This isn’t the first time NeNe Leakes has appeared on the Broadway stage. Last year, Leakes made her Broadway debut in Cinderella alongside Keke Palmer, the first Black actress in the title role. The role of Matron ‘Mama’ Morton is usually meant for a supreme belter, although Wendy Williams has also played the character. I have no doubt Leakes has the acting chops to be the authoritative, bossy persona Morton needs to be believable on stage.

I did it #chicago #Neneismamamorton #nyc #gettingbacktome #debut

A photo posted by NeNe Leakes (@neneleakes) on Nov 24, 2015 at 12:38am PST

I must admit that when I first heard the news, I let out a sigh. I’m all for a woman making BOSS moves to advance her career. However, as a person who has spent her entire life immersed in theatre, I always feel a sort of bias. People go to school for years, go through years of training in acting, dance, and singing to dream of the moment they can step foot on a Broadway stage. Yet more and more, the theatre is becoming commercialized, focusing more on big names than actual talent.

This is not to take anything away from Leakes, who I’m sure is putting in the work it takes. I just am having trouble with this trend of caring more about star quality than actual talent. After all, isn’t New York the city of dreams? Why not give someone else a chance? Maybe after Leakes’ run we’ll be treated to an unknown in the role. In the meantime, I’m excited to see what NeNe has to bring to the table.

For 4 weeks only, from Nov 23rd – Dec 20th, make your way over to the Ambassador Theatre to catch the woman who is “very rich” in action. Tickets are available HERE.

The post Nene Leakes Is Living Her Dreams During Her Run In Chicago appeared first on Broadway Black.

The premiere cruise line announced in January that they would be bringing the jazz-filled spectacle to their newest ship, the 4,200 passenger Norwegian Escape. Playing weekly in the vessels’ 800-seat Escape Theater, the Broadway experience is just one of many notable features of the ship.

Since Braxton’s Broadway debut, just a year out of high school, the Diva (as I like to call her) has appeared in Dreamgirls, Jelly’s Last Jam, and Cats. She’s become a frequent favorite of the long-running Fosse hit Chicago and in 1995 she earned a Tony Award nomination for her famous portrayal in Smokey Joe’s Cafe. In addition to her work on TV shows “Smash” and “Nurse Jackie,” the Golden Girl also recently launched “ACT 2…Now What?,” a “series of seminars and workshops for women over 50 looking to make the Act 2 of their lives spectacular on their own terms.”

After Midnight opened in the fall of 2013 and despite its short run, was a critical success from the start. Earning seven Tony Award nominations, the City Center transfer welcomed the stunning artistry of musical greats including Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle, Toni Braxton, Babyface, Vanessa Williams, and Fantasia Barrino.

“Refracted through a contemporary lens, After Midnight celebrates Duke Ellington’s years at the Cotton Club using his original arrangements and performed by a world-class big band of 17 musicians hand-picked by living jazz legend, Wynton Marsalis. The timeless tunes set against a narrative of Langston Hughes poetry provide an authentic backdrop for an array of cutting-edge performances by 25 sensational vocalists and dancers, including special guest stars, whose interpretations shatter everything you think you know about music, nightlife and Broadway.”

Conceived by Producer Jack Viertel, the 90-minute musical will be re-created on board the Escape by its original director/choreographer, Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle, and will feature the look and feel of its original design team, including Isabel Toledo’s costumes and John Lee Beatty’s set. The Norwegian Escape will take its maiden voyage on Nov. 9.

AfterMidnight from Norwegian Creative Studios on Vimeo.

The post Brenda Braxton Stars in After Midnight on the High Seas appeared first on Broadway Black.

Inspirational albums for Hughes’ record player include: Calypso by Harry Belafonte; Broadway My Way by Nancy Wilson; Salt by Lizz Wright; Lioness: Hidden Treasures by Amy Winehouse; and Funky Divas by En Vogue. Hughes is very much in vogue these days and has, well, been giving her audiences something they can feel. For her time at Broadway’s supper club it will be no different, only more intimate.

