Alton Fitzgerald White News

October 13th 2010 - The Just A Piano Concert Series presents Broadway's ALTON FITZGERALD WHITE in a HOLIDAY BENEFIT for The Lion King's SHANNON TAVAREZ. White's Pianist/Musical Director is DOYLE NEWMYER with Special Guest, The Color Purple's YOLANDA WYNS.

Broadway's landmark musical event THE LION KING recently welcomed to the company: GARETH SAXE as the evil and power-hungry lion Scar; ALTON FITZGERALD WHITE as Mufasa, the great lion warrior and ruler of the Pridelands; CAMERON POW as the prim and proper hornbilled bird Zazu; BEN JEFFREY as the carefree warthog Pumbaa; FRED BERMAN as the wisecracking meerkat Timon; and CHAUNTEÉ SCHULER as the loyal lioness Nala. Jeffrey, Berman and Schuler will mark their Broadway debut with The Lion King. Produced by Thomas Schumacher of Disney Theatrical Productions, THE LION KING is currently playing at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre (200 West 45th Street).

Broadway's landmark musical event THE LION KING is pleased to welcome to the company beginning Tuesday, June 15: GARETH SAXE as the evil and power-hungry lion Scar; ALTON FITZGERALD WHITE as Mufasa, the great lion warrior and ruler of the Pridelands; CAMERON POW as the prim and proper hornbilled bird Zazu; BEN JEFFREY as the carefree warthog Pumbaa; FRED BERMAN as the wisecracking meerkat Timon; and CHAUNTEÉ SCHULER as the loyal lioness Nala.

Broadway's landmark musical event THE LION KING is pleased to welcome to the company beginning Tuesday, June 15: GARETH SAXE as the evil and power-hungry lion Scar; ALTON FITZGERALD WHITE as Mufasa, the great lion warrior and ruler of the Pridelands; CAMERON POW as the prim and proper hornbilled bird Zazu; BEN JEFFREY as the carefree warthog Pumbaa; FRED BERMAN as the wisecracking meerkat Timon; and CHAUNTEÉ SCHULER as the loyal lioness Nala.

Lindsay Thomas, Stratford veteran and 'Francine' in the Original Canadian Cast of Jersey Boys, passed away Wednesday February 3rd after a courageous battle with lung cancer. She left behind a great legacy of wonderful theatre performances and friendships, as has become evident in the outpouring of support shown over the last few days.

Alton Fitzgerald White, who currently plays the starring role of Mufasa in Disney's 'Lion King' at Mandalay Bay, will present an evening of holiday music with two charity benefit concerts on Friday, Dec. 4 at the intimate Cabaret Showroom at the Liberace Museum, 1775 E. Tropicana Ave. at Spencer. White is donating all proceeds from ticket sales to benefit the Cabaret Fund for the non-profit Liberace Foundation & Museum

As friend and costar Audra McDonald has said, Devin's booming bass voice has anchored many B'way ensembles--11 of them, to be precise.

Alton Fitzgerald White, who currently plays the starring role of Mufasa in Disney's 'Lion King' at Mandalay Bay, will present an evening of holiday music with two charity benefit concerts on Friday, Dec. 4 at the intimate Cabaret Showroom at the Liberace Museum, 1775 E. Tropicana Ave. at Spencer. White is donating all proceeds from ticket sales to benefit the Cabaret Fund for the non-profit Liberace Foundation & Museum

The Cabaret Showroom at the Liberace Museum will present Seasons of Love, a benefit concert, featuring members of the casts of Jersey Boys, Phantom, and The Lion King as well as some guest artists from National Tours and New York. The two concerts will help celebrate and benefit Broadway and Stratford Shakespeare Festival actress Lindsay Thomas (Hairspray, Jersey Boys), who is battling stage-four lung cancer.

The Cabaret Showroom at the Liberace Museum will present Seasons of Love, a benefit concert, featuring members of the casts of Jersey Boys, Phantom, and The Lion King as well as some guest artists from National Tours and New York. The two concerts will help celebrate and benefit Broadway and Stratford Shakespeare Festival actress Lindsay Thomas (Hairspray, Jersey Boys), who is battling stage-four lung cancer.

'Everything You Touch Is Beautiful To Me' from The New Picasso - The Musical (Original Concept Album Cast Recording) performed by Brooke Sunny Moriber was the Winner of Best Theater Song of the Year at the 2009 JPF Music Awards held on August 29th in Nashville, TN.

