Billie Holiday News

Since 2003, Hologram USA has delivered more than 700 successful projects, making groundbreaking strides in how people experience live events and communicate with each other using dynamic, cutting edge Holographic 3D technology. Their holographic experiences allow audience members to sit in a theater and feel as if they are attending a live three-dimensional concert or nightclub performance right in front of their eyes. Sounds too incredible, right? That's what I thought until I attended their latest creation, Billie Holiday Alive! at the new Hologram USA Theater in Hollywood

WRITE ACT REP announces PREZ, a solo show written by playwright Willard Manus, in celebration of Black History Month, and returns to Los Angeles, as part of a Festival Series at Write Act Rep's Brickhouse Theatre called THREE BY WILL IN REP. The Series includes two World Premiere's along with the return of the acclaimed PREZ, which chronicles the unique life of jazzman Lester Young, featuring Leslie A. Jones. The intimate drama is produced by John Lant II, and will be directed by Daniel E. Keough. The show is set to open February 4th, 2018. All performances for PREZ will be on Sunday at 2PM, through March 11th, 2018, as part of the three production Series, 'THREE BY WILL IN REP'.

Centenary Stage Company kicks off the New Year and the annual January Thaw Music Festival on Sunday, January 14 at 2 pm in the Lackland Performing Arts Center with Freda Payne: A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.

Popular opera and musical theatre star, David Hobson, international opera luminary Yvonne Kenny and Australian entertainment legend Normie Rowe are among the star-studded lineup for Arts Centre Melbourne's Morning Melodies 2018 program. The feel-good one hour concerts held each month at Hamer Hall will showcase an eclectic mix of celebrated Australian and international artists from the worlds of jazz, musical theatre, opera and dance.

In January 2018, Joe's Pub at The Public presents its annual slate of showcases coinciding with APAP NYC 2018, January 12-16, the annual Association of Performing Artists Presenters conference drawing presenters from around the world.

Wilton's Music Hall will host the European premi re of Songs For Nobodies (running 21 March 7 April), a brand new play with songs featuring music from five iconic divas; Judy Garland, Pasty Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Maria Callas. Accompanied by live musicians, this funny and moving performance was written especially for Bernadette Robinson by Joanna Murray-Smith (Honour, Bombshells, The Female of the Species) and directed by Simon Phillips (Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the Musical).

The Public Theater announced the exciting national and international line-up today for the 14th annual UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL, running January 4-15, 2018.

Asha Pieper kicks off 2018 with a brand new video in tow for 'Voices.' Voices sets the tone for what women are facing in the world today. This rich track features vibes and violin and Asha's voice has been compared to Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Fiona Apple, and Esperanza Spalding.

On January 16, 2018 at 7:00pm, join Harlem Stage -- the legendary uptown venue that for over 30 years has been promoting the creative legacy of Harlem and artists of color -- for a special winter benefit performance that will honor the life and work of Ella Fitzgerald. This intimate evening will feature jazz icon Dee Dee Bridgewater and singing sensation W McDonald, of The Voice fame, as they pay tribute to the legendary Ella Fitzgerald in honor of her centennial. In the spirit of the best traditions in jazz, both of these artists will perform their own inimitable interpretations of the songs made famous by Ella.

In 2018, Joe's Pub at The Public launched a new program The Vanguard Residency. The inaugural recipient of the award is Grammy-nominated, art and funk rock pioneer NONA HENDRYX.

Verve Label Group and UMe are proud to announce the induction of trailblazers Nina Simone and Sister Rosetta Tharpe into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

For our first autumn as a producing venue, Jermyn Street Theatre created an Escape Season. The plays circled around themes of escaping entrapment of different kinds. In spring 2018, we are presenting the Scandal Season. These productions are about people who break the rules, outraging their contemporaries and blazing their own trail.

To commemorate the 1918 holocaust lynchings of eleven African Americans, including Mary Turner and her unborn baby in Brooks County, Georgia, The Billie Holiday Theatre and RestorationART present the New York Premiere of A Small Oak Tree Runs Red by Brooklyn's own LeKethia Dalcoe, directed by renowned actor and director, Harry Lennix. Performances will begin February 2, 2018 with the Opening on February 8 and running through March 4 at The Billie Holiday Theatre, 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216.

To ring in the new year, Theatrical Outfit proudly stages Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, a riveting look into one of jazz and blues legend Billie Holiday's final performances, starring Atlanta's own Terry Burrell (Alliance Theatre's Ethel; Broadway's Thoroughly Modern Millie, DreamGirls, Into the Woods).

Irish Arts Center (IAC), the arts and cultural center dedicated to projecting a dynamic image of Ireland and Irish America for the 21st century, announces its Spring 2018 lineup, featuring a characteristically wide range of theatrical, musical, dance, literary, podcast, interdisciplinary and educational events.

Irish Arts Center Announces Spring 2018 Season

On Sunday, January 14 at 3pm, the Apollo Theater and WNYC are partnering for the fifth year to present WNYC's 12th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration, 50 Years After MLK: A Dream Deferred, as part of the Apollo's Uptown Hall series.

FOX gets festive with a night of holiday programming Today, Dec. 14, featuring the return of TARAJI'S WHITE HOT HOLIDAYS and a brand-new, holiday-themed SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO: CHRISTMAS.

The multi-talented Freda Payne best known for her singing career, as well as, her No. 1 hit 1970 pop anthem, Band of Gold has toured the world in concerts, theater performances, one woman shows, as well as, appearances in films and television, briefly hosting her own TV talk show. Freda Payne: A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, celebrates Ella Fitzgerald's 60+ year career from her 1934 award winning Apollo Theater debut and through her celebrated career as a vocalist.

I was recently in Atlanta, GA which is noted for its many museums. They have a Coca-Cola Museum, College Football Hall of Fame, the second largest aquarium in the world, the home of CNN, and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. But the highlight for me was the Civil Rights Museum. It was incredibly moving. When I saw the exhibit concerning the death of four young Black girls in Birmingham,