Fans will have a chance to see the Columbia, Maryland native in this solo performance before she reprises her debut Broadway role as Velma Kelly in the current revival production of the Tony-winning Chicago. She will be the vaudevillian and murderess for 16 performances from Aug. 22-Sep. 4, replacing Amra-Faye Wright during her hiatus. Amy Spanger (Rock of Ages) also returns to Roxie Hart for a two-week engagement from Aug. 4-16, after Grammy Award winner Brandy Norwood took her bow Aug. 2 from the nearly four-month stint.

In its 19th year on Broadway, Chicago – featuring the tunes of John Kander and Fred Ebb – tells the story of dancer Roxie Hart, who murders her lover after he threatens to leave her, and works over the press by hiring a slick criminal lawyer.

Recipient of the prestigious national Princess Grace Award for Acting and Excellence in the Arts, Hughes was most recently The Leading Player in Pippin, arriving to the stage September 2014 as the final replacement (after Ariana DeBose and Ciara Renee) for original cast member Patina Miller before the show’s close in January. Prior to that, she was Lucille/Shirley of the Shirelles in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. In January, Hughes was among the voices of BROADWAY SINGS P!NK to showcase new arrangements of her Broadway songs from these two shows. At the 2014 Tony Awards, she performed an unforgettable rendition of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” from Beautiful.

And, yes, we will still love Carly Hughes tomorrow… and the next day, and the day after that, and… forever.

The 14-year acting veteran – whose additional Broadway credits include Ghost, The Book of Mormon, Ragtime, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – isn’t done for the year, though. Her vocal stylings will soon be seen alongside Jason Alexander, Nikki M. James and the late Dennis Farina in the upcoming movie musical Lucky Stiff, adapted for the screen by Tony Award winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime).

Tickets for Carly Live at 54 Below! can be purchased at 54below.com.

The post Carly Hughes Makes Solo 54 Below Debut & Chicago Musical Return appeared first on Broadway Black.

I was fortunate enough to see the show last week and can genuinely say it was such a treat to watch her in action. She brings her own flare to “Roxie” that is so uniquely Brandy and is so fitting for the character. Those runs? I see you Brandy. I see you. She’ll make you laugh, she’ll make you cry, but most importantly she’ll make you root for a character that can be questionably unethical. To me, that’s what a really good performance is supposed to do.

Brandy started her run as “Roxie Hart” April 28 and originally was supposed to end her run June 21, however due to rave reviews and popular demand her run was extended until August 2nd. Chicago marks Brandy’s Broadway debut — though it isn’t her first musical. She starred opposite Whitney Houston in the 1997 TV adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. But make no mistake, we doubt that this will be Brandy’s last time on the Great White Way, in fact she even said so herself in her exclusive interview with Broadway Black that she would love to come back to Broadway as “Annie Oakley” in Annie Get Your Gun (Come on Broadway producers! Let’s make this happen!).

For tickets and showtimes to see Brandy give ’em that old Razzle Dazzle in Chicago, visit ChicagoTheMusical.com.

The post Brandy Brings Her Chicago Run To A Close – Final Week! appeared first on Broadway Black.

In this Broadway hit, siblings Vanya and Sonia have spent their adult years trapped in mundane lives at their family’s cottage, caring for their ailing parents. Meanwhile their self-involved sister Masha, a glamorous movie star, has traveled the world in decadent style. After their soothsayer/cleaning woman Cassandra (Butler) warns Vanya and Sonia of impending doom, Masha arrives unannounced, accompanied by her hunky young lover, Spike. When Masha reveals plans that will upend the family, long-repressed resentments bubble over in a weekend full of wild costume parties, voodoo dolls and surprise romance.

Recently, Ms. Butler sat down with Broadway Black to discuss her latest work, her longevity in the industry, and the importance of arts education in schools.

