a couple of other chocolate drops on Instagram rounding off the ensemble.   Most importantly, for the Motown Philly lover in all of us, Boyz II Men has signed on to play the crooner role of “Teen Angel” collectively, a role made famous by Frankie Avalon.

“Grease: Live” is being staged by brilliant Hamilton director, Thomas Kail.  The full cast includes Julianne Hough as “Sandy”, Aaron Tveit as “Danny Zuko”, Andrew Call as “Sonny”, David Del Rio as “Putzie”, Kether Donohue as “Jan”, Jordan Fisher as “Doody”, Ana Gasteyer as “Principal”, Vanessa Hudgens as “Rizzo”, Carly Rae Jepsen as “Frenchie”, Mario Lopez as “Vince Fontaine”, Carlos PenaVega as “Kenickie”,  and Eve Plumb as “Mrs. Murdock.”

“Grease: Live” will cruise onto FOX Sunday, Jan. 31 at 8 p.m.  Will you be watching???

The post “Grease: Live” An Upgraded Musical TV Event? appeared first on Broadway Black.

Fishburne, Hall, and Richardson Jackson will join actors Bradley Cooper, Jake Gyllenhaal, Alec Baldwin, Ellen Barkin, Tony Kushner, Peter Sarsgaard, John Turturro and several others in reading excerpts from Miller’s autobiography, “Timebends,” and his unpublished works as well as scenes from his plays including Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, The Price, and All My Sons.

Tony Award winner Gregory Mosher who staged the 2010 Broadway revival of A View From the Bridge starring Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson will direct the event. And, Cindy Tolan and Damon Cardasis are the evening’s producers. The current revival of A View From The Bridge will play at the Lyceum Theatre through February 21.

The one-night-only performance is a fundraiser for the Arthur Miller Foundation for Theater And Film Education, which promotes access and equity to public school theater and film education. The Foundation believes that “arts education is the right of every New York City public school student.”

Miller, a prolific playwright who is widely considered to be one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century, won the Pulitzer Prize for Death of a Salesman. He also twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, received two Emmy awards and three Tony Awards for his plays, as well as a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.  Miller also won an Obie award, a BBC Best Play Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, a Gold Medal for Drama from the National Institute of Arts and Letters.

Tickets are available here.

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This year’s event, Kwanzaa Celebration: Regeneration Night, will feature New York-based dance company Abdel Salaam’s Forces of Nature Dance Theatre with special guests Raul Midón and Foday Musa Suso. The night of dance and music will be held on December 27 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm and will be hosted by WBLS radio personality Imhotep Gary Byrd.

Forces of Nature was founded in 1981 by Executive Artistic Director/Choreographer Abdel R. Salaam and Executive Managing Director Olabamidele Husbands. The company has produced professional ballets, conducted dance classes and presented concerts and educational programs throughout the U.S. and abroad. Forces of Nature utilizes a “unique blend of performing arts, which includes contemporary modern dance, traditional West African dance, ballet, house and hip-hop forms, as well as live and recorded music and the martial arts.”

Midón, who has been blind since birth, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from New Mexico who is known for his distinctive voice. He has collaborated with several artists including Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder, along with contributing to recordings by Jason Mraz, Queen Latifah, Snoop Dogg and the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s film, “She Hate Me.”

Suso is an internationally recognized musician, composer, and griot from the Mandinka ethnic group in Gambia. Griots are oral historians and a living library for the community, providing history, entertainment, and wisdom while playing and singing their songs.

With an entertaining night of dance, music, and African storytelling, the Apollo Theatre is definitely living up to the celebration of African values that Dr. Karenga set forth when he founded Kwanzaa.

Tickets for the Apollo Kwanzaa celebration can be purchased here.

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The Apollo Theater presents its annual Amateur Night Holiday Special,  a community favorite and one of the highlights of the Apollo season. The special show is an evening of entertainment presented by talented child dancers, musicians and singers all who are past Amateur Night Stars of Tomorrow winners.

This year features special guest performances by TV and Broadway performer Corbin Bleu (In the Heights, Godspell) and breakout star of NBC’s The Wiz Live! Shanice Williams. Co-hosted by Chaz Shepherd and Corbin Bleu.

