Freda Payne News

Next month, 54 BELOW will present some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

54 Below will present Freda Payne: “A Tribute Concert to Ella Fitzgerald” on April 7th, 2024 at 7:00 PM, prior to her return to Broadway. 

Join Lisa Dawn Miller as she returns to NYC with her new show, 'For Once in My Life - The Songs of Ron Miller' at Chelsea Table + Stage on March 25. Celebrating the music of her father, legendary songwriter Ron Miller, Lisa shares the stories behind the hits.

Ron Miller (1932-2007), produces, hosts, and performs along with special guests including multi-award-winning composer Ken Hirsch, who wrote chart-topping hits with Ron including “I've Never Been to Me” and “If I Could,” and other hits which include “No One in the World,” (Anita Baker) and “Two Less Lonely People in the World” (Air Supply).

Producer/singer/songwriter Lisa Dawn Miller will bring her new show, 'For Once in My Life, The Songs of Ron Miller' to Herb Alpert's Vibrato in Los Angeles. Learn how to purchase tickets.

54 Below will present Freda Payne: “A Tribute Concert to Ella Fitzgerald” on April 7th, 2024 @ 7:00 PM, prior to her return to Broadway. 

Motown, Broadway, concert and multi-Grammy-nominated recording star Freda Payne will present her nationally acclaimed musical show, A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, for one-night only Friday, February 16 at 8 p.m. at Marin Center's Showcase Theatre.

After four years at Broadway World Cabaret, quite a collection of photos has been amassed. These are the gasp-worthy pics.

Frank Owens, Broadway Musical Virtuoso, Former Musical Director for 'It's Showtime at the Apollo' Dies. A pianist for nearly seven decades, Owens backed talent on Broadway stages, recording studios and TV sets – backing artists from Lena Horne to The Washington Ballet.

​The United Nations declared International Jazz Day in 2011 “to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people from all corners of the globe.” Every year, it is commemorated on April 30th, and people celebrate around the world. 

Musician, recording artist, conductor, arranger, composer and musical director Jim Vukovich has passed away.

The longest-running Annual Solo Festival for women in Los Angeles, LAWTF will take place March 23- March 26 at Barnsdall Art Park Gallery Theatre.

Les Michaels, a cabaret producer and singer in Palm Springs and Los Angeles who presented an ongoing popular Open Mic Cabaret Series at the Arthur Newman Theatre at the Joslyn Center in Palm Desert for many years, passed away unexpectedly on November 3, 2022 of a heart attack. Les Michaels is survived by his husband, Rick Valencia.

 Les Michaels, a cabaret producer and singer in Palm Springs and Los Angeles who presented an ongoing popular Open Mic Cabaret Series at the Arthur Newman Theatre at the Joslyn Center in Palm Desert for many years, passed away unexpectedly on November 3, 2022 of a heart attack.  Les Michaels is survived by his husband, Rick Valencia.

Spider Webb, the common denominator on hit records like “Cloud Nine” and “Runaway Child Running Wild” (The Temptations), “Keep On Truckin’” (Eddie Kendricks), “(You Can) Leave Your Hat One” (Etta James), “Band of Gold” (Freda Payne), “Home to You” (Martha Reeves) and “Mango, Coconut, Sugar Cane (Harry Belafonte).

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey will bring their latest Broadway triumph, “Clyde’s,” a co-production with Goodman Theatre in Chicago to the Mark Taper Forum November 15 to December 18. It recently concluded the Goodman engagement.

What did our critic think of ELLA: FIRST LADY OF SONG at The Madison Theatre At Molloy College?

This week, the second show of its season begins performances in the downstairs Hays Theatre June 16–July 9: the premiere of Squirrel Screams and Other Dating Sounds starring Kaitlyn Black from TV’s Heart of Dixie and Josephine Rose Roberts (Rock of Ages on Broadway).

Song master Michael Feinstein will duet with songstress Freda Payne in a tribute to two song greats - A Very Special Evening with Ella and Frank - June 7th and 8th at Feinstein’s At Vitello’s. The very busy Michael graciously took some time to answer a few of my queries.

The Madison Theatre at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, Long Island will launch its Signature Theater Series this summer with top artists from the worlds of Broadway, music & TV on fully staged productions of In The Heights, Xanadu and All Shook Up, plus the NY premiere of Ella, First Lady of Song starring Grammy-nominated singer & actress Freda Payne, and the world premiere of the play Squirrel Screams and Other Dating Sounds.