Broadway Black (BB): What attracted you to the role of Cassandra in Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike?

E. Faye Butler (EFB): I’ve studied {Playwright} Christopher Durang in school and his writing is unique. Hearing that he incorporated an African American character {into his play} was interesting to me. You never hear of the Black characters. Durang left it open in the show from Cassandra to be between 20-60 years old. It left it open to the actor’s possibilities. I can make her what I want it to be and create something that is different. Cassandra could be whatever you wanted her to be, even in her ethnicity. I approach her as a seer from an island, but I don’t quite know which one. Even in the costuming, there are so many cultural references: African, Jamaican, Brazilian. My Cassandra is a secret fashion designer.

BB: You have a long history with the Goodman Theatre, having appeared in several productions there. Tell us why that particular theatre and Chicago in general are so special to you.

EFB: Chicago is my home. Having grown up here, I have strong roots. I’m a Southside girl. So much American culture and icons in America are from Chicago. My parents were very active ensuring we went to the arts. My Godmother was Mahalia Jackson so I have experienced a migration of gospel music. I never forget who I am. I don’t get ahead of myself. I still take public transportation. Through my life experiences, I’m allowed to bring special things because I live amongst the people. I still attend Fellowship Baptist Church. All of it keeps me humble. I’m not in a bubble.

I went to the Goodman School of Theatre and graduated from Illinois State University, a public school. I auditioned. I broke through with {Director} Steve Scott, interestingly, the same director as I have now. A Christmas Carol was the first. I have a real friendship with Goodman folks. Chicagoans are regular people. They teach the art of the true theatre.

I’m a working actor and have been so for 40 years. I have never had to take another kind of job. I have worked with every Broadway actor and producer but never been on a Broadway show. It has never been a goal for me. I make sure I make a living through good, honest work.

BB: What role does performing play in your life?

EFB: You have to remember it is just A PART of your life, not your life. Then it can be very rewarding. Family, religion, faith, friends, community at large. These are the things that are important. It’s not what I live for. I love all facets of it, but it’s {just} a part. I can bring to it, as an individual, as a human, the human condition. It’s what playwrights write about. Just as in the play {Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike}, there is sibling rivalry, dead parents, in real life. When we’re reading, there’s a real human side.

My #1 job is to audition. To get in the room to secure the job. You have to earn it, so you don’t owe anybody anything. I don’t want to disappoint the directors. People think you can climb tall buildings when you get to a certain status, but the hardest thing to get across {to those casting a role} is to let you do what you do.

BB: How do you keep things fresh after four decades as a performer?

EFB: Every time I go away from it {performing}, and I go back, I have something fresh, bright, and energetic. I like new projects. I don’t like to repeat myself. Someone else needs the opportunity to do the role. We have to hand down to other people. Coming through in the 70s, roles were hard to come by. Now, there’s more and they must be passed down. When you have your hand closed to those coming behind you, nothing gets out or in.

BB: What advice would you give to younger Broadway Black actors and actresses?

EFB: Don’t pigeonhole yourself. Be a well-rounded actor. Audition for everything. You can change the mind of an author, producer, director. You have to believe you’re the best person for the role. Go after that role! You can make it happen. If you don’t believe, who else will believe? Don’t wait on others.

Look at Audra (McDonald), Norm (Lewis), Nicki (Anika Noni Rose). You have to think beyond what you see. You have to break the barriers. You can’t wait for someone else to decide what you want to be. Make it happen. Keep studying. Keep going to dance class. Keep getting coached. Keep singing. You have to do the work.

BB: What are your thoughts on Arts Education?

