Mahalia Jackson News

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have announced additional performances in New York City and Los Angeles.

Lisa Rubin, Artistic and Executive Director, and Paul Flicker, Artistic Producer, today announced the Segal Centre for Performing Arts' 2014-2015 Theatre Season, an ambitious seven-play offering brimming with incredible talent that will dazzle with new takes on beloved stories and premiere musicals.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are pleased to welcome Warpaint, Reggie Watts, Mark Lanegan, Nicole Atkins, Kurt Vile and the Violators and Devendra Banhart as supporting acts for select dates of their forthcoming North American tour.

Brandeis University's MusicUnites US World Music Series presents Trio Da Kali, three outstanding musicians from the Mande griot culture of southern Mali, in concert tonight, March 1, 2014 at 8:00 pm in the Slosberg Recital Hall.

Copa de Oro Productions and the Segal Centre for Performing Arts have secured the rights to the English-language adaptation of Belles-Soeurs, the Quebec musical sensation based on the play by Michel Tremblay. BELLES SŒURS: THE MUSICAL will premiere to Montreal audiences as part of the Segal Centre's 2014-2015 Season from October 19 - November 9, 2014.

Woodie King Jr's National Black Touring Circuit's 2014 Black History Month Play Festival, in conjunction with Voza Rivers/New Heritage Theatre Group, will present "The Great Divas of Gospel" on Saturday, February 22 at 7:30pm and Sunday, February 23 at 3:00pm at the New York Academy of Medicine, 103rd St. & Fifth Avenue.

Brandeis University's MusicUnites US World Music Series presents Trio Da Kali, three outstanding musicians from the Mande griot culture of southern Mali, in concert on March 1, 2014 at 8:00 pm in the Slosberg Recital Hall. Brought together for the first time at the BBC Proms in London in 2013, the trio combines the deep, vibrant voice of Hawa Kasse Mady Diabate, daughter of legendary singer Kasse Mady Diabate, the dazzling virtuoso balafon playing of Fode Lassana Diabate (Symmetric Orchestra, AfroCubism), and Mamadou Kouyate providing brilliant bass lines in the tradition of his father, ngoni maestro Bassekou Kouyate.

Renowned Broadway star Frenchie Davis, seen in RENT on Broadway, American Idol and The Voice, stars in her very own Cabaret Show at The Metropolitan Room.

The National Black Touring Circuit's 2014 Black History Month Play Festival will hold poetry, music and drama performances in Harlem that celebrate acclaimed poet Amiri Baraka, legendary singer Billie Holiday, the Great Divas of Gospel and Ossie Davis' renowned play 'The People of Clarendon County' from February 7 - March 2.

'Dreamgirls' star Jennifer Holliday stopped by ABC's THE VIEW and performed a song from her new solo album, 'The Song is You.' Check out the appearance below!

According to a post on Jennifer Holliday's Facebook page, the Broadway star and singer will appear at the Barnes & Noble Upper East Side (86th and Lexington in NYC) to sign copies and celebrate the release of her new album 'The Song Is You' today, January 24, 2014.

According to a post on Jennifer Holliday's Facebook page, the Broadway star and singer will appear at the Barnes & Noble Upper East Side (86th and Lexington) to sign copies and celebrate the release of her new album 'The Song Is You' on Friday, January 24, 2014.

Blue Note Entertainment Group has announced its first-annual NEW YORK BRASS AND HERITAGE FESTIVAL, a celebration of New Orleans music and culture today, January 7-12, 2014.

Renowned Broadway star Frenchie Davis, seen in RENT on Broadway, American Idol and The Voice, stars in her very own Cabaret Show at The Metropolitan Room.

On January 21, 2014, Shanachie Entertainment/Euphonic Records will release Jennifer Holliday's highly anticipated label debut, The Song Is You, an enchanting collection of R&B and Jazz numbers that showcase Holliday at her best. Listen to a sampling of the album below!

Former RENT star Frenchie Davis will bring THE FRENCH & KAT SHOW to the Metropolitan Room for a series of performances in February 2014.

Blue Note Entertainment Group has announced its first-annual NEW YORK BRASS AND HERITAGE FESTIVAL, a celebration of New Orleans music and culture January 7-12, 2014. Artists including THE REBIRTH BRASS BAND, THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND, KELLER WILLIAMS AND THE TRAVELIN' MCCOURYS and more will take to the stage at Blue Note Jazz Club, B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, The Highline Ballroom, Lucille's Bar & Grill, and Drom, bringing a mix of New Orleans jazz-fusion, blues and brass for six nights of unforgettable Southern comfort.

Jennifer Holliday is undeniably one of R&B and Broadway's greatest voices. Endowed with a commanding and irresistible voice, immeasurable range and artistry that few can rival, Holliday has long stood in a class by herself. The dynamic songstress' now legendary show-stopping, heart-wrenching performance of the torch ballad "And I'm Telling You, I'm Not Going" in the smash hit Broadway musical, Dreamgirls, made her a household name and introduced her big soulful voice to the world. Her portrayal of Effie "Melody" White, a role she co-created, not only brought theatergoers to their feet for eight performances a week, but also garnered her a Tony-Award for Best Actress in a Musical and her first Grammy-Award for Best R&B Female Vocalist. From Broadway to major TV appearances including (Ellen, Ally McBeal and Touched By An Angel) and half-a-dozen soundtrack credits, Jennifer Holliday is one of the most distinctive, enviable and revered voices in modern music. Through the years, Holliday has collaborated with everyone from Barbra Streisand, Luther Vandross, David Foster and Paul Simon, to Michael Jackson, Maurice White and Foreigner. She has also sung with the Boston Pops and The Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra with Peter Nero, among numerous other esteemed orchestras. She considers herself to be a Broadway Baby and theater continues to be a significant part of her career. Her illustrious resume includes such theatre credits as Sing Mahalia Sing: The Mahalia Jackson Story, Downhearted Blues: The Bessie Smith Story, Harlem Suite (with Aretha Franklin), Chicago (starring as "Mama Morton"), Grease (starring as "Teen Angel") and Black Nativity (starring as the "Angel of God"). The in-demand star has also been invited to participate in Chaka Khan's induction into the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame ceremony to take place June 10 at the Apollo Theatre and broadcast later on BET. Considering herself a "bi-partisan songbird," Jennifer is both honored and grateful to have performed at the White House for President Ronald Reagan, President George Bush, President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush.

One of the first theater influences for me as a kid wasn't a play or musical, but a touring company of Alvin Ailey Company that came through Jones Hall in Houston Texas. By the end of the solo piece "Cry," I was in tears, baffled by how I'd just watched a three act play with no words being spoken. The shifts from love and defiance were dizzying at times, but never melodramatic. And the storytelling was rooted in such truth that carried a legacy of history of those who had danced the piece before her. Flash forward to my first trip to New York in Junior Year of High School where I took a very expensive nap during one of my first Broadway shows until a helicopter onstage woke me up. It was no fault of the actors for not holding the interest of an over-stimulated teenager, but in hindsight, I could see how technology and budget robbed the intimacy of the story being told.

Following a wildly captivating - and completely sold out - North American tour in early 2013, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds return to North America in the summer of 2014 to take care of some unfinished business.