Some of the performers for the night include Alexis Morrast, Christian Guardino, Lianah Sta. Ana, Mathew Whitaker, Dominique Gervais, Solomon Hicks, Austin Paul Jr. , Haruto Maeda, Street Justice Crew and Ex-Crew of Junior Exile.

Amateur Night at the Apollo is one of New York’s most popular live entertainment experiences, attracting performers and audiences  from all over the world. Amateur Night is known for its “tough crowd” audience that ultimately decides who will go on to win the grand prize. That is if they aren’t swept off the stage first. Many singers and even some Broadway Black stars got their start on the famous Apollo stage including Billie Holiday, Pearl Bailey, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Patti Labelle, Aretha Franklin, and Williams’ own co-stars Ne-Yo and Stephanie Mills (who won Amateur Night six weeks in a row when she was only 11 years old!)

Amateur Night Holiday Special is a one-night only special on Saturday, December 19th starting at 7:30 PM. Tickets can be purchased here.

In NYC?! You can see @luvbeingshanice live @apollotheater as guest for #amateurnightapollo TONIGHT! Make your way to Harlem!

A photo posted by Broadway Black (@broadwayblack) on Dec 19, 2015 at 8:24am PST

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The crooner will offer soulful renditions of holiday favorites with the help of her Rent co-stars Amber Iman (The Soul Doctor) and Marcus Paul James (Motown, The Wiz).

Listen to Hall’s wonderfully imaginative version of Germono Toussaint’s arrangement of “Seasons of Love” at last year’s concert below.

A native of Arlington, Virginia, Hall grew up in the church and went on to perform in high school and direct the gospel choir for her alma mater, University of Virginia.  Before being featured on the national tour and Broadway production of the cult-favorite, Rent, Hall replaced Jennifer Hudson on Disney Cruise Line’s production of Hercules.  Since then, Hall has branched out as a solo artist, serving as the lead vocalist for The Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart Band, a back-up singer for Mariah Carey at her Beacon Theater Christmas residency and launching her debut album “River Train.”

 Rachel Swan of the East Bay Express says that the title track (River Train) “sounds like an old spiritual”, and that “Hall sings in a style that recalls protest singers of the Sixties and Seventies: liquid, chillingly pure, full of vibrato without being ostentatious.”

“Season of Love Concert: Crystal Monee Hall & Friends” will take place on Saturday, December 12th at 9 p.m.  Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 day of show.  Note there is a one drink minimum and the show is 21+.

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Fans of the Canadian based singer will get to experience “a uniquely personal musical exploration of the John Kander/Fred Ebb canon.”  Along with musical director Mark Selby, Hinds will introduce the audience to insight on the famous songwriting duo and their lesser known songs, as well as present exciting, innovative new takes on their more popular pieces.

“I adore the intersection of musical theatre and Blackness,” explains Hinds.  “With Kander and Ebb we saw it in Kiss of the Spider Woman and Chicago before their amazing work on Scottsboro Boys, and [this] show is a blend of my personal experiences with their music.”

Hinds first presented #KanderandEbb at Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times last December.  After receiving a stammering standing ovation from a full house at the world’s largest LGBTQ theater complex, the show received a remount this fall followed by an additional run at the Mainline Theater in Montreal.

Few know that before Taye Diggs, Hinds was actually the first Black actor to play the role of Hedwig in John Cameron Mitchell’s punk-rock musical Hedwig & the Angry Inch.  Since then, Hinds has become an international name, playing in venues everywhere from Montreal to L.A. to Rio de Janeiro.  The artist has also performed with headliners including Liza Minnelli, Todrick Hall, Debbie Reynolds, and Lady Bunny.

Composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb are one of the most prolific songwriting duos in musical theater history.  Their 50-year collaboration produced such great works as Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Steel Pier, New York, New York, and my personal favorite, The Scottsboro Boys.

Ryan G. Hinds in #KanderAndEbb premieres at Don’t Tell Mama on Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. For tickets call (212) 757-0788 or visit DontTellMamaNYC.com.

The post Canadian Artist Ryan G. Hinds Takes on #KanderandEbb appeared first on Broadway Black.