EFB: Arts Education develops good human beings. Without the arts, I don’t know where a lot of great performers would be. It’s a part of what makes you a great human being. Music, Theatre, Arts can be an outlet for children. It can change the face of who you are. Reading, writing skills, music, the knowledge of music and culture. That is what the arts do for you. Because of that, theatre falls into a great place. It makes you a well-rounded human beings. You have to be an activist of the arts and an advocate of arts with children. It’s an important facet in developing a child. The Arts come from the Motherland. How can you cut us off? From the womb, from the church, it’s a part of who we are. We listen in the home but it stops when children go to school. It has to be in our educational system. We’re denying our kids a part of their life.

BB: What is next for you?

EFB: I have dates booked from now until December. I will be working with College Bound Executive Director Kenneth Ward this fall. Ballou High School in Washington, DC has been reconstituted. There will be a new high school but they still need to raise funds for their theatre department because they took all of the Arts out. So I will be doing a Benefit for Ballou to reactivate the theatre department.

I also have club dates in Chicago. I will be performing at Ten Chimneys in WI. I will also be in Amish country at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, PA next year. They have taken the blockbuster movie “Ghost” and made it smaller, just 9 people. I will be playing the role made famous by Whoopi Goldberg.

E. Faye Butler is the recipient of six Joseph Jefferson Awards, four Black Theater Alliance Awards, an After Dark Award, a John Barrymore Award, a Rockford Area Music Industry Award, two Helen Hayes Awards, an Excellence in the Arts Award, a Kathryn Lampkey Award and an Ova­tion Award. Ms. Butler was the recipient of the 2011 Sarah Siddons Society Leading Lady Award; she was also named a 2012 Lunt Fontanne Fellow and was inducted into the National Women in the Arts Museum in Washington, DC, in 2012.

Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike is running now at the Goodman Theatre through July 26.

The post EXCLUSIVE: E. Faye Butler Stars In ‘Vanya & Sonya & Masha & Spike’ At The Goodman Theatre appeared first on Broadway Black.

The R&B/Pop star was previously set to end her run at Ambassador Theatre on June 21. However, she’s sticking around for a little while longer because she’s just that good and the people want to see her! Just be mindful not to schedule your tickets for certain dates if you want to see her. Norwood will not be performing in the musical on June 22, June 23, June 27 or June 28.

Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids.

Check out how Brandy performs as the murderess vaudeville star Roxie Hart during last week’s Stars In The Alley below:

The post Brandy Norwood Extends Role On Broadway In Chicago The Musical appeared first on Broadway Black.

Broadway Black (BB): Stop. Reset. is your 12^th Goodman Theatre production. You are celebrating your 20^th anniversary at the Goodman Theatre as an Artistic Associate. What is the secret to your longevity?

Regina Taylor (RT): I feel that it’s been such a rare and wonderful treat at the Goodman Theatre and having longevity with an institution such as the Goodman. It is rare for any artist, especially a Black person, especially a Black woman, to be able to grow each year in developing one’s own voice. What is unique and special about that which you bring, what is your authenticity of full self that you bring to life and to your pieces? My pieces are markers in my life. I have been challenged in life and I challenge life with each and every piece. There is an opening to dare in each and every piece. With this one, I feel like I’ve learned everything along the way that I’m bringing fearlessly with my own tongue. Think about Miles Davis, you know who he is by that first note. That takes sounding like other people until you hit it and know that it’s yours. With this piece, I know that it’s mine. It’s an idiom of jazz. Each character is mine. In this piece there is an element of Afro-Futurism that harnesses both past and present when looking at who we are and how we survive into the future. It resonates with how we deal with what we’re dealing with right here and now and who we are. Who are children will be.

BB: Tell us about your latest work, Stop. Reset.

RT: Stop.Reset. is about 70-year-old Black bookstore owner Alexander Ames. He is trying to determine how to keep his business from being extinct. He is a lover of books. What they hold, their weight, smell and feel. Memories from the ancestors is what they hold. How they are transferred, palm to palm. He’s trying to figure out how that moves forward in the digital age. What does he need to hold onto and what does he need to let go? All of Ames’ bookstore workers are over 40 except one, J the 19 year old, who is semi-literate. So there is a generational conversation about the present and the future. Ames sees promise in J and recognizes himself, but J is interested only in the present and the future, not the past. 

