Alberta Hunter News

The Flea Theater announces its winter 2019-2020 Anchor Partners, an initiative designed to support small independent theater, music and dance companies. This season, The Flea welcomes companies Tiffany Mills Company, Elisa Monte Dance, Notch Theatre Company, Gabrielle Revlock, The Bang Group and TOSOS.

Actress/singer, Leslie Orofino returns with SHINE the music/lives of 4 fearless women - when things got tough - they got stronger - and became the stars that shine even today ...Lady Gaga, Peggy Lee, Dorothy Fields and Alberta Hunter at Don't Tell Mama. It's a mixture of broadway, blues, jazz, contemporary and a whole lot of fun. She will be accompanied by Tracy Stark on piano and Boots Maleson on bass. Louis Pietig director.

Leslie Orofino will be returning with SHINE the music/lives of 4 fearless women ~ when things got tough ~ they got stronger ~ and became the stars that shine even today ...Lady Gaga, Peggy Lee, Dorothy Fields and Alberta Hunter to N.Y. and Ct. It's a mixture of broadway, blues, jazz, contemporary and a whole lot of fun. She will be accompanied by musicians, Tracy Stark on piano and Boots Maleson on bass. Louis Pietig is directing. Limited seating ~ reservations highly recommended.

The artistry of four remarkable women is showcased in Leslie Orofino's new cabaret show, SHINE!

Actress/singer, Leslie Orofino brings her sensational new show SHINE- the music/lives of 4 fearless women ~ who when things got tough ~ they got stronger ~ and became the Stars that Shine even today ... Lady Gaga, Peggy Lee, Dorothy Fields and Alberta Hunter to N.Y. and Ct. It's Broadway, Blues, Jazz, Contemporary and a whole lot of fun! Musicians, Kenneth Gartman on piano and Boots Maleson on bass. Louis Pietig-Director. Limited seating ~ Reservations highly recommended.

The universal language of the blues wails out full and strong in Blues in the Night a?" a dynamite a?oedramatic revuea?? of twenty-six hot and torchy numbers that tell the sweet, passionate and sorrowful experiences of three women and a saloon singer. Their interweaving stories are defined through glorious songs which cover the range of this indigenous American art form.

On Fridays, April 12 and 26th at BJ Ryan's Magnolia Room in Norwalk Ct. actress/singer Leslie Orofino is bringing her show SHINE ~ the music/lives of four fabulous women....Peggy Lee, Alberta Hunter, Dorothy Fields and Lady Gaga.

Artistic Director Mark Clements and Executive Director Chad Bauman have just announced Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2019/20 Season, which celebrates the 10th Anniversary Season of Artistic Director Mark Clements with 15 productions across four venues in the Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex.

Continuing its 35th Anniversary season, Urban Stages (Frances Hill, Founding Artistic Director; Tom Toce Producer) proudly announces the line-up for this year's award-winning series, WINTER RHYTHMS 2018, which will begin Wednesday, December 12 featuring some of New York's best musical performances through Saturday,December 22, 2018 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, just East of 8th Avenue).

TOSOS presents its upcoming production of Waiting for Giovanni at The Flea Theater. A great American writer at a pivotal moment in his career is the subject of a play by another iconic American author.

TOSOS presents its upcoming production of Waiting for Giovanni at The Flea Theater. A great American writer at a pivotal moment in his career is the subject of a play by another iconic American author.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY announces the fifth and final show of its 2017-2018 Season, a musical about the extraordinary life of an extraordinary woman. Infused with jazz and blues, COOKIN' AT THE COOKERY: The Music And Times Of Alberta Hunter is written, directed and choreographed by Marion J. Caffey with music direction by George Caldwell.

This music-infused interpretation of the Alberta Hunter's life is a true American rags-to-riches success story. Hunter, a jazz and blues singer, achieved critical and commercial acclaim in the 1920s-50s. In the late 1950s, she abruptly abandoned music to become a nurse. Several decades later, Hunter retired from nursing and returned to the stage for a two-week engagement at renowned New York blues bar, The Cookery. At age 82, this jazz legend rekindled the public's love for her powerful voice and spirit-her two-week stint at the Greenwich Village nightclub stretched into a multi-year, late-in-life comeback.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY is thrilled to announce the fifth and final show of its 2017-2018 Season, a musical about the extraordinary life of an extraordinary woman. Infused with jazz and blues, COOKIN' AT THE COOKERY: The Music And Times Of Alberta Hunter, written, directed and choreographed by Marion J. Caffey with music direction by George Caldwell, begins previews on Thursday, June 7, opens on Saturday, June 9, and runs through Sunday, June 24, 2018 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

When the radiant, intellectual soprano Julia Bullock stepped on stage Carnegie Hall's intimate venue, Weill Recital Hall (just 268 seats), to wild applause, I felt like I was the only one hearing her “live” for the first time. Everyone else there seemed to have a personal relationship with her and her artistry. I'd somehow missed her “live,” in previous recitals and in the title roles of CENDRILLON and CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN at Juilliard. My loss--and a significant one.

Arizona Theatre Company presents LOWDOWN DIRTY BLUES. Rousing performances by Felicia Fields, Shake Anderson, and Chic Street Man. At the Herberger Theater in Phoenix through April 22nd.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY is thrilled to announce the third show of its 2017-2018 Season, the 2014-2015 Outer Critics Circle & Drama Desk award nominee for Best Play, THE CITY OF CONVERSATION, written by Anthony Giardina and directed by Cameron Watson. Meredith Baxter and Sharon Lawrence star in this deeply moving and thought-provoking story about how the political divide tears apart an American family. THE CITY OF CONVERSATION begins previews on Thursday, February 8, opens on Saturday, February 10, and runs through Sunday, February 25, 2018 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

Virginia's Signature Theatre opens its air-conditioned doors once again for the annual Sizzlin' Summer Nights Series. Two and a half weeks of live music and performances by Signature favorites and DC area stars. The cabaret series runs July 5 through July 22, with a different performance every night.

New Conservatory Theatre Center continues its 35th Anniversary celebration in March, proudly presenting the world premiere of Jewelle Gomez's Leaving the Blues, an NCTC commissioned play with music imagining the life of legendary Blues singer-songwriter Alberta Hunter (1895-1984). In the new play by the celebrated Gilda Stories' author, Hunter is backstage preparing for a professional comeback, knowing just how many doors to the past it may open. Spanning 60 years, Leaving the Blues imagines a journey through the public life Hunter led as an African-American musician, the private life she hid as a lesbian, and the ghosts that won't let her forget.