Bessie Smith News

With much excitement, ZACH Theatre announces that Broadway's Original Dreamgirl, Grammy and Tony award-winning JENNIFER HOLLIDAY will star in this summer's Duke Ellington musical revue Sophisticated Ladies. For its premiere production in Austin, the show will play on the Topfer Stage from July 15 - August 23, 2015 under the direction of ABE REYBOLD.

Penguin Rep Theatre's 2015 season officially begins May 15, 2015, with the New York premiere of Small World by Frederick Stroppel, directed by artistic director Joe Brancato.

South Florida JAZZ, the area's premier modern jazz organization, is thrilled to present Cecile McLorin Salvant on Saturday, May 9, 2015 at 8:00 PM.

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, is proud to announce the digital release of Bessie (Music from the HBO Film) on Tuesday, May 12. The official soundtrack for the upcoming HBO film will also be released on CD on Tuesday, June 2.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater announces directors, creative teams, and initial casting for 2015/16, a season featuring a Tony Award-winning musical, a play by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Milwaukee playwright Ayad Akthar, and three world premieres.

The 13th Street Repertory Theater will present a teach-in on the history of gay musical theater, and gay songs in pop music, following the performances next Sunday (April 26th) at 2 pm and 7 pm of its current hit musical 'Mad About the Boy.' The presentation will be moderated by ASCAP Award-winning writer/director Chip Deffaa (creator of 'Mad About the Boy'), and will feature members of the cast, joined by a special surprise guest.

?Oscar® nominee Queen Latifah (“Chicago”) stars as legendary blues singer Bessie Smith in the HBO Films drama BESSIE, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Dee Rees (“Pariah”) from a screenplay by Dee Rees and Christopher Cleveland & Bettina Gilois.

In anticipation of the HBO film, 'Bessie,' chronicling the life of legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, HBO announces the launch of 'Bessie's 81 Theatre Tour' on April 28.

Penguin Rep Theatre, under the leadership of founding artistic director Joe Brancato and executive director Andrew M. Horn, announces its 2015 season, the professional Equity company's 38th at its home in Stony Point (Rockland County), New York.

The 13th Street Repertory Theater will honor the woman widely considered to be the world's greatest blues singer by making Sunday, April 19th, 'Bessie Smith Day.' The theater will be offering free admission to its new hit show, 'Mad About the Boy' (which includes a tribute to Smith) to anyone who can sing a chorus of a song recorded by Smith. ASCAP award-winning playwright/director Chip Deffaa, who's created and produced 'Mad About the Boy,' will also award prizes to those who do the best job of singing Smith's songs. Deffaa--who profiled Smith in the book 'Harlem Speaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance' (Sourcebooks, Inc.) and has lectured on her (most recently at the University of Idaho)--will be the judge, assisted by members of his theater company.

The Pasadena Playhouse announces the return engagement of A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN with Mary Bridget Davies, following her Tony Award nominated Broadway run. The acclaimed musical will perform July 21 - August 16, 2015 with the official press night on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. Tickets for A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN are now on sale to the public.

Starring Oscar® nominee Queen Latifah ("Chicago") in the title role, BESSIE focuses on legendary blues singer Bessie Smith's transformation from a struggling young singer into "The Empress of the Blues," one of the most successful recording artists of the 1920s and an enduring icon today. Check out the first trailer for the film below!

National Recording Registry To “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive”. Joan Baez, Sly Stone, Steve Martin Recordings Named American Treasures

The HBO film BESSIE is scheduled to debut SATURDAY, MAY 16 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on HBO. This marks a return to the network for Oscar® nominee Queen Latifah following her Golden Globe- and SAG Award-winning performance in HBO Films' “Life Support.”

FRAWLEY BECKER is a published book and short story author and a published and three-time prize-winning playwright. A man of many talents, he was a State Department Entertainment Director for military bases outside Paris during the Cold War, founded the first African-American theatre company within the U.S. military in 1959, formed Paris Playhouse in 1963 and was the first to professionally produce Edward Albee plays in France. For the next ten years he worked as a bilingual dialogue coach in films while living in Paris, coaching Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Rex Harrison, Omar Sharif, Jacqueline Bisset, Ann-Margret, Samantha Eggar, Robert Ryan, Gene Wilder and all the Oompa-Loompas of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Back in the U.S., Becker worked as a location manager for features including Jerry Maguire, Steel Magnolias, and the original Footloose, and TV movies for Oprah Winfrey Presents; and was a production executive at The Disney Studios. His award-winning, searing drama 'Tiger by the Tail' has its west coast premiere March 6 through April 19 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood, CA. For more information about the play please visit http://www.thegrouprep.com

?HBO has confirmed the debut date for BESSIE, with the HBO Films presentation scheduled to debut SATURDAY, MAY 16 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on HBO.

Artistic Director Mark Clements announced Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2015/16 Season last night to an enthusiastic group of Rep Subscribers and Donors.

Artistic Director Mark Clements announced Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2015/16 Season this evening to an enthusiastic group of Rep Subscribers and Donors.

Cleveland Play House has in its recent history included small cast musicals in its offerings. Those shows included TAPPIN' THROUGH LIFE (Maurice Hines), BREATH AND IMAGINATION (Roland Hayes), WOODY SEZ; LIFE AND MUSIC OF WOODY GUTHRIE (Woody Guthrie), THE DEVIL'S MUSIC: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BESSIE SMITH (Bessie Smith), and ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN (Janis Joplin). Each told a story about the person through their own words, their music, or from the mouths of those who knew them. Often they have been tied to Black History Month.

Some plays are so good, or so popular with audiences, that their return to the stage is inevitable. But some plays, like high velocity music revue Bessie's Blues, take quite awhile to flow back from their ebb.