It’s about books but also about how we deal with change. There are so many changes we’re grappling with in the present moment. People don’t change easily. People dig in their heels to figure out where they stand and fight for what they believe in and what they know, as the terrain is shifting, and we can’t trust the dirt under our feet. People either dig in or dive headlong into the unknown and embrace it. Stop. Reset. is not just about technology, but about where we are. It’s about race, gender, sexuality, the economy, all of these issues as they are shifting right now in terms of how we look at things. Who are we becoming? Who do we want to become?

The play is about what the audience brings to it in terms of their own history. What I set is conversations, arguments, dialogue, about how you deal with change. I try to give equal weight to various perspectives. Some will enter and be moved in terms of where they stand. Others may dig in and not move. What I hope to spark, to provoke, is the dialogue to look at the world and themselves. The question of the ground that we stand on. That’s the first spark of change. Or not. {Referencing Dr. Martin Luther’s Speech after the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965}: How long? Not long. How long has it been? We keep coming back to that phrase in different increments in time. Is it possible to escape one’s past and all that it brings? To escape the shadows that we drag behind us? I present the question for the audience to answer for themselves.

BB: Stop. Reset. is, in part, about the digital age and how that reflects the information we receive from various sources. How do you perceive the role of digital technology, especially as it relates to breaking news that reflects the African American community?

RT: There is great possibility. Digital technology has changed how we talk about race. Who owns the narrative? How Black males have historically been presented in the media. Here and now, there’s a transformation in terms of the tongue. Who’s speaking about it, who gets to frame the narrative? There is a “Stop and Reset” in the narrative that came from the ground, meaning the grassroots and social media. Once the floodgates opened, the mainstream had to follow. So there were more layers to that story than we expected. We’re seeing how these devices are being harnessed for our community, like #BlackLivesMatter. This is where we want to talk.

We are the ones who should be telling our stories. There is an opening for books. We have the spoken word and people would gather around the fire for the gatekeeper to tell the story. When books came along, we the masses would hold the knowledge with the ability to read. The hierarchy has been toppled. Who are we becoming with people alone with a book, cut off from the world? On the contrary, people are talking to their devices and these worlds open up to the masses. The gatekeepers are being toppled. Whose voice should be voiced and heard? Everyone has access. That’s the powerful part. How do we harness this power? How do we learn how to learn from this device? How do we teach ourselves the weight of each piece of the information without someone over us telling us which way to go? The opening is amazing. We can and have been telling our own stories. It’s about how we harness them.

BB: One of the questions that Stop. Reset. asks is whether books are obsolete. There are so many fewer African American newspapers and bookstores than there were twenty or fifty years ago. Is it just as important in what medium our stories are told?

RT: I look at adaptation and meeting new audiences. What does this technology bring? Who are these new audiences and how one shapes the others? Ebony, Jet, Haki Madhubuti are all examples of those who champion the written word. And what doors those magazines opened to me as a child in Dallas, Texas. Looking at how they framed the discussion of Black is Beautiful and how powerful those images were to me as a Black female moving forward. The diversity of identity opening that lens in terms of the world and how I saw myself. How those stories weren’t the same as those in the mainstream that reflected who I was, am, and can be. The importance of periodicals giving a reflection of self. How do you reflect that here within? Certain things can be erased if not held in a book. How do you pass that on so the legacy isn’t lost? What do we need in terms of that legacy? We need certain parts of our past, the understanding of how we’ve adapted all along. We will continue to adapt. We have continued to adapt and survived against all odds.

BB: You’ve described yourself as a purist when it comes to books, yet the StopReset.org website is revolutionary in what it offers theatregoers and the community at large with in-theater tweeting and live community discussions. What is your response to those who say that attending the theatre should be a static, as opposed to an interactive, experience that Stop.Reset provides?