This past weekend, Broadway and recording star Billy Porter brought his new hit one man show 'The Standard' to Upright Cabaret at Mark's Restaurant for two sold-out SRO engagements. Upright Cabaret producers Chris Isaacson and Shane Scheel in association with Lenny Beer and Suzi Dietz proudly presented Porter to Los Angeles audiences, with those in attendance including Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson and 'Dreamgirls' film director Bill Condon.

Told through 24 songs and actual first-hand accounts, the new musical revue----Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? Songs and Stories from The Great Depression will open Sunday, March 8th (3PM) at Off-Broadway's Triad Theatre (158 West 72nd Street ~ between Broadway & Columbus Avenue). Conceived and staged by Bill Daugherty, this musical time capsule is produced by Thoroughbred Records and Max Weintraub. Preview performances begin March 6th (7PM) & March 7th (3PM) This engagement will run through June 14th.

Told through 24 songs and actual first-hand accounts, the new musical revue----'Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?? Songs and Stories from The Great Depression will open Sunday, March 8th (3PM) at Off-Broadway?s Triad Theatre (158 West 72nd Street ~ between Broadway & Columbus Avenue). Conceived and staged by Bill Daugherty, this musical time capsule is produced by Thoroughbred Records and Max Weintraub. Preview performances begin March 6th (7PM) & March 7th (3PM) This engagement will run through June 14th.

Told through 24 songs and actual first-hand accounts, the new musical revue----Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? Songs and Stories from The Great Depression will open Sunday, March 8th (3PM) at Off-Broadway's Triad Theatre (158 West 72nd Street ~ between Broadway & Columbus Avenue). Conceived and staged by Bill Daugherty, this musical time capsule is produced by Thoroughbred Records and Max Weintraub. Preview performances begin March 6th (7PM) & March 7th (3PM) This engagement will run through June 14th.

An all-star cast of Ana Gasteyer (Wicked, 'Saturday Night Live'), Carolee Carmello (Mamma, Mia!, Parade), Tony? Award-winner Adriane Lenox (Doubt, Caroline, Or Change), Brad Oscar (The Producers, Jekyll & Hyde), Alton Fitzgerald White (The Lion King, Ragtime), John Dossett (The Constant Wife, Gypsy), Sam Harris (The Producers, The Life) and Sara Chase (Godspell at Paper Mill Playhouse) will star in a reading of the eagerly anticipated Broadway-bound musical FIRST WIVES CLUB this Monday, February 2 in New York City. FIRST WIVES CLUB will have its premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego July 15 through August 23, 2009. The cast for the fully staged production will be announced soon. FIRST WIVES CLUB marks the once-in-a-lifetime reunion of the famous Motown songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland), who created such monumental hits as 'Where Did Our Love Go?,' 'Baby Love' and 'Stop! In The Name of Love' for The Supremes and 'How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved By You)' for Marvin Gaye. These chart-topping legends, who had more airplay than the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis combined, have reunited for this one production.

With the production coming to a close in New York, BroadwayWorld's own James Sims caught up with The Color Purple's composers/lyricits Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, in Los Angeles, to discuss how the pair, along with Brenda Russell and Marsha Norman (libretto), turned a Pulitzer Prize winning novel and Oscar nominated film into a Broadway musical...

Original The Color Purple Broadway cast member, Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, who has played the role of Shug Avery since the musical began performances at the Broadway Theatre in November 2005 and throughout its entire record-breaking run, will begin a hiatus from the role on Thursday, January 31, 2008. The Tony nominated actress will return to the role for the final two performances of The Color Purple on Sunday, February 24, 2008. Beginning on Friday, February 1, 2008, Angela Robinson assumes the role of Shug Avery while Withers-Mendes is on leave.

The producers of The Color Purple announced today that the show will play its final performance on Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 7:30pm, after playing 30 preview performances and 910 regular performances at the Broadway Theatre.

The original concept album cast recording of the new musical The New Picasso is now available for purchase online at CDBaby.com and BlackForestProductions.com. The cast recording is selling as 2 albums ('Act One' and 'Act Two') for $14.98 each and shipping worldwide. Both concept albums are also currently available for digital download at CDBaby and Amazon with further availability online.