Aretha Franklin News

Hackney Empire plans to combine its commitment to community and championing of young people with a programme that revives a variety programme for a modern-day audience and celebrates all genres. Since Artistic Director Yamin Choudury and Executive Director Jo Hemmant were appointed in 2018, the theatre has seen an average of 83% new bookers for many productions - a huge achievement for a 1000+ seater theatre in London.

With global sales totaling more than 75 million, Grammy and American Music Award winner Kenny G is the biggest-selling instrumental musician of all time. To add to his accolades, he has both the best-selling instrumental album of all time with Breathless, and the best-selling Christmas album of all time with Miracles. Never one to rest idle, Kenny G continues to tour, performing for adoring fans around the world.

Felicia Collins of CBS Orchestra, Vernon Reid and Corey Glover from Living Color, Mark Rivera from The Billy Joel Band/Ringo Starr Band, Lee Finkelstein of The Blues Brothers Band, Shannon Conley, Danny Keane, Militia Vox, Queen V, Sophia Ramos, Jann Klose, Frank Gilchrest, Alec Shantzis, Bruce Edwards, Frank Gravis, Scott Yahaney and WHO KNOWS WHO ELSE WILL STOP BY...

This winter season, spend time with loved ones while enjoying uplifting, warm-hearted holiday entertainment courtesy of the Vilar Performing Arts Center (VPAC). This year's Winter Holiday Series includes shows that will delight audiences of all ages featuring A Classical Christmas with the Boulder Philharmonic; Twas the Night Before Christmas; Judy Collins; Masters of Illusion; and Neil Berg's 50 Years of Rock & Roll. Tickets for each show are on sale now at the VPAC box office (970-845-8497; www.vilarpac.org). The VPAC is located under the ice rink in Beaver Creek Village (68 Avondale Lane, Beaver Creek, Colorado).

Following a successful and crowd-pleasing 2019 engagement, Neil Berg is back with another lineup of hits! Neil Berg's 50 Years of Rock & Roll Part 3 comes to The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts on Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 8 pm. Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, September 17 at 10 am.

This weekend a Hamilton original is making a huge splash in Cincinnati!

The Hanover Theatre is pleased to announce a $250,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation in support of the expansion of the theatre and its Conservatory for the Performing Arts. This work is a key part of the revitalization of downtown Worcester and a catalyst for economic development in the area.

One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go Queens go! The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez packs a glittery punch as it explores the sassy world of drag queens in a forgotten bar in Panama City Beach, Florida. Crowds come out in droves to see Miss Tracy Mills, Anorexia Nervosa, and the newest high-heel-wearing-wonder Georgia McBride as they lip-synch their way through Judy Garland, Emmylou Harris, and Aretha Franklin.

Ray Charles's Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Volumes 1 & 2 are major landmarks in American culture. Released during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, the album broke racial barriers and proved that signature performances work in all genres, taking country standards and transforming them into soul and R&B classics.

Single tickets are now on sale for the spring TOPS of the POPS Season showsa?"HAMLISCH: With Love, ARETHA: RESPECT, POPS Rocks Phil Collins, SONDHEIM: A 90th Birthday Celebration, and SINATRA: A Man and His Music.

This fall, Craft Recordings will reissue five albums from the Stax vault on 180-gram vinyl. In stores November 1st, the titles include The Bar-Kays'Gotta Groove, Melting Pot from Booker T. & The M.G.'s, Delaney & Bonnie's Home, David Porter's Victim of the Joke?...An Opera, and Johnnie Taylor's Who's Making Love. All LPs have been cut from their original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl and manufactured at Memphis Record Pressing. These reissues are part of a yearlong celebration of Stax, and of the 50th anniversary of the legendary label's “Soul Explosion”—an era of rebuilding following its separation from Atlantic Records. During this period, the newly independent label not only signed fresh, emerging talent but also released an impressive collection of 27 albums and 30 singles in just a handful of months.

Being cast in an August Wilson play feels like an honour; I studied his work at drama school. He is described as the black Shakespeare. His words and characters are so full of life - half my job feels done already. How he expresses the black experience feels so relatable even to this day.

Brian Copeland performs The Waiting Period - winner of the Theater Bay Area Award for Outstanding Production of a Solo Play, This deeply moving and surprisingly funny work outlines Copeland's own struggles with depression and suicidal thought, and is presented to everyone and to remove all barriers for those who may be struggling with depression themselves. Featuring humorous, poignant, and riveting insights, the solo show written by Copeland and directed by David Ford, It will take place at the Douglas Morrisson Theatre in Hayward, CA on Saturday, October 5, 2019 (8:00pm).

The family-friendly Bay Area holiday favorite The Jewelry Box comes to the Altarena Playhouse. Performed by Brian Copeland, who has been hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as 'among the Bay Area's most honest, thoughtful and eloquent storytellers,' and directed by David Ford, this hilariously heartwarming story follows a young Brian as he heads to the 'mean streets' of Oakland to buy his mom a Christmas present.

Popular jazz superstar Kenny G returns to Mayo Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 12 at 8 pm. Tickets are $49-$89.

BRIC is pleased to announce a free concert by iconic R&B songstress Bettye LaVette on Saturday, October 19 at 3PM, co-presented by Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP) at The Plaza at 300 Ashland, to kick off the 2019 BRIC JazzFest. The announcement completes the programming for the fifth edition of the celebrated Brooklyn jazz festival, which continues the 41st season for the pioneering NYC arts-and-media organization and leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn. The Festival takes place over the course of a week (October 19-26) and continues to be what the New Yorker calls a a?oeproudly eclectic gathering [that] remains unbounded by convention.a?? This year's edition will feature concerts, film, poetry, and conversation, culminating in a three-day music marathon, with performances taking place simultaneously in the various spaces comprising BRIC House (647 Fulton Street, Brooklyn).

The Philly POPS steps outside the concert hall for a celebration of the legendary musicians who walked the streets of West Philadelphia. A Musical Celebration of West Philadelphia features the music of John Legend and The Roots, Patti LaBelle, John Coltrane, Jill Scott, the Stylistics, Will Smith, and Boyz II Men, performed by The Philly POPS little BIG Band with guest vocalists Melanie Ashe and Jon Williams.

The Marsh San Francisco announces additional performances of Not a Genuine Black Man, the longest running solo show in San Francisco theater history.

Michele's best-loved song 'My Favorite Year,' has been recorded by the Ambassador of the American Songbook, Michael Feinstein as well as by Dame Cleo Laine, and the late singing icon, Margaret Whiting. With longtime collaborator Amanda McBroom, she has written the songs for 18 animated features for Universal Studios as well as the score for the musical 'Dangerous Beauty.'