Billie Holiday News

Tony and Emmy Award winning actor André De Shields was the grand marshal of Baltimore's 2019 Pennsylvania Avenue Cadillac Auto parade held on August 31.

The Billie Holiday Theatre Artistic and Executive Director Dr. Indira Etwaroo announced the line-up today for The Billie Holiday Theatre's Fall 2019 Season and 2019 a?" 2020 Season Highlights at their newly-renovated home at Restoration Plaza on 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216. This historic landmark theater a?" theater home to the largest community of African Americans in the nation: Central Brooklyn a?" encompassing a 199-seat theater, state-of-the-art studio spaces, a gallery space, and outdoor plazas, has been home to world-class storytelling for 47 years. Forged in the sociocultural and aesthetic kiln of the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements, The Billie Holiday Theatre continues to celebrate the diversity, intersectionality, and complexity of the African diaspora from around the corner and around the world with an almost-five decade, keenly honed consciousness for social justice through narrative.

The Frank Silvera Writers Workshop kicks off its forty-seventh annual reading series this Monday September 9th at 7pm with David Davila's immigration drama, Aztec Pirates And The Insignificance Of Life On Mars. The reading, directed by Nilsa Reyna, features Ollie Corchado, Cory Alexander, Lillian Andrea De Leon, Julia Botero, Selina Michelle Fonseca, Gerard Lucero, Alexandra Castro, and Jatnna Marte.

Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish are set to star in the independent comedy “Here Today,” according to Variety. The duo will also produce the comedy, with Crystal directing from a screenplay he co-wrote with Alan Zweibel.

For the second year, the Peace Center invites audiences to dive deeper into the artistic works heading to the main stage through Peace Interludes. These FREE musical happy hours hosted by Peace Center Artist-in-Residence Igor Begelman pair a musical facet of an upcoming performance with a featured beverage for a multi-sensory sip, listen and learn experience. The featured beverages are available for purchase.

First performed 10 years ago, SONGS FOR NOBODIES will tour to Geelong Performing Arts Centre from Friday 13 December, Arts Centre Melbourne from Wednesday 18 December and Sydney Opera House from 23 January. This spellbinding one woman play, is a tour de force of imagined encounters between five mid 20th-century divas, Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Maria Callas, and five ordinary women.

In 1959, Billie Holiday, or a?oeLady Daya?? as she was called, performed one of her final shows in a run-down bar in South Philly. In Robertson's award-winning play, Holiday engages the audience with salty, often humorous reminiscences of her troubled life as a travelling performer in a segregated south. With the help of her piano man, Jimmy Powers, she lets music tell her story, sharing soulful, heart-wrenching and bawdy songs from her memorable canon including: a?oeStrange Fruit,a?? a?oeGod Bless the Child,a?? a?oeWhen a Woman Loves a Man,a?? and a?oeTaint Nobody's Business If I Do.a??

The SideNotes Cabaret Series celebrates the 60TH Season of Sunset Playhouse with a tribute to the dazzling divas who reigned supreme in America's original art form. CROWN JEWELS OF JAZZ runs from September 26-29, 2019 and features award-winning vocalists MARCYA DANEILLE and ELLEN WINTERS. The duo will present jazz standards by Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day, Billie Holiday, June Christy, Nina Simone, Diana Krall, and others.

Today, Feinstein's at the Nikko announced an exciting lineup of artists who will take the stage at San Francisco's premier intimate nightclub this fall.

RestorationART at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation facilitates a call to rally the NYC arts community to come together as one voice at the non-partisan event, SPEAK FREEDOM on Sunday, August 25 - the actual day when the first slave ship, the White Lion, made the first Trans-Atlantic voyage 400 years ago to bring a?oe20 and odda?? people of Africa to the shores of Jamestown.

Playwright Samuel Harps discusses the story behind his latest play CLOVER

Good Egg Creative today announced an exciting new charity concert for Sydney, HIGH STANDARDS, which will be held at the City Recital Hall on Monday 28 October, and raise much needed funds for the Actors Benevolent Fund NSW.

Hailed as 'the best party in town,' by New York's Cabaret Scenes Magazine, The Nitz/ Howe Experience marks a major milestone on Saturday, September 7th.

Klein and Alvarez Productions, LLC is proud to present an electrifying homage to African-American divas for IndyFringe Festival Aug. 15-25, 2019. This year marks the 15th anniversary of Indianapolis' premier theater event. This production will be equally as special, as three accomplished local artists celebrate The Supremes, Aretha, Whitney, Beyoncé and other icons, alongside some of the city's most talented musicians. 'Les Chanteuses' is a tribute to black divas, who have not only made major contributions to the entertainment world, but have also blazed trails for African-American women.

Carnegie Hall's 2019a?"2020 season is upon us, and we are looking forward to a variety of exceptional programming and exciting new projects. A major programming highlight to note for this fall, Carnegie Hall has invited Grammy Award-winning singer Angélique Kidjo to chart the journey of African music and culture around the world for her season-long Perspectives series with four concerts including: Benin International Musical; a concert dedicated to the powerful voices of the African diaspora led by musical director Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective; guitarist Lionel Loueke and his trio; and a special concert marking both Ms. Kidjo's 60th birthday and the anniversary of independence for Benin and 16 other West African countries.

Historic six-time Tony Award Winner Audra McDonald reunites with Sirius XM Radio star Seth Rudetsky direct from their critically acclaimed performances at Town Hall in New York City this past November and the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco this past January. Produced by Mark Cortale, the unique format of this show that differentiates it from any other is a seamless mix of intimate behind-the-scenes stories prompted by Rudetsky's insightful, funny and revealing questions - and the music from McDonald's legendary career.

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with the following acts:

When Billie Holiday died in 1959, she left this world a true Jazz icon, revered for her ability to create stage magic as she expressed deep personal, emotional hurt which governed her entire existence and in turn, spoke to millions worldwide. Known as perhaps the first female vocalist to use her voice in the style of jazz improvisation, it takes a special woman to effectively share Holiday's brutally tragic life story as well as her amazing vocal talents. Such is the combination of skills on display by Sybil D. Jatta as BILLIE HOLIDAY: FRONT AND CENTER now onstage at the WACO Theatre Center in NoHo through Sunday, August 18, directed with heart and soul by B'Anca.

We start learning about fairytales and happily-ever-after before we can even walk. Then we grow up. Some of us wonder what ever happened to the fairytales and some of us, well... never believed in them in the first place.

Birdland Presents Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nicki Parrott, Chiemi Nakai Latin Jazz Quartet and More