RT: We continue to update the StopReset.org site. The audience gets to have the choice, according to their perspective. They can choose where they enter the play: before the show happens, while at the theater, and afterward. It’s organic in that it’s the melding of reality. We are meeting Chicago audiences on their own ground. Stop. Reset. is a piece about Chicago and the dialogue converges so the audience is a part of the play itself, wherever they are. I’m finding this liberating. I’m growing so much. 

BB: There were two Outside the Box events this week in which those involved with Stop. Reset. interacted directly with the Chicago community. What did you glean from those discussions?

RT: The symposia are about change. Everyone has been hit by technology in some way. Having these conversations with people from diverse backgrounds and to engage with artists around Chicago, professionals, and, importantly, students, that they take the themes of the play and create their own pieces and do it through their own medium: play, spoken word, music. All of that we’re doing in these live interactions.

A chord has to be struck that people need to be dealing with what is going on at this time. I don’t think we’ve seen such overall social and technological change since the 60s, when people were walking on the moon and sitting on the ground. All things are erupting at this moment. The LGBT community’s rights still, still gender, still race. Haven’t we been through this? When will we move forward? What do we need to move forward with? Do we cut away the ghosts and leave the past behind? What do we need to retain? What are the tools that we need to move forward?

BB: Stop. Reset. is, in part, about legacy. With your decades at the Goodman Theatre and as the only member of the theater’s Artistic Collective to generate work in all three creative capacities as playwright, director and actor, how are you defining your legacy and what advice could you give young Black women creating their own work?

RT: There is a passion and tenacity to it. A seeking of truth to it. An unstoppability in terms of claiming ground and being heard and being seen. To claim the ground that sheds light to your existence. That’s what my work is about, in terms of reaching out to the community to give platforms to people who would not have visibility. That Stop. Reset. is set in Chicago and my relationship to audiences who have witnessed these markers in my life. The challenge is to see how I can extend these portals of storytelling as an artist to work along with the community. It permeates every part of our lives. How to challenge audiences and interact with new audiences.

Regina Taylor is a Golden Globe and NAACP Image Award winner and two-time Emmy Award nominee currently starring in DIG, a new television series on USA Network. She was the first African American to play Romeo and Juliet’s title young lover on Broadway, and gained wide public recognition for her performance on the television series, I’ll Fly Away. Taylor’s latest stage production, Stop. Reset. can be seen at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre from May 23 – June 21.

The post Regina Taylor Examines Legacy & Digital Technology In Stop. Reset. appeared first on Broadway Black.

These are the moments we live for. To have an amazing vocalist like Brandy to hit Broadway makes our hearts stop. She is a Grammy award winner who has sold millions of records worldwide. Her portrayal of Cinderella in the TV movie, which featured Whitney Houston as the fairy God mother, is still talked about today. That performance even influenced the first black Cinderella on Broadway, Keke Palmer.

We will be in the seats to see her transform and take on this new challenge as Roxie Hart. It is bound to be something special. Get your tickets now!

Norwood will join a cast that includes Amra-Faye Wright as Velma, John Dossett as Billy Flynn, Raymond Bokhour as Amos Hart, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Matron “Mama” Morton and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine.

Set in the legendary city during the roaring “jazz hot” 20s, Chicago tells the story of two rival vaudevillian murderesses locked up in Cook County Jail. Nightclub star Velma’s serving time for killing her husband and sister after finding the two in bed together. Driven chorus girl Roxie’s been tossed in the joint for bumping off the lover she’s been cheating on her husband with. Not one to rest on her laurels, Velma enlists the help of prison matron Mama Morton and slickster lawyer Billy Flynn, who turn Velma’s incarceration into a murder-of-the-week media frenzy, thus preparing the world for a splashy showbiz comeback. But Roxie’s got some of her own tricks up her sleeve…

The post Brandy Norwood Brings Her Hart To Chicago appeared first on Broadway Black.