Aretha Franklin News

Last evening, the Apollo Theater celebrated its 14th Annual Spring Gala, raising over $2 million for its year-round artistic and community programming initiatives.

James Corden is back hosting his talk show, fresh off hosting the 2019 Tony Awards the night before. Corden decided to share a special moment during a commercial break when he asked Billy Porter to sing some karaoke -- and Billy absolutely crushes 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' from the Broadway classic Gypsy.

Three University of Michigan faculty members are part of a team that won an international design competition that will unite 12 cultural and educational institutions located in Detroit's Midtown and change the way visitors and Detroiters experience the area.

Billy Porter stopped by Live with Kelly and Ryan on Monday to talk about his iconic award show outfits, including the one he wore last night to the 2019 Tony Awards.

Oklahoma husband / wife duo, The Imaginaries, Shane Henry (guitar, vocals) and Maggie McClure (keys, piano, vocals), recently finished recording their debut album, their first together as The Imaginaries, in famed Muscle Shoals, AL.  It serves as both an introduction to their music together and the beginning of their journey as a band after both singer songwriters have had their own successes as solo artists.  Maggie, with her subtly sweet vocals and piano style blends seamlessly with Shane's blues-rock grit to form their own unique blend of Americana music.  

Everyone at Radio City Music Hall for this year's Tony Awards was given a special treat as Billy Porter was coaxed into singing 'Rose's Turn' in karaoke during one of the ceremony's commercial breaks! Check out the video below!

On Sunday night, the Tony Awards honored legendary orchestrator and arranger Harold Wheeler with one of three 2019 Lifetime Achievement Awards. Wheeler is currently represented on Broadway with AIN'T TOO PROUD - THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS. Watch Howard Wheeler accept the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award here.

Rubicon Theatre Company announces two performances of an intimate concert featuring Golden Globe Award-Winner and Grammy nominee Amanda McBroom, presented as part of the 2018-2019 Janet and Mark L. Goldenson Broadway Concert Series. Amanda McBroom, a Rubicon favorite both as a singer and actress, returns to Rubicon with a concert version of her hit play Lady Macbeth Sings the Blues on Saturday June 8 at 8p.m. and Sunday June 9 at 2 p.m.

The French Institute Alliance Fran aise (FIAF) honors the great French composer Michel Legrand, who died in January this year, with a special Cin Salon series devoted to his life and work. Curated by one of his longtime collaborators and greatest interpreters, singer and actress Melissa Errico, Summer of Michel Legrand brings together seven of his films from his best known triumphs such as The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort to lesser known gems such as the enchanting fairy-tale musical Donkey Skin. Screenings take place on Tuesdays in July at 4pm and 7:30pm in FIAF's Florence Gould Hall.

The Recording Academy announced today its newly elected National Officers of the Board of Trustees, voted upon at the organization's annual spring Board of Trustees meeting in May. Record producer Harvey Mason Jr. has been elected as the Chair of the Board of Trustees, and managing partner of Placement Music Tammy Hurt will serve as Vice Chair. Veteran music executive Terry Hemmings was re-elected Secretary/Treasurer and recording artist and founder/CEO of Swan Songs Christine Albert assumes the position of Chair Emeritus. All officer appointments were effective on June 1, 2019.

The Marsh San Francisco adds five free performances of Brian Copeland's The Waiting Period, due to ongoing support from a GoFundMe campaign and generous corporate contributions from Summit Bank, Clint Reilly Associates, The Handlery Hotel Union Square in San Francisco, and Fremont Bank, OSIsoft, and Galvan and Associates in San Leandro.

On June 10, StageSource will hold an open house to welcome Jarvis Green, Monica Ndounou, Harold Steward and other individuals to celebrate and draw focus to the shift in artistic leadership in New England and changing face of New England Theatre.

Tara Vaughan's She Rocks will open Thursday, June 13 at the Omaha Community Playhouse (OCP). The show will run in the Howard Drew Theatre from June 13 through June 30. Performances will be held Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Ford's Theatre Society celebrated the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln at its Annual Gala on Sunday evening, June 2, 2019, at Ford's Theatre (511 10th Street NW). For more than 40 years, the Society has hosted this bipartisan event, which provides crucial support to the non-profit's theatrical and educational programs.

Musician, entrepreneur and arts advocate Lindsay Rider, will produce So Far, An Evening to Benefit Young at Arts, Westchester's most impactful performing arts educational organization, on June 21 at The Public Theater's Joe's Pub. A mixed songbook performed by Rider, actor and singer Jeremy Jordan, and select students from Young at Arts, the evening is a celebration of the importance of arts education while shining a light on the mission of Young at Arts and the commitment to build bridges through the performing arts.

This fall, artists and audiences from the Washington, D.C. area, the U.S., and around the globe come together at the nation's cultural capital to dance, sing, create, collaborate, listen, learn, talk, share, and celebrate the opening of the REACH, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts's unprecedented new expansion. At a preview event today, May 29, which marks both President Kennedy's 102nd birthday and 100 days until the historic opening, the Kennedy Center unveiled preliminary details of the free 16-day REACH Opening Festival on September 7-22.

MGM has announced that it will produce a feature film based on the life of singer Boy George, according to Deadline. The film will be written and directed by Sacha Gervasi (My Dinner with Herve, Anvil: The Story of Anvil) and produced by Kevin King Templeton (Creed I & II) and Paul Kemsley. George and Jessica de Rothschild will executive produce.

On Tuesday night, Jennifer Hudson made a surprise performance at the Pulitzer Prize luncheon, to honor the late Aretha Franklin.

The Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical A Night With Janis Joplin rocks the Aronoff Center's Procter & Gamble Hall on Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at 7:30 PM. The much-anticipated show is part of the Cincinnati Arts Association's 2019-20 Season.

Some are born great, some have greatness thrust upon them and others are born without their placenta.