Aretha Franklin News

Renowned tenor and international conductor Placido Domingo was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree by Berklee College of Music at its campus in Valencia, Spain on Friday. The event took place at the Teatro Martin i Soler of the Palau de les Arts and was attended by local government officials and dignitaries and Berklee's Valencia campus leadership.

The next upcoming episode of FOX's hit musical dramedy series GLEE is titled 'Bash' and the ep is highlighted by four songs penned by master Broadway songwriter Stephen Sondheim.

Broadway Stars Derrick Baskin (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Little Mermaid) Ron Bohmer (Ragtime, Sunset Boulevard) and Andrew Samonsky (South Pacific, Merrily We Roll Along) will be appearing with Maestro Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic at the Schuster Center in Dayton, Ohio in OH WHAT A NIGHT! Friday April 4th at 8:00pm and Saturday April 5th at 8:00pm.

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced today six-time Grammy-winning artist and actress Toni Braxton is set to star as Darlene Love in the network's first scripted TV film 'My Name is Love: The Darlene Love Story.'

Rebecca Ferguson begeistert im Berliner Postbahnhof am 02.04.2014

Park City Institute celebrates its 11th summer of presenting the St. Regis Big Stars, Bright Nights concert series at Deer Valley Resort with ten, powerhouse concerts: The Bacon Brothers (June 28), Punch Brothers (July 6), Dierks Bentley (July 24), Kix Brooks (July 31), Muscle Shoals Live and Lisa Fischer (August 3), Five For Fighting (August 16), Trampled by Turtles (August 19), Nashville Cafe (August 23), Vince Gill and the Time Jumpers (August 30) and a TBA show. All concerts are slated to be held rain or shine at Deer Valley Resort's Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater. Tickets go on sale to PCPAF members on Wednesday, April 9 and are available for purchase by the general public on Wednesday, April 16.

As he has been doing throughout Season XIII, new AMERICAN IDOL Executive Producer Per Blankens has again thrown a curveball of a theme at the Top-8. Instead of the well-warn 'Motown' and 'Burt Bacharach' Weeks, for the first time in IDOL history, the finalists all performed their initial audition songs.

CLASSIC comedy and songs come to The Marlowe Theatre later this month.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will present the fourth annual Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival (PJLIF) on June 20-22, 2014. PJLIF will consist of three days of free jazz and jazz-influenced musical performances on outdoor stages throughout downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District. PJLIF attracts more than 20,000 attendees from around the country. The Festival features local, emerging, and national and international musicians in a variety of performance settings, including outdoor performance stages and indoor performance locations within local restaurants, coffee shops and galleries.

The new producers of AMERICAN IDOL are again turning the idea of a theme week on its head. While in the past they have had contestants repeat previous performances, for the first time in the show's history, all of the Top-8 will be revisiting the songs that earned them their Golden Ticket to Hollywood, in the first ever Audition Song Week.

Colman Domingo is finding that you can go home again, as he returns to his native Philadelphia to perform for the first time since his Tony Award-nominated Broadway turn in the hit musical, The Scottsboro Boys. Philadelphia Theatre Company concludes its 2013-2014 season with the Philadelphia premiere of A Boy and His Soul, written and performed by Colman Domingo with direction by Tony Kelly. This solo play with soul music runs May 23-June 22 at Philadelphia Theatre Company's Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets).

Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey presents the 9th Annual Spring Gala on Friday, April, 25, 2014 featuring the definitive Modern Jazz and R&B guitarist George Benson who will share the stage with acclaimed soul icon Natalie Cole. George Benson and Natalie Cole will not only perform individually, but will perform together. Buy tickets at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (201) 227 1030 or visit the box office at 30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, New Jersey.

Hollywood rockers SPIDERS & SNAKES be releasing their 9th studio album worldwide on May 27th on the Sansei Records label.

PNC Bank is the new title sponsor of Blumenthal Performing Arts' flagship series next season. The 2014-2015 blockbuster Broadway season is titled PNC Broadway Lights and is made possible with support from PNC Bank.

TV star and Broadway vet Ariana Grande performed the classic Whitney Houston ballad 'I Have Nothing' at the White House for the Women of Soul event

Aside from being global music legends, what do the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, and AC/DC have in common? Muddy Waters- the Chicago blues king who was arguably the single biggest influence on all of these artists. On April 9, Untitled Supper Club will celebrate Muddy Waters' birthday with local Chicago bluesman Pistol Pete covering some of his best known tunes.

Marin Theatre Company, in association with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, will stage August Wilson's Fences, the 1950s entry into his Century Cycle (also known as his Pittsburgh Cycle) - a decade-by-decade exploration of the black experience in 20th century America. Directed by Derrick Sanders, the Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award-winning play will feature veteran film and television actor Carl Lumbly as Troy Maxson, Steven Anthony Jones, the artistic director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, as Jim Bono and award-winning actor, playwright and director Margo Hall as Rose, as well as Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Eddy Ray Jackson as Cory, Adrian Roberts as Gabriel,Tyee Tilghman as Lyons and two Marin City youths - Jade Sweeney, who attends Willow Creek Academy, and Makaelah Bashir, Bayside Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy - splitting the role of Raynell. Scroll down for a first look at the stars!

Berkeley Repertory Theatre welcomes comedian and radio talk-show host Brian Copeland for the 10th anniversary presentation of his critically acclaimed show, Not a Genuine Black Man. After over 700 performances in its initial seven-year run in more than 30 cities, the longest-running solo show in San Francisco history comes to Berkeley Rep this April for a limited engagement. In Not a Genuine Black Man, Copeland recounts his story of growing up black in the 1970s in San Leandro, California, a city once nationally known as one of the most racist in America. With wit and heartfelt passion, he explores the themes of racial identity and, ultimately, belonging. 'Very funny,' raves the San Francisco Chronicle. 'Copeland is a winning, magnetic performer. More than that, he's got an important tale to tell!' Directed and developed in part by David Ford, Not a Genuine Black Man previews on April 23, 2014, opens April 25, 2014, and plays through May 31, 2014.

In honor of Aretha Franklin's birthday, Untitled Supper Club will pay tribute to the Lady of Soul with a night of live soul music by Chicago's very own Brooke and the Nice Things covering a selection of her greatest hits. Attendees can gather in the Lounge and sip on Bulleit Burbon and Ketel One cocktails featured all evening.

Cabaret at The Merc in association with Temecula Presents has announced a one night only concert by Broadway's own, Shoshana Bean. Sunday, May 18 at 7:30pm, Shoshana will take the Old Town Temecula Theater Stage for the first time with a concert from her recent album O'Farrell Street!