Inglehart – who has been granting wishes since March 2014 when Aladdin opened at New Amsterdam Theatre – shared the stage with Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins: The Broadway Musical) and Josh Strickland (Tarzan: The Broadway Musical), as they performed musical selections and shared backstory from several Disney theatrical productions.Inglehart and Brown offered up duets of “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” (The Lion King), “It’s A Jolly Holiday” (Mary Poppins) and “God Help The Outcasts” (Hunchback of Notre Dame). As a trio, they performed selections from AIDA, “Son of Man (Tarzan) and “Friend Like Me” (Aladdin). Other shows highlighted were: Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Frozen and The Little Mermaid.

For Inglehart’s solo song, he gave a buoyant rendition of the catchy tune “Under The Sea” from the Hans Christian Anderson-inspired story.

If you are on a Caribbean cruise ship, the Alan Menken-composed/Howard Ashman-penned song for the 1989 The Little Mermaid film – which won an Academy Award for “Best Original Song” and a Grammy for “Best Song Written for Visual Media” – the voyage wouldn’t be complete without the Calypso beat. Or, if it’s the Delta Air Lines’ U.S. Open OPEN Mic event, you just might hear it sung by top-ranked American professional tennis player Serena Williams. On Aug. 26, at the U.S. Open pre-event in New York City, Williams – the first Black female athlete to appear solo on the cover of Vogue – took to the stage for some karaoke. Accent, dance moves, and all.

https://youtu.be/GYKEHc0GpqE

Having provided guest voice work on a 2005 episode of Playhouse Disney’s (now Disney Junior) animated kids show”Higglytown Heroes,” perhaps Broadway is in her future. I would be in the house on opening night. But, I digress…

When The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway in 2007 Tituss Burgess, with his particularly high tenor voice, originated the role of “Sebastian the Crab.” Burgess, a main cast member of the Netflix original series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” was nominated this year for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Inglehart – a native of Hayward, California – originated the role of Bobby in Memphis in October 2009, and he also played Mitch Mahoney in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as a replacement starting in April 2007.

The post Who Sings It Best: Tituss Burguess, James Monroe Iglehart, or Serena Williams appeared first on Broadway Black.

Tituss Burgess

Tituss Burgess (The Little Mermaid, Jersey Boys, Good Vibrations, Guys and Dolls) is most recently known for his portrayal of Titus Andromedon in the Netflix series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” But he’s not letting any moss grow under his theatrical feet.  Burgess recently revealed, “I’m writing a musical…that I will likely star in. I [have a working title that I can’t tell you]. I can tell you that it’s based on a movie Whitney Houston did, and it’s not ‘The Bodyguard.'”

By process of elimination, it’s probably not “Cinderella,” since it was just onBroadway in 2013, and it’s obviously not “The Bodyguard.” This leaves “The Preacher’s Wife,” “Waiting to Exhale,” and “Sparkle” as possible choices.

In “The Preacher’s Wife,” a cleric begins to doubt himself and is visited by an angel. The heavenly emissary is supposed to help the good reverend over his midlife crisis, but he is distracted by the cleric’s lovely young wife (Houston). A 1996 remake with gospel music of the “The Bishop’s Wife,” with a soundtrack featuring Houston’s soaring vocals aided with the Georgia Mass Choir,”The Preacher’s Wife,” could be a natural transition to adapt this story to the stage.

“Sparkle” is a timeless story of the bonds of family, the trials of success and the power of music. Sparkle, a young woman whose big dreams seem almost impossible is warned against the pitfalls of the music industry by her protective mother (Houston), yet encouraged by the handsome and ambitious Stix. Sparkle forms a trio with her sisters. Together, they perform the soul-stirring songs that Sparkle pens. But as their fame grows, so does the risk of jealousy, self-doubt and insidious temptation. “Sparkle’s” Dreamgirls-like story and wonderful music would work well on the stage.

