Jimmy McHugh News

Amber Riley ("Glee"), Joshua Henry, Jared Grimes and Adriane Lenox star in New York City Center's acclaimed production of Duke Ellington's Cotton Club Parade, returning to City Center for seven performances tonight, November 14th through the 18th, 2012. Conceived by Jack Viertel and presented under the auspices of City Center's Tony Award-winning Encores! series, Cotton Club Parade is once again be directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, with music direction by Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis. The show features the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars under the direction of Daryl Waters. In the video below, BroadwayWorld brings you an exclusive look at highlights from the production!

Just yesterday, the cast and creative team spoke with BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge at a special press preview- but a key player was missing. Tony nominee Joshua Henry, who is currently abroad on his honeymoon, chatted with us separately on the project.

The cast and creative team gave a special press preview yesterday, and BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was there to chat with the whole gang. Check out what they had to say and watch a preview below!

There may have been 40 cabaret performers strutting their stuff this past week at the 23rd New York Cabaret Convention at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, but the true star of the three-night extravaganza (October 17-19) was the late Donald Smith, the cabaret impresario and guru to the genre's luminaries, who died this past March at 79. Sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, which Smith founded in 1985, this year's Convention featured numerous homages to Smith from the performers, many of whom had their career's supported and advanced with the help of the colorful and beloved cabaret producer and promoter. Early in Wednesday's Gala Opening Night show, the 'first lady of the American keyboard' Barbara Carroll called her friend Donald Smith 'the quintessential New Yorker,' and when Mark Nadler closed night one with George and Ira Gershwin's 'Our Love Is Here to Stay,' he said, 'Everybody who cares about the myths of these songs are in this room tonight.' Well, it was clear that anyone who cared about Donald Smith was at the Rose Theater for at least one of the three shows.

Joshua Henry will join Amber Riley ("Glee"), Jared Grimes and Adriane Lenox in New York City Center's acclaimed production of Cotton Club Parade, returning for seven performances from November 14-18, 2012. (Mr. Henry replaces the previously announced Brandon Victor Dixon. Mr. Dixon is no longer available due to scheduling conflicts.) Conceived by Jack Viertel and presented under the auspices of City Center's Tony Award-winning Encores! series, Cotton Club Parade will once again be directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, with music direction by Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis. The show will feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars under the direction of Daryl Waters.

Shooting High Productions is producing an AGVA-sanctioned workshop/showcase of the Broadway-bound production of SUGAR BABIES, starring Tony Award winnersMichael McGrathandBeth Leavel tonighht, September 20th.

Starring alongside Tony winners Michael McGrath and Beth Leavel are Brooks Ashmanskas, Richard Bell, Jack Doyle, Marty Passante, Jennifer Cody, Kelley Bradshaw, Mary Callahan, Melissa Jones, Amanda Kloots-Larsen, Brittan Marcin, Beth Nicely, Abbey O'Brien, Jillian Owens, Kristyn Pope, Kimber Stevenson, Scott Brateng, Barry Busby, Sean Quinn & Clifton Samuels.

Palmetto Records will release Tony Award winner and two-time Grammy nominee Betty Buckley's latest solo album, Betty Buckley: Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway, in stores nationwide and online today, Tuesday, August 28, 2012. Inspired by her critically acclaimed 2011 concert at Feinstein's at the Lowes Regency in New York City, Buckley reinterprets classic Broadway songs that were originally made famous by men.

According to a casting notice on Backstage, Shooting High Productions is casting an AGVA-sanctioned workshop/showcase of the Broadway-bound production of SUGAR BABIES, starring Tony Award winners Michael Mcgrath and Beth Leavel.

Amber Riley ("Glee") joins original cast members Brandon Victor Dixon, Jared Grimes and Adriane Lenox in New York City Center's acclaimed production of Duke Ellington's Cotton Club Parade, returning to City Center for seven performances from November 14-18, 2012. Conceived by Jack Viertel and presented under the auspices of City Center's Tony Award-winning Encores! series, Cotton Club Parade will once again be directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, with music direction by Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis. The show will feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars under the direction of Daryl Waters.

New York City Center's acclaimed production of Duke Ellington's Cotton Club Parade will return to City Center for seven performances from November 14-18, 2012. Conceived by Jack Viertel and presented under the auspices of City Center's Tony Award-winning Encores! series, Cotton Club Parade will once again be directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, with music direction by Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis. The show will feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars under the direction of Daryl Waters.

Baby Jane Dexter is still bad and still blue as she reprises her show five more times beginning tonight, June 1. "Still Bad, Still Blue," which premiered at the Metropolitan Room in November, is just as fresh as ever. If anything it's gotten badder and bluer with age. So get yourself over to see "Still Bad, Still Blue" on any of these Fridays or Saturdays, all at 7pm: June 1, 2, 9, 22, 29.

Baby Jane Dexter is still bad and still blue as she reprises her show five more times beginning June 1. "Still Bad, Still Blue," which premiered at the Metropolitan Room in November, is just as fresh as ever. If anything it's gotten badder and bluer with age. So get yourself over to see "Still Bad, Still Blue" on any of these Fridays or Saturdays, all at 7pm: June 1, 2, 9, 22, 29.

Vince Giordano's band (originally known as the New Orleans Nighthawks) has been around for 35 years, but seemingly are getting more popular with age. For example, they've become HBOs go-to vintage jazz band, popping up in the 2009 film version of Grey Gardens, the 2011 mini-series Mildred Pierce, and the original series Boardwalk Empire (for which the band a 2012 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack). While there are a few other bands around the country playing 1920s and 1930s jazz, swing and blues, the Nighthawks deserve most of the credit for keeping the genre alive . . . and live, and they shined recently at Rose Hall for Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Supported by a superb 10-piece orchestra (including six horn players), Catherine Russell's set at the Allen Room for Jazz at Lincoln Center was a tribute to songs her dad Luis recorded or performed with the great Louis Armstrong from the late 1920s through the 1930s. By the end of her show, Russell had clearly proven that she has become one of the finest interpreters of jazz and blues on the contemporary music scene.

Baby Jane Dexter is still bad and still blue as she premieres an all-new show at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, today, November 25 at 7pm.

Carla Cook, Brandon Victor Dixon, Jared Grimes and Adriane Lenox have been cast in Duke Ellington's Cotton Club Parade, opening November 18 at New York City Center.

With Duke Ellington's music as the centerpiece, Cotton Club Parade reimagines one of the composer's Cotton Club floor shows. Ellington and his orchestra began a four-year residency at the Club in 1927 and continued making guest appearances throughout the 1930s. Legendary performers such as the Nicholas Brothers, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Snake Hips Tucker, Peg Leg Bates and a 16-year old Lena Horne all performed at the Club.

Carla Cook, Brandon Victor Dixon, Jared Grimes and Adriane Lenox star in Duke Ellington's Cotton Club Parade, which opened November 18 at New York City Center and Broadway Beat got an exclusive look at the show on stage!