Billie Holiday News

The Connecticut premiere of Trav'lin - The 1930s Harlem Musical opens this weekend at Waterbury's Seven Angels Theatre, following productions at Houston's Ensemble Theatre and Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre, and development in Washington, D.C. and New York City, including a sold-out run at the New York Musical Festival (NYMF).  Performances being Thursday, May 11, Official Opening is Saturday, May 13, and the show runs through Sunday, June 11, 2017.

Women in business in the 1950's--not the easiest row to hoe.

The Apollo Theater today announced details for its largest fundraising event - the 2017 Apollo Spring Gala, which will take place at the theater on Monday, June 12 at 7pm.

Signature Theatre has announced that Gun & Powder by Ross Baum and Angelica Cheri has been chosen for further development at the second annual SigWorks: Musical Theater Lab.

Art will imitate life as six grade school children receive top honors as winners of The Town Hall-Con Edison 2017 Black History Month Student Poster & Essay Contest on Wednesday, May 10 at 5 p.m. at The Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street).

A friendly reminder! AnthonyKen LLC and Sheryl Lee Ralph / The Diva Foundation will present the two hit biographical musicals MIGHTY REAL: A FABULOUS SYLVESTER MUSICAL and AN EVENING WITH PHYLLIS HYMAN together for one weekend only at The Gramercy Theater (127 East 23rd Street) this May.

This summer, Audra McDonald, the Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award-winning singer and actress, will be making her long-awaited West End debut as jazz legend Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill. Book tickets here from £25

Vocalist, trumpeter and songwriter Bria Skonberg re-imagines it all on her new OKeh/Masterworks album, With a Twist. Coming off a recent Juno Award (Canada's version of The Grammys) for her first OKeh collection, Bria, Skonberg spins her cool and confident vocal style

Between the two of them, drag icons Sherry Vine and Joey Arias have more than 50 years of performing experience combined. Not only that, but their working relationship and enduring friendship began more than 20 years ago. Though they've toured with one another around the world over the years, it's been a few years since they've teamed up for a big show in New York, where they first met. Thankfully, the legendary divas will reunite onstage in the city for a new show at Feinstein's/54 Below, as part of Garth Schilling's (also known as Miss Vodka Stinger) drag-themed Thursday night series called LATE NIGHT DRAG. The run will also include Cacophony Daniels, Marti Gould Cummings, Varla Jean Merman, Ray DeForest, RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE star Alexis Michelle, and Miss Vodka Stinger herself with the Martha Rayes. Prior to Vine and Arias' show, the pair pressed pause on their first day of rehearsal to speak with us over the phone about their individual careers, more than two decades of collaboration, and reuniting onstage in the city that brought them together.

The R&B calendar heats up at Joe's Pub! Highlights include Labelle founding member Sarah Dash on May 12; the soulfully-voiced and hard-rocking singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Celisse Henderson on May 31; Australian singer Cloves (Kaity Dunstan) on June 1; the Peterson Brothers, a modern blend of blues rock from 20-year-old Glenn and 17-year-old Alex Peterson, on June 2; a fundraiser for The Restorative Center with Stephanie McKay on June 15; soul powerhouse gina Breedlove on June 20; Alfa Anderson's album release party for her solo debut, From My Heart, on July 7; and, the relentlessly energetic JJ Thames & The Violet ReVOLT on August 8.

Following productions at Houston's Ensemble Theatre and Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre, and development in New York City and Washington, D.C., including a sold-out run at the New York Musical Festival (NYMF), Trav'lin - The 1930s Harlem Musical receives its Connecticut Premiere at Waterbury's Seven Angels Theatre, beginning Thursday, May 11, 2017. Opening Night is Saturday, May 13, and the show runs through Sunday, June 11, 2017.

Jack Kleinsinger's Highlights In Jazz, New York's longest running jazz concert series, concludes its record breaking 45th season at 8:00 PM tonight, May 4, 2017 at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, New York City, with The Joe Bushkin Centennial concert, celebrating the rich musical legacy of the legendary pianist/composer with an all-star revue featuring Wycliffe Gordon, Harry Allen, Eric Comstock, John Colliani, Nicki Parrott, Ted Rosenthal, Steve Johns and Spike Wilner, under the musical direction of Bob Merrill, plus, as in all Highlights In Jazz shows, a surprise special guest.

RestorationArt, the 21st century creative complex in Central Brooklyn, reopens the AUDELCO and Obie Award-winning Billie Holiday Theatre that was founded in 1972 by Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, after completing its first major renovation in 45 years.

Tony Award nominees Emily Skinner (Side Show, Billy Elliot) and Josh Young (Jesus Christ Superstar), Drama Desk Award nominees Christina Bianco and Farah Alvin, Brian Charles Rooney (The Threepenny Opera), Maxine Linehan, Jeremy Benton and the Broadway by the Year Chorus are set to appear at Town Hall's Broadway by the Year Series on Monday, May 22 at 8pm, 'The Broadway Musicals of 1997-2007,' which will highlight the music of Stephen Schwartz, Jason Robert Brown, Adam Guettel, Elton John & Tim Rice, Stephen Sondheim, Frank Wildhorn and more.

Lincoln Center Theater has announced that Tasha Lawrence, Morocco Omari, Karen Pittman, Namir Smallwood, Jaime Lincoln Smith, and Heather Velazquez will be featured in its upcoming production of PIPELINE, a new play by Dominique Morisseau, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, which begins performances Thursday, June 15 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street).  Opening night is Monday, July 10.

San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego REP) has announced the return of the highly acclaimed and widely popular holiday show, "Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin." The newly announced show, a holiday offering during the downtown theatre's 42nd season, features songs by Irving Berlin and a book by Hershey Felder, with direction from longtime Felder collaborator Trevor Hay. The show's run begins on Wednesday, December 20, 2017 and plays through Sunday, January 7, 2018 with a press opening on Thursday, December 21, 2017 at 8 p.m. on the Lyceum Stage Theatre at San Diego REP in Horton Plaza.

The euphoric buzz of New York, over cocktails on the edge of evening, alive with possibilities…anything goes.

The Apollo Theater today announced details of its upcoming 2017-2018 season. Marking the first full season with Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes at the helm of the legendary theater's artistic and community programs, it will encompass commissions, premieres, and collaborations with local, national, and international artists working across a range of disciplines and genres-from dance and theater to jazz, soul, and opera.

The euphoric buzz of New York, over cocktails on the edge of evening, alive with possibilities…anything goes.

On May 4, 2017 the Friends of Dreamland Ballroom are hosting an art exhibit at the Dreamland Ballroom. The paintings, by Arkansas artist Edwin Cook Brewer, were donated to the Dreamland Ballroom by his daughter Audrey Brewer Wood and her husband Don Wood.