The most interesting and perhaps challenging idea would be “Waiting to Exhale.” Navigating through careers, family and romance, four friends bond over the shortcomings in their love lives — namely, the scarcity of good men. Both as the “other woman,” Savannah (Houston) and Robin carry on relationships with married men, each believing their lovers will leave their wives for them. On the flip side, Bernadine ends up alone when her husband divorces her for his mistress. Meanwhile, Gloria finds love with a new neighbor. “Waiting to Exhale” is a compelling story and, although music would have to be written, the story and characters are strong enough to be a draw for audiences.

No time frame has been set for the musical to be finished, but it is sure to be a hot ticket once it comes to fruition. Broadway Black will have the news on which Whitney Houston movie will become a theatrical musical as soon as it breaks!

The post A Whitney Houston Movie Turned Musical By Tituss Burgess On The Horizon? appeared first on Broadway Black.

@BroadwayBlack tell your friends! https://t.co/ePtLhRPnEB

— Tituss Burgess (@TitussBurgess) June 10, 2015

The first session will be held June 22-23 from 11am-4pm and the second session will be June 29-30 from 11am-4pm.

This is an incredible opportunity for artists to get up close and personal with this great talent to learn all of his tricks of the trade and have their own talent enhanced and fine tuned! To be considered, artists must send a video of themselves singing a song of their choosing along with a current head shot and résumé to Titussmasterclass2015@gmail.com. Your admission includes two new selections for your musical theatre book chosen by Tituss to be coached by him during the class.

The admission fee is $250 and the deadline for audition submissions is June 17.

Set up your camera, sip your warm tea and sing like you want this! Remember, you are Broadway Black!

Watch the master at work below as we sings his rendition of HOME from The Wiz years before he was Unbreakable with Kimmy Schimdt.

The post It’s A Miracle! Tituss Burgess Offers Master Class appeared first on Broadway Black.

When NBC made the announcement at the end of March that its next live musical would be The Wiz the internet went into a tizzy! Immediately theatre lovers begin pitching their dream casts! Theatre names like Anika Noni Rose, Nikki M. James , Tituss Burgess, and Condola Rashad were tossed about and mainstream names like Chris Brown, Usher, Janelle Monae, and Beyonce were also thrown into the mix. There was a great concern from many theatre buffs that NBC would cast “known” names to draw in viewers instead of casting actors and actresses more familiar with the stage. To this director Kenny Leon responded with great confidence that commercial casting would not take place. “We will tell the story with the best, available cast..no tricks- no worries!”, stated the Tony Award winner. Keke Palmer, if casted, would bring both audiences; theatre and popular culture fans.

The Wiz– based on L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz- made its Broadway debut in 1975. The musical went on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Original Score among other recognitions. The cast included the talents of Stephanie Mills, Ted Ross, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Mabel King. The film adaptation was released in October 1978 and included an equally impressive cast- Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Lena Horne, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross and Richard Pryor. There has not been a Broadway revival of the classic since that time so it’s no wonder everyone is over the moon with excitement! We certainly can’t wait!

Make sure you continue to follow Broadway Black for all of the updates on everything The Wiz!

The post Keke Palmer Sings Home From The Wiz appeared first on Broadway Black.

Starring Ellie Kemper (“Bridesmaids”) in the title role, the show follows her character’s reintroduction to the outside world after being rescued from an underground bunker in which she lived the past 15 years. Having been part of a doomsday cult, Kimmy is given the chance to start life over again in New York City.

Kimmy later ends up rooming with Burgess’ character and that’s really when the show takes off. From there, we wait and watch for “Titus” to grace the screen with something witty, shady, or musical. And when we tell you Burgess sings in this show, we mean he SINGS!!! Everything from “Circle of Life” from The Lion King to “I’ll Make Love to You” by Boyz II Men.

Watch Below as Burgess shows us what he does best with “Pinot Noir”. Catch the entire season only on Netflix! You won’t be disappointed. You’ll actually be doubled over.

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