Other Broadway credits attributed to Ms. Jones are: American Idiot, Kinky Boots and Passing Strange. Outside of Broadway Jones has appeared in Dracula, Tarzan, 42nd Street, CATS and The Toxic Avenger. On July 22nd you can see Taye Diggs take on the role of Hedwig for a lead cast chock full of actors of color.

Broadway.com did a feature web series following Rebecca and her performances in Hedwig.  Not only do we get a backstage look for a Broadway show we get to enjoy Rebecca Naomi Jones’ bubbly and vibrant personality. You can also hear about and watch her get into drag. Spoiler alert: she does wear a prosthetic while she performs. To get to know a little bit of the woman behind the voice and other cast member check out the episodes. Episode one you can watch below!

For ticket information visit www.hedwigonbroadway.com. Plus, you can also follow Rebecca Naomi Jones on Twitter @rebeccasername here.

The post Rebecca Naomi Jones Transforms As Yitzhak In Hedwig And The Angry Inch 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.

The cast features: Brittany Campbell (The Civil War), Carl Clemons-Hopkins (Regional: Macbeth, The Color Purple), Kim Exum (As You Like It), Britton Smith (After Midnight), Anita Welch (Bubble Boy), Reggie D. White (Party People, Dogsbody) and Jason Veasey (Beautiful, The Lion King). Band includes: Associate Musical Director Alphonso Horne (Trumpet), Owen Broder (Woodwind), Carrie Dowell (Violin), Robert Edwards (Trombone), Nathan Ellman-Bell (Drums), Eleanor Norton (Cello), and Eric Wheeler (Bass).Creative team includes: John McDermott (Scenic Designer), Whitney Locher (Costume Designer), Jimmy Lawlor (Lighting Designer), Kevin Heard (Sound Designer), Judy Merrick (Properties Designer), Cristina Knutson (Fight Choreographer), Angie Hesterman (Stage Manager), Michael Cassara (Casting) Corey Pearlstein (General Manager), Orchestration by Dennis Mackrel, Music Direction by Cody Owen Stine.

For the Last Time cast (L-R): Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Kim Exum, Anita Welch, Brittany Campbell, Reggie D. White and Britton Smith. Not featured in the photo is cast member Jason Veasey. Photo by Russ Rowland

“This is a thrill for me to hear my songs sung by these gifted actor/singers. And to hear all the music played by our fantastic group of young jazz musicians. I am so grateful to Dennis Mackrel for his amazing arrangements which manage to sound fresh and still are faithful to Roland Hanna’s original conception for the jazz album we did some years ago. This is my fourth collaboration with inspiring colleague Will Pomerantz, and I think with this show we have captured a rare energy where jazz and theater meet.” –  Nancy Harrow | For The Last Time composer/ lyricist/ co-book writer,

“Nancy Harrow is a unique talent. As a singer, she has recorded with some of the greatest jazz musicians in the history of the art form. As a songwriter, she taps into this deep well of experience, as well as her love of literature. Nancy is able to conjure character and story breathtakingly through song, and only Nancy could have figured out how to marry jazz and Nathaniel Hawthorne! With this wonderful company of actors and musicians, Hawthorne’s tale of love and crime is sure to sing.”  – Will Pomerantz | For The Last Time co-book writer/ director

Theater Row’s Clurman Theatre is located at 410 West 42nd St. New York,NY 10036

Tickets can be purchased by calling (212) 239-6200 or by visiting www.Telecharge.com. Also, visit www.ForTheLastTimeMusical.com for more information and to preview some of the songs!

The post For The Last Time Brings New Orleans Jazz To NYC appeared first on Broadway Black.

Through an agreement with Blue Mountain Music and Tuff Gong Pictures, Marley includes 26 Bob Marley songs, including “No Woman, No Cry,” and “Waiting in Vain,” among others, and is the first ever stage production to include both the music and life of the reggae legend. “We are thrilled to be working both with Kwame and with Center Stage to bring part of our father’s story to life in a way that has never been done before,” Cedella Marley says. “When it comes to our father’s work and legacy, we have always been mindful in selecting the artists with whom we choose to collaborate. We couldn’t be more excited about the team that is assembled for this project.”

Director Kwei-Armah said Marley will not be a traditional jukebox musical, but rather a show “focusing on a really dynamic moment” in the singer’s life. To cast the lead of Bob Marley, Kwei-Armah said, “Whoever takes on this icon doesn’t have to look like him,” he said. “But he has to be able to generate his physical and spiritual and sexual energy in a way that will enthrall.” It seems he found his muse in Mitchell Brunings, who rocketed to international acclaim by singing Marley’s “Redemption Song” on the Dutch version of The Voice television show in 2013. Watch his moving performance here, which has more than 37 million views:

Born in the South American country of Surinam, Brunings is on sabbatical as a nurse at a psychiatric hospital in Holland. He was a reggae singer on the side who has been performing professionally since his appearance on Holland’s The View. “Bob Marley is a huge inspiration in my life and it’s an overwhelming honor to be playing the legend in a new musical,” Brunings said in a statement.  ”I am so excited to be working with Kwame and an amazing cast and group of musicians bringing the story of this pivotal moment in Marley’s life to the stage.”

While Mitchell Brunings may be new to the theater, his co-stars have built up quite the resume both on and off Broadway:

As Rita Marley: Saycon Sengbloh, (Broadway: “Motown” “Fela!,” “Hair,” “The Color Purple,” “Wicked,” “Aida”).

As Stevie Wonder: Mykal Kilgore (Broadway: “Motown,” “Hair.” National Tour: “The Book of Mormon”).

