Duke Ellington News

The Critically Acclaimed Hit New Musical 'BUGLE BOY' exploring the life and work of legendary band leader Glenn Miller is set to tour the country again after its highly successful 2011; 2012 & 2013 UK Tours; including a full house standing ovation in the West End Garrick Theatre receiving terrific reviews from both critics and audiences alike and hailed a Triumph.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, After Midnight, the seven-time 2014 Tony® Award-nominee, and winner of the Tony® Award for Best Choreography (Warren Carlyle), will play its final performance on Sunday, June 29 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 W 47th Street). At the time of its closing, After Midnight will have run 8 months, with 19 preview performances and 272 regular performances. The cast just got a visit from Broadway legend Bernadette Peters and BroadwayWorld brings you photos from backstage below!

The Muny presents the second show of its 96th season, TARZAN, directed by John Tartaglia, choreographed by Chris Bailey, with musical direction by Rick Bertone.

Bringing an air of sophistication and sensibility to the New York Cabaret scene, The Asparagus Club, Off-Broadway's newest cabaret destination presents it's debut performance featuring a double-bill of 'delicate and enchanting' acts that are sure to 'bring yesterday to today!' The Asparagus Club's opening performance will be tonight, June 24, 2014 at 7:30PM at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater.

Patti LaBelle, who is currently guest starring in AFTER MIDNIGHT on Broadway, told ABC News Radio that she has a few connections up her sleeve that she hopes will save the show before its planned closing (and her final performance) on June 29th. And she says she's not beyond begging; the show is worth it to her.

Gabrielle Stravelli - the acclaimed pop/jazz vocalist called "ingenious" by The Wall Street Journal and known from her tours with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, appearances at the 92nd Street Y and her long-running Soho jazz brunch - will perform an exclusive engagement at The Metropolitan Room for a two week run in July 2014. Her new show, directed by nightlife legend Marilyn Maye, will include selections from her debut CD Waiting in Vain and preview tracks for her upcoming sophomore release. The evening will feature classic standards like "While We're Young" and "Goody Goody," pop hits such as "Young Folks" (Peter, Bjorn and John) and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" (John Fogerty), in addition to distinctive original compositions. She will be joined by Joshua Richman on piano, Pat O'Leary on bass and Eric Halvorson on drums.

Bringing an air of sophistication and sensibility to the New York Cabaret scene, The Asparagus Club, Off-Broadway's newest cabaret destination presents it's debut performance featuring a double-bill of 'delicate and enchanting' acts that are sure to 'bring yesterday to today!' The Asparagus Club's opening performance will be Tuesday, June 24, 2014 at 7:30PM at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced their amazing line-up of talent for June 30 through July 6, featuring: Our Sinatra "A Musical Celebration" with Eric Comstock, Christopher Gines, Harmony Keeney, Jane Monheit, Arturo O'Farrill, Frank Wildhorn, and Introducing A New Segment: Mentor Mondays!

'After Midnight's Patti LaBelle stopped by last night's WATCH WHAT HAPPENS live on Bravo

Kate Fuller, takes on the role of Annie Ross at the closing night of her short lived jazz club, Annie's Room.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND UNAFRAID raises the curtain off-Broadway, MOTOWN gets a new 'Berry Gordy', a great selection of new cast albums hit the shelves and more!

It was the great Marcus Garvey who said 'Be as proud of your race today as our fathers were in days of yore. We have beautiful history, and we shall create another in the future that will astonish the world.'

Bravo has announced that Grammy Award-winning legend Patti LaBelle, who just joined the cast of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical After Midnight, will be a guest on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live, on Tuesday, June 17th.

Producers Scott Sanders and Wynton Marsalis announced today that After Midnight, the seven-time 2014 Tony® Award-nominee, and winner of the Tony® Award for Best Choreography (Warren Carlyle), will play its final performance on Sunday, June 29 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 W 47th Street). At the time of its closing, After Midnight will have run 8 months, with 19 preview performances and 272 regular performances. Conceived by Jack Viertel, and directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, After Midnight began preview performances on Friday, October 18, 2013, and opened to the best reviews of any new musical this season on Sunday, November 3, 2013.

Cabaret performers thinking about launching duo shows could certainly take a lesson in chemistry from watching and listening to singer Karen Oberlin and guitarist Sean Harkness in their current show, A Wish, which is based on their superb recently released CD of the same title, launched with two shows at Kitano on February 1 (to celebrate the CD release), and has taken up a once a month residency until late August at the Metropolitan Room (the next show is on June 25 at 9:30 pm). While theirs is not a romantic off-stage chemistry (both are happily quite happily married, thank you), on stage and in the recording studio Oberlin and Harkness have concocted a delicious musical interaction that conjures up romance to the nth degree.

This just in - as per the NY Times, a spokesman for the Broadway production of AFTER MIDNIGHT has confirmed that the show will close on June 29, 2014, 8 months into the show's run. The show, a $7 million dollar production will close at a loss, at the conclusion of current guest star Patti LaBelle's final performance. The production was hoping to shut down temporarily over the July 4th holiday, before the next star Gladys Knight was due to begin performances, but not all of the unions agreed to the proposal, making it impossible to continue running.

The Memphis Black Arts Alliance FireHouse Community Arts Center's popular Last Sunday Jazz-A-F!RE Ensemble and BYOI (Bring Your Own Instrument) returns to perform again, Sunday June 29, 2014.

On June 14 at 5:00pm, Jazz at Lincoln Center will partner with The Harlem Children's Zone to present Uptown Family Swing, a free community concert featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and Mr. Aubrey's Show Kids.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its July 2014 schedule, featuring Arturo O'Farrill, Loston Harris, Ben Allison Group, John Pizzarelli, Barbara Carroll, Rolando Morales-Matos, Linda Lavin, Jane Monheit, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and MORE!

The cast and creative team of the Tony Award-nominated smash hit Broadway musical After Midnight, just welcomed Grammy Award-winning legend Patti LaBelle as 'Special Guest Star.' BroadwayWorld's own Richard Ridge was on hand last night to chat with LaBelle after she took her bows - below, check out what she had to say about her supportive co-stars, returning to the stage, and why she feels like she belongs on Broadway!