Billie Holiday News

The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture announced today that it has partnered with the North Carolina Black Repertory Company to bring nationally acclaimed playwright Jackie Alexander's play, The Legend of Buster Neal to Charlotte.

The nationally regarded Fulton Theatre is proud to present the psychedelic musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors, September 19 through October 15. Expect the unexpected as Little Shop of Horrors is presented to our audience in a brand new and exciting way. Remember whatever you do, DO NOT FEED THE PLANT!

Vocalist / bandleader Keith A. Dames (left) and veteran NY-based guitarist Marvin Horne (right) were greeted by Patricia Rampolla (center) of Love Productions Records (www.allanharris.com/) - the seven-year old LLC headed by Pat Harris which produces the popular Monday Night Jazz Series at Harlem's Farafina Cafe & Lounge.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents an evening with Jazz House Kids. JAZZ HOUSE KIDS returns to its roots in Newark with this stylish, all-star celebration featuring Andra Day, David Sanborn, Sheila E and Kenny Barron, all under the musical direction of virtuoso bassist and bandleader Christian McBride.

The thrilling artistic partnership of Hothouse Flowers frontman Liam Maonla and Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson, forged at the Irish Arts Center's 2016 Ireland Rising concert and deepened in the Center's acclaimed Masters in Collaboration residency program last November, will tour to Dublin's Olympia Theatre (November 3), Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles (November 8) and The Old Town School in Chicago (November 10) followed by an exclusive return engagement to Irish Arts Center in New York City (November 12). A stellar ensemble of top Irish, folk, and jazz musicians from both sides of the Atlantic will join Maonla and Wilson in these special performances.

On Saturday, Oct. 7, 6:30 pm, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series will present the Reel Sisters Hattie McDaniel Award to legendary actress Vinie Burrows ( Walk Together Children ) and the Reel Sisters Trailblazer Award to Tamara Tunie (Law & Order: SVU) and Nicole Beharie (Sleepy Hollow).

National Sawdust+ presents Elements of Time + Taste: A night of inventive food, mixology, and music on Thursday, September 28, at 7:30pm. Two Williamsburg culinary and mixology notables,Patrick Connolly (Rider's James Beard award-winning chef/owner) and Allen Katz (the so-called cocktail world enigma of New York Distilling Company), will create a tantalizing experience for the palate, joining forces with a lineup of remarkable composer-musicians including singer Magos Herrera, multi-instrumentalist Yuka C. Honda (of Cibo Matto, or Food Madness, fame), and the evening's music director, pianist Oded Lev-Ari, who leads the ensemble. Together, they are dreaming up an evening that explores the four natural elements through curated pairings of music, libations, and delectable bites. Ranging from tango to electronic music to Mexican folk song, the musical program will include the world premiere of Chopping Music and a piece inspired by the humble juniper berry.

Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance (Cumbe), a thrilling and diverse dance studio championing African Diaspora dance and music returns to Brooklyn, resuming its well-loved classes on September 25. After being pushed out of its prior location in Downtown Brooklyn two years ago, Cumbe found a new home via its partnership with RestorationART at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's dynamic new 21st Century Complex. A community day opening on Saturday, September 23, will offer $5 classes.

On Thursday, September 28 at 7pm, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WNYC - in partnership with Apollo Theater - presents 'Black Creativity,' a special evening of conversation and performance with composers Toshi Reagon and Daniel Bernard Roumain.

Vocalist / bandleader Keith A. Dames (left) and veteran NY-based guitarist Marvin Horne (right) are greeted by Patricia  Rampolla (center)  of Love Productions Records - the seven-year old  LLC headed by Patricia Hall -which produces the   popular  Monday Night  Jazz Series @ Harlem's   Farafina Cafe & Lounge. The musicians performed two sets of jazz and blues tunes on Labor Day (Sept. 4th) evening.  

MIGHTY REAL: A FABULOUS SYLVESTER MUSICAL, the Broadway-bound musical (headed to The Great White Way in 2018) celebrating the life and music of the original 1970s 'Queen of Disco,' Sylvester, will give a special performance at the inaugural RuPaul's Drag Con NYC this weekend.

Midtown Direct Rep (MDR) launches its 2017-18 reading series, Theater at The Woodland, with a free presentation of SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR, a new play with music, written by Rob Zellers, directed by Billy Porter, with music supervision by Zane Mark and musical direction by Darryl Ivey. 

Orchestra of St. Luke's returns to Carnegie Hall for three concerts in the fall including its annual subscription series presented by Carnegie Hall, opening on October 12 with Conductor Laureate Pablo Heras-Casado on the podium. He leads Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21, and Mozart's Mass in C Minor, K. 427 ('Great'), featuring the Westