“The Hairpiece” from The Colored Museum

The PBS broadcast of George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum is now streaming online from February 3^rd through February 28^th.

The Colored Museum originally premiered at Crossroads Theatre Company in 1986, which is fitting since they are hosting the stream on their website.

The show features 11 scenes designed to satirize stereotypes in Black culture, bring awareness, and, ultimately, dismantle those same stereotypes.

The PBS cast includes original cast members Loretta Devine, Tommy Hollis, Reggie Montgomery, and Danitra Vance.

You can view The Colored Museum in its entirety here. Also, visit Crossroads Theatre to check out André De Shields and Haarlem Nocturne, Melba Moore: Sweet Songs of the Soul, and more!

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Hughie is a short, two-character play by Eugene O’Neill set in the lobby of a small hotel in midtown New York during the summer of 1928. The play is what’s known as a two-hander, a term for a play with only two main characters. It’s about the recently deceased night clerk of a grim hotel on Manhattan’s West Side who’s still mourned by “Erie Smith,” a drunk and hustler keen on impressing Hughie’s replacement, “Charlie Hughes,” with memories of past hijinks and adventures.

Whitaker will star as “Erie Smith” and Wood will take on the role of “Charlie Hughes.” Tony winner Michael Grandage, who also helmed the Tony-winning Red and the current West End production Photograph 51 starring Nicole Kidman, will direct the play.

Most of us are accustomed to seeing Broadway newcomer Whitaker in films such as “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Bird,” and “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.” In 2007, he won an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 2006’s “The Last King of Scotland.” He also received Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards for his performance. He is slated to appear next on the big screen in “Star Wars: Rogue One.” Whitaker is also a noted director having directed the iconic film “Waiting To Exhale” starring Whitney Houston, Loretta Devine, and Angela Bassett.

Wood won a Tony Award in 1999 for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Side Man. He played “Bill” in the Broadway production of August: Osage County.

Hughie was last seen on Broadway in 1996 at the Circle in the Square Theatre in a production directed by and starring Al Pacino. Previews for the production will begin on February 5.

The post Forest Whitaker Gets Co-Star & Official Dates For His Broadway Debut appeared first on Broadway Black.

East Texas Hot Links tells the story of a small African American community in 1955 Texas. The play takes place during a single night in the Top o’ the Hill Café, where a “betrayal endangers the lives of the community.” Lee’s play originally premiered in 1991 at the Met Theatre in Los Angeles with Loretta Devine in a starring role. A review of the production at the time noted, “the performances are gripping, honest and filled with humor.”

Casting for East Texas Hot Links is currently underway with John Beasley star of TV Land’s “The Soul Man” in the role of “Boochie Reed.” Beasley also serves as a producer. The movie is scheduled to begin shooting next spring in Los Angeles.

In addition to East Texas Hot Links, Lee has written Fear Itself, Somebody Called: A Tale of Two Preachers, Killingsworth, The Rest of Me, the musical Twist, and Lyin’ Ass. He also has appeared on Broadway in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, and as a company member for the Kennedy Center’s 10-play cycle tribute to Wilson. His television credits include “Good Times,” “The White Shadow,” and “The Women of Brewster Place.” He is currently the Artist in Residence and Artistic Director of the Texas State University Black and Latino Playwright’s Conference.

Jackson has enjoyed a long career on the stage including 1990’s Broadway production of Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. Most recently, he starred alongside Angela Bassett in Katori Hall’s Olivier Award-winning drama The Mountaintop as “Dr. Martin Luther King.”

The post Samuel L. Jackson Bringing East Texas Hot Links Play to the Big Screen appeared first on Broadway Black.

Sonia Friedman Productions has acquired the rights to a full West End production of the musical and it is rumored that Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Aladdin) will direct. The musical’s planning is still in the early stages and no venue has been mentioned, but it’s believed that it will go to London towards the end of 2016 or beginning of 2017. A London premiere in 2016, would mark the 35^th Anniversary of the musical.

