Andy Razaf News

Maurice Hines, who starred in the original production of EUBIE!, the Tony-nominated musical from 1978 that celebrates the songs and stories of celebrated music titan Eubie Blake, will host the show's 40th-anniversary celebration at Feinstein's/54 Below today, July 10th, 2018 at 7:00 pm.

Maurice Hines, who starred in the original production of EUBIE!, the Tony-nominated musical from 1978 that celebrates the songs and stories of celebrated music titan Eubie Blake, will host the show's 40th-anniversary celebration at Feinstein's/54 Below on Tuesday, July 10th, 2018 at 7:00 pm.

EUBIE!, the Tony-nominated musical from 1978 that celebrates the songs and stories of celebrated music titan Eubie Blake, will celebrate its 40th anniversary at Feinstein's/54 Below on Tuesday, July 10th, 2018 at 7:00 pm.

Mikaela Bennett with NYFOS; photo by Karli Cadel On February 27 at 8:00 p.m., New York Festival of Song and Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center present a new program devised by Steven Blier, entitled, simply, PROTEST. A cast of young, diverse and brilliant singers that includes Mikaela Bennett who just wowed the world in Michael Gordon's opera Acquanetta at the Protoype Festival performs songs by a panorama of composers, from Marc Blitzstein and Joni Mitchell to Randy Newman and Mohammed Fairouz. (View the complete program below.)

Trav'lin - The 1930s Harlem Musical comes home to New York City for an invite-only industry reading featuring Brenda Braxton, who starred in the sold-out debut production at the New York Musical Festival (NYMF) in 2010.

Trav'lin - The 1930s Harlem Musical comes home to New York City for an invite-only industry reading featuring Brenda Braxton, who starred in the sold-out debut production at the New York Musical Festival (NYMF) in 2010.

The Connecticut premiere of Trav'lin - The 1930s Harlem Musical opens this weekend at Waterbury's Seven Angels Theatre, following productions at Houston's Ensemble Theatre and Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre, and development in Washington, D.C. and New York City, including a sold-out run at the New York Musical Festival (NYMF).  Performances being Thursday, May 11, Official Opening is Saturday, May 13, and the show runs through Sunday, June 11, 2017.

Following productions at Houston's Ensemble Theatre and Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre, and development in New York City and Washington, D.C., including a sold-out run at the New York Musical Festival (NYMF), Trav'lin - The 1930s Harlem Musical receives its Connecticut Premiere at Waterbury's Seven Angels Theatre, beginning Thursday, May 11, 2017. Opening Night is Saturday, May 13, and the show runs through Sunday, June 11, 2017.

I hear music, mighty fine music . . . Host Michael Feinstein sings with pristine bass accompaniment, as Musical Director Tedd Firth's Big Band filters in musician by musician. The sweetest sounds I ever heard . . . he continues as a light saxophone joins syncopated rhythm. Then whomp! All 17 players swing. Rarely have I heard sound design so perfectly balanced, appropriately favoring vocals. Feinstein remains smooth and easy riding the wave. 'You may wonder about the role of jazz in popular song . . . ' our host begins at the start of Jazz at Lincoln Center's first of three segments of the Jazz & Popular Song Series in the Appel Room. At a time when popular songs came and went with alacrity, jazz artists meeting for improvisational jam sessions needed pieces they all knew. Thus jazz mined popular music creating an intersection of the two art forms. Aided and abetted by four very different featured guests, Feinstein illuminates by example, not narrative.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series was proud to present Broadway/cabaret star T. Oliver Reid in his Birdland concert debut on Monday, February 8, with DROP ME OFF IN HARLEM. A portion of proceeds went to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. BroadwayWorld has photos from the concert below!

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for February 8-14, Jane Monheit, Birdland Jazz Party, Barbara Carroll and more!

Five moments when Broadway songwriters risked shocking and angering patrons with discomforting truths.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its February 2016 lineup, featuring Jane Monheit, Monterey Jazz Allstars, Nicolas King, The Birdland Big Band, Showbiz After Hours with Frank DiLella, John Pizzarelli Quartet, Birdland Jazz Party, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more. Scroll down for details!

Continuing the tradition of preserving and celebrating timeless recordings, The Recording Academy® has announced the newest additions to its vaunted GRAMMY Hall Of Fame®.

Next spring, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Brandon Victor Dixon, and Joshua Henry will star in SHUFFLE ALONG Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, a striking new production that presents both the 1921 musical itself, and additionally details the events that catalyzed the songwriting team of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, and librettists F.E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles to create this ground-breaking work.

The Ensemble Theatre in Houston, Texas, is offering Trav'lin - the 1930s Harlem Musical as its season finale, Artistic Director Eileen J. Morris has announced. Official opening is June 25, 2015 with performances from tonight,  June 20 through July 26. The new staging follows a sold-out run of the show at the 2010 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) and a successful 2013 production at the Jubilee Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas.

Next spring, Tony Award winners Audra McDonald, George C. Wolfe, and Savion Glover will team up to collaborate on SHUFFLE ALONG, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, a musical about the events that led to the creation of the groundbreaking Eubie Blake-Noble Sissle musical Shuffle Along. Starring Audra McDonald as the 1920's star Lottie Gee, directed by George C. Wolfe -- with a book written by Wolfe -- and choreographed by Savion Glover, the musical marks the first time that the writer/director and choreographer will have worked together since their 1996 hit Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk. Previews will begin Monday, March 14, 2016. Opening night is Thursday, April 21, 2016 at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street).

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestra's begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven- o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including: The Cast of IF/THEN Sings Kitt & Yorkey; David Michael Finkelstein's Bar Mitzvah: The Musical Comedy In Concert; Josh Canfield & Reed Kelly: From Broadway to Survivor; Ellyn Marie Marsh: INNAPPROPRIATE; and T Oliver Reid: Drop Me Off at Harlem.

Every year, despite a litany of warnings they come to the Big Apple with big dreams. Warnings like: “You have to pay your dues.” “It's a tough business, kid.” “How are you going to survive?” There's no such thing as an overnight success, yet still they come to be at “the top of the heap,” as Kander and Ebb so eloquently put it. The four young performers featured here haven't yet vaulted to the top of the cabaret heap, but they've certainly made their marks with excellent shows during 2014, while exhibiting the potential to get there. The spotlight is already shining on Chrysten Peddie, Angela Dirksen, Rembert Block, and Kristoffer Lowe.

Singer and Broadway star T. Oliver Reid leads what he describes as "a club hopping journey through the swanky clubs and low down joints of 1934 Harlem," featuring the music of Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen, Andy Razaf, and more. In this new show, Reid performs each number with the unmistakable dramatic flair of a musical theater veteran, and he also provides an overview of the clubs, musicians, and social context of the music.