In a message from pop icon and Tony winner Cyndi Lauper – co-founder and board member of True Colors Fund – she states: “While great strides have been made in recent years… when young people are so bullied and tormented that they feel their only way out of that hell is to end their lives, it’s clear we still have a long, long way to go before we achieve full equality and acceptance in this country.”

The mission of the nonprofit organization is to end homelessness among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, and to create a world in which young people can be their true selves. Playwright Howze  – whose work includes abominable, Tiny Boyfriend and all of what you love and none of what you hate – gives a platform for youth with a work-in-progress project, that began Nov. 2, as part of a residency at Brooklyn’s BRIC. Its BRIClab program is for emerging and established local artists to explore and expand the possibilities of their work in music, dance, theater and multi-disciplinary performance.

Directed by Saheem Ali – who most recently served as associate director on The Tempest for Shakespeare in the Park – The Children will culminate with a performance followed by a moderated artist-audience dialogue Nov. 7, at BRIC House Artist Studio. Reflecting Brooklyn’s creativity and diversity, BRIC presents contemporary art, performing arts and community media programs as well as provides resources to launch, nurture and showcase artists and media makers.

Howze, placing his protagonist in New York City, “follows the journey of a teenage boy who escapes his fraught home in search of a place to belong.” Lost and alone, he discovers a restless tribe of young people defying a world that refuses to let them be themselves. The work, set in and around a makeshift shelter, is further described as a funny contemporary musical that upends perceptions of family and celebrates community in the most unlikely of places.

Arrangement and orchestration is by Avi Amon who wrote The White City (O’Neill 2014 National Music Theatre Conference, Discovery New Musical Theater Festival at Ball State University, finalist for the 2015 Richard Rogers Award) and Step on a Crack (featured in Prospect Theater’s Seventh Annual Music Theater Lab). Choreography is designed by New York-based dance and theatre artist Jennifer Harrison Newman (Saturday Night Fever, The Lion King), who has studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and performed with Michael Jackson and The Radio City Rockettes.

A 2015 Fellow of the Sundance Institute Theater Lab, Howze’s Self-Portraits will be developed and presented in conjunction with a 2015-16 fellowship at Lincoln Center Education, while all of what you love and none of what you hate will receive a micro-residency at The Bushwick Starr in February as well as be featured at Cutting Ball Theater’s Risk Is This… Festival in San Francisco during March.

The post New Musical By Phillip Howze Reaches Trans/Queer Youth appeared first on Broadway Black.

However, this time things ended just a little bit differently. President Obama took to the stage and gave a quite comical speech to top off the special performance. The president gave a crowd of over 1,300 people more than a few laughs last night in a theatre that is home to a musical about the “Founding Father,” Alexander Hamilton. Fitting, right? Watch the entire speech below.

The show, which tells its story mostly to a hip hop score, has received rave reviews. Hamilton debuted off-Broadway at The Public Theater in January. It started Broadway previews July 13 and opened on August 6 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. In addition to President Obama, other political figures have attended the performance, including former President Bill Clinton, former Senator Hillary Clinton, and former Vice President Dick Cheney. First lady Michelle Obama has seen the hit musical three times now.

We also got a couple of clips from behind the stage before the President began his speech thanks to Leslie Odom Jr., who stars in the revolutionary musical as “Aaron Burr.”

POTUS @hamiltonmusical Part 1 via @leslieodomjr: Stage left. Rapt. Honored to have POTUS back in our midst. #HamiltonBway #HeGaveUsThePoint

A video posted by BroadwayBlack (@broadwayblack) on Nov 2, 2015 at 7:45pm PST

Below are some of his statements that made us laugh. Watch the video for context!:

“According to them, everything was really good in 2008, when we were going through the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes. This, apparently, was the golden age that I messed up.”

“All 99 of those doctors got together — with Obama — to try to prevent me from having bacon and doughnuts.”

“It’s cray!”

“And then it turns out they can’t handle a bunch of CNBC moderators. If you can’t handle those guys, I don’t think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you.”

The fundraiser was held on a Monday, which is typically a night that cast members have off. However, the Democratic National Committee paid the costs for the special Monday night performance. Seats sold for up to $10,000 each which benefitted the Democratic Hope Fund. The Fund raises money to help retire Mr. Obama’s campaign debt.

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