Casting also hasn’t been announced, but open singer auditions were held in May for “black and mixed race performers with strong soul/pop voices for the lead roles of Effie White, Deena Jones, Lorrell Robinson, Curtis Taylor Jr., Jimmy Early and C.C. White.”

The musical, which features music by Henry Krieger and a book and lyrics by Tom Eyen, tells the story of a singing trio of black divas, “The Dreams,” and their rise to stardom in the 60’s. The trio is eventually torn apart by another predictable trio of fame, fortune, and men. The original Broadway production opened on December 20, 1981 and closed on August 11, 1985, after 1,521 performances. The cast starred Sheryl Lee Ralph as “Deena Jones,” Jennifer Holliday as “Effie White,” Loretta Devine as “Lorrell Robinson,” Ben Harney as “Curtis Taylor, Jr.,” Cleavant Derricks as “James “Thunder” Early,” and Obba Babatundé as “C. C. White.”

In addition to Beyoncé as “Deena” and Hudson as “Effie,” the 2006 hit movie had plenty of star power with Jamie Fox as “Curtis,” Eddie Murphy as “Jimmie,” Anika Noni Rose as “Lorrell,” and Danny Glover as “Marty.” Original Dreamgirl, Loretta Devine also made a cameo appearance as a jazz singer.

Sonia Friedman Productions is a West End and Broadway production company responsible for some of the most successful theatre productions in London and on Broadway over the past few years. Since 1990, the company has developed, initiated, and produced over 135 new productions, including Much Ado About Nothing, Jerusalem, The Book of Mormon, Legally Blonde the Musical, Betrayal, Arcadia, The Mountaintop, The Children’s Hour and All My Sons.

The post Dreamgirls May Debut In The West End For 35th Anniversary appeared first on Broadway Black.

The series, which airs on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior, chronicles an African American girl named Dottie “Doc” McStuffins who decides she wants to become a doctor like her mother. She practices her dream by fixing toys and dolls. When she puts on her stethoscope, toys, dolls and stuffed animals come to life and she can interact with them. With help from her stuffed animal friends – “Stuffy the Dragon,” “Hallie the Hippo,” “Lambie the Lamb,” and “Chilly the Snowman” – Doc helps toys recover, or “feel better,” by giving them checkups and diagnosing their illnesses with an encyclopedia called “The Big Book of Boo Boos.”

McDonald is featured in the episode entitled “Itty Bitty Bess Takes Flight.” Her character, “Bess,” is the pilot of a tiny tin airplane. Doc and the toys help her get back into shape after her joints become rusty.

McDonald introduces and voices her character:

McDonald sings a song about her animated character:

In 2014, the extraordinarily talented McDonald made Broadway history with a record-setting sixth Tony Award for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. She also has the distinction of being the first person to receive awards in all four acting categories.

A year after graduating from Julliard, McDonald won her first Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Carousel at Lincoln Center Theater. She received two additional Tony Awards in the featured actress category over the next four years for her performances in the Broadway premieres of Terrence McNally’s Master Class (1996) and his musical Ragtime (1998). In 2004, she won her fourth Tony, starring alongside Sean Combs and Phylicia Rashad in A Raisin in the Sun. In 2012, she won her fifth–and her first in the leading actress category–for her role in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.

In addition to her Tony Awards, Audra McDonald’s luminous soprano has garnered her two Grammy Awards and a long list of other accolades.

“Doc McStuffins” also features the voices of Kiara Muhammad as the lead character as well as veteran Broadway and film actress Loretta Devine as “Hallie”, Kimberly Brooks as “Dr. Myiesha McStuffins” (Doc McStuffins’ mother) and Gary Anthony Williams as “Marcus McStuffins” (Doc McStuffins’ father).

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Almost 35 years after its opening at the Imperial Theater on Broadway, audiences will once again be electrified by the dynamic “Dreams” in an all-new production of Dreamgirls that will begin performances at the Beverly, MA venue, North Shore Music Theatre, beginning Tuesday, June 2nd and running through Sunday, June 14.

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