As Judy Mowatt: Crystal Joy (Broadway: “Motown,” and “Hair.” National Tour and Regional: “Legally Blonde,” “Memphis,” “The Wiz,” “Dreamgirls”).

As producer and filmmaker Don Letts: Ano Okera (National Tour: “Rent.”  Regional: “Dreamgirls,” “West Side Story”).

As Marley’s dance captain and as Diane Jobson: Khetanya Henderson (Regional: Cirque du Soleil’s “The Beatles/Love Show” in Las Vegas, “Hairspray,” “A Chorus Line,” “Legally Blonde.” Film: “Hairspray,” “Enchanted”).

As Peter Tosh from the Wailers: Michael Luwoye (Regional: “Tick, tick … BOOM!,” “Hairspray,”  “Guys and Dolls”).

As artist and Marley’s friend Neville Garrick: Jaime Lincoln Smith (Broadway: “Holler If Ya Hear Me.” Off-Broadway: “Ruined,” “Seed” and “Birthright.” Center Stage: “Gleam.”)

As backing singer Marcia Griffiths: Susan Kelechi Watson (Broadway: “A Naked Girl on the Appian Way.” TV: “Louie,” “The Following” and “The Blacklist”).

As Island Records founder Chris Blackwell: John Patrick Hayden (Broadway: “Tartuffe.” Regional: “Born Yesterday,” “Death of a Salesman,” “Other Desert Cities”).

As Jamaica Labour Party enforcer Tek Life: Luke Forbes (Off-Broadway: “The Merchant of Venice” with Al Pacino).

As Marley’s manager, Don Taylor: Don Guillory (Broadway: “Romeo and Juliet,” “Stick Fly”).

Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley: Howard W. Overshown (Broadway: “Julius Caesar.” Off-Broadway: “Richard III,” “Blue.” Center Stage: “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead”).

As People’s National Party enforcer Tony Welsh: David Heron (Off-Broadway: “Coriolanus: The African Warrior,” “Antony and Cleopatra”).

As Jamaica Labour Party enforcer Claudie Massop: John-Andrew Morrison (Off-Broadway: “The Tooth of Crime,” “The Blacks,” “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death”).

As Marley friend Malakai: Shayne Powell (Off-Broadway: “The Black That I Am”).

In addition to Kwei-Armah, the creative team includes Jason Webb (music director), Germaul Barnes (choreographer), Neil Patel (scenic designer), Esosa (costume designer) and Michelle Habeck (lighting designer).

In the midst of rehearsal for Marley, Baltimore was thrown into the national spotlight by the death of Freddie Gray, a young African American man who suffered fatal injuries while in police custody. As in Ferguson, protestors took to the streets to demand justice for Gray and other victims of police violence. In an effort to ease tensions in Baltimore and foster a sense of community, the cast of Marley staged a free concert of Bob Marley songs on May 2 at the epicenter of the Freddie Gray protests, Pennsylvania and North Avenues. From the cast’s statement: “Although the cast and crew’s focus is working on this production, it cannot be denied that Bob Marley’s message of redemption, love and revolution resonates very deeply right now, and the cast wants to share his songs with the community. Center Stage’s Community Programs and Education Department is organizing the concert as a way to offer healing to our community.” The concert was very well received: 

Kwei-Armah spoke about the timing of a musical about a man devoted to uplifting Black people premiering in Baltimore during the unrest: “The irony is sitting right on me, that we are doing a play about a hero calling for peace as his country [Jamaica] is falling apart, a man asking how do the oppressed raise their voices, how do the oppressed be heard. The seams are so aligned it’s incredible.”

The musical Marley, which runs from May 7 to June 14, will include music from Exodus, Kaya and Rastaman Vibration, all of which Marley wrote during the period examined in the play. It is the final production of Center Stage’s 2014-15 season.

The post Marley the Musical comes to Baltimore at a Pivotal Moment appeared first on Broadway Black.

In the title role is none other than Deborah Cox, whose Broadway credits include the title role in Aida in 2004, and the female lead ‘Lucy Harris’ in the 2013 revival of Jekyll & Hyde (opposite Constantine Maroulis).

Romance, intrigue and plenty of excitement will fill the stage next spring when Asolo Rep presents the world-premiere of Josephine, the original new musical bound for Broadway following its Sarasota run. The entrancing Josephine Baker was beautiful, ambitious, and the toast of Europe at the height of her fame in the 1920s-30s. Born into poverty in St. Louis, she rose to become an icon of the Jazz Age, captivating Paris audiences as a dancer, singer, actress and the twentieth-century’s first international black female sex symbol. Directed and choreographed by Tony nominated Joey McKneely and starring Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling recording artist Deborah Cox, this dazzling new musical revolves around Baker’s stint as the star of the Folies-Bergere in Paris from 1939-45, her scandalous affair with Swedish Crown Prince Gustav IV, and her service in the French Resistance during World War II.

The Asolo Repertory Theatre production of Josephine debuts April 27, 2016, with an official opening on Mary 6th and will run through May 29th, 2016.

“Josephine vividly brings to life the story of a beloved American icon — one of the most magnetic and fascinating women in history. This celebration of Josephine Baker is a remarkably evocative work of art and a brilliant addition to our five-year American Character Project,” notes Producing Artistic Director of Asolo Repertory Theatre Michael Donald Edwards.

Visit www.AsoloRep.com for more information!

The post Deborah Cox To Play Josephine Baker In Broadway Bound Musical appeared first on Broadway Black.