Bessie Smith News

Black Theatre Troupe opens its 2019-20 season with Sheldon Epps' Broadway blockbuster, BLUES IN THE NIGHT. Tracing the American musical art form of the blues, BLUES IN THE NIGHT features 26 blockbuster songs including Duke Ellington's I'm Just a Lucky So-And-So, Jimmy Davis' Lover Man, Bessie Smith's Reckless Blues and Baby Doll,Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life and Blues in the Night by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer.

Mosaic Theater Company of DC launches its 5th season this month with the DC premiere of Lynn Nottage's Fabulation, Or The Re-Education of Undine, previewing August 21 (see our August 1 Fabulation press release for opening night information, and our March 29 a?oe#Wokeseason5a?? release for full season line-up), exactly one month after the close of the most successful show in Mosaic's history, the co-production of Kelvin Roston Jr.'s Twisted Melodies, which sold out its last week of performances, playing to record crowds and box office, providing the capstone to a season of transformative artistic and fundraising achievements. 

A Night With Janis Joplin will play at The Orpheum Oct. 13.

Luther Burbank Center for the Arts (LBC) announced today that it has added four shows to its 2019a?"20 season lineup: A Night with Janis Joplin, Mark O'Connor's a?oeAn Appalachian Christmas,a?? The Price is Right LIVE!, and Ballet Hispánico. Tickets for all shows, as well as single tickets for the Carlton Senior Living Symphony Pops Series and the Clover Sonoma Family Fun Series, will be available beginning Friday, August 16 at 12 p.m. online at lutherburbankcenter.org, by calling 707-546-3600, or at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts ticket office (50 Mark West Springs Road in Santa Rosa).

You can forget your troubles or wallow in the richness of Blues in the Night, currently at the Kiln Theatre. The musical revue follows four individuals, known simply as The Lady (Sharon D Clarke), The Woman (Debbie Kurup), The Man (Clive Rowe) and The Girl (Gemma Sutton).

NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG has announced the lineup for its 2019-20 Season.

As rehearsals begin for Blues in Night, Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre, Indhu Rubasingham announces the full company. Joining the previously announced Sharon D Clarke (The Lady), Debbie Kurup (The Woman), Clive Rowe (The Man) and Gemma Sutton (The Girl) are Aston New (The Hustler) and Joseph Poulton (The Barman) to complete the company for the first major London revival in 30 years. Susie McKenna's production opens on 24 July, with previews from 18 July, and runs until 7 September.

Fresh from her latest triumph at the May, 2019, Blues Music Awards in Memphis, where she won “Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year” honors, the now six-time BMA winner Rory Block continues to tour in support of her first “Power Women of the Blues” album series CD, A Woman's Soul, in tribute to the legendary Bessie Smith. 

Irish Repertory Theatre will present a concert performance of Christine Tobin: Sailing to Byzantium on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage on Tuesday August 27, 2019, at 7pm.  

As rehearsals begin for Blues in Night, Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre, Indhu Rubasingham announces the full company. Joining the previously announced Sharon D Clarke (The Lady), Debbie Kurup (The Woman), Clive Rowe (The Man) and Gemma Sutton (The Girl) are Aston New (The Hustler) and Joseph Poulton (The Barman) to complete the company for the first major London revival in 30 years. Susie McKenna's production opens on 24 July, with previews from 18 July, and runs until 7 September.

London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From Jason Robert Brown and Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to riotous comedy, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews, interviews and features!

As part of its popular Summer Jazz Series, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County will be presenting a concert next month by Broadway and cabaret star Avery Sommers. The series is presented in collaboration with the Palm Beach International Jazz Festival.

In TORCHING THE BLUES, Evangeline Johns sings an eclectic mix of songs by Bessie Smith, Harold Arlen, Billie Holliday and more-from 'Kiss of Fire' to 'Down and Out, 'Fine and Mellow' to 'Sugar in My Bowl'. With special appearances by Ariana Johns on vocals, and backed by dancers Max McGuire and Mark Mindek, the show is a lively celebration of the blues.

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.

Just a warning to those who think that Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill is a musical revue of Billie Holiday's greatest hits. Lanie Robertson's work is a very heavy play with music featuring brilliant Deidrie Henry front and center baring her soul in one of Holiday's last performances in 1959 before her death. Incredible musicians Abdul Hamid Royal as musical director and as Jimmy Powers at the ivories and James Leary on bass add immense flavor to the evening, currently onstage under the outstanding direction of Gregg T. Daniel, at the Garry Marshall Theatre through June 2 only.

Today's subject Zonya Love is currently living her theatre Life performing the role of Georgia Gordon in Arena Stage's production of Jubilee. The show runs through June 9th in Arena Stage's Kreeger Theater space. Zonya is making her Arena Stage debut with this production.

Directed with grace and wit by Tennessee Women's Theater Project founder Maryanna Clarke, Sistas the Musical is now onstage through May 19 at The Z. Alexander Looby Theatre, located conveniently just off Rosa Parks Boulevard in north Nashville, a historically black enclave that has been central to the civil rights struggles of the citizens of Tennessee's capital city.

Award-winning actress, singer, and director Avery Sommers will add teacher to her already impressive resume this summer; the powerhouse performer will conduct two eight-week master classes at Actor's Rep in West Palm Beach.

Resonance Records discovery Polly Gibbons, a British-born star on the rise, has a sound and style that give off sparks. It's raw, raspy, and full of heat; it sputters and growls, carves out funky grooves, and wails into the skies. All I Can Do, her third Resonance release, the label's founder George Klabin, places Gibbons in front of an audience, where she's at her most explosive.

Just in! Two-time Tony Award and three-time Emmy Award winner Laurie Metcalf and two-time Emmy Award winner Eddie Izzard will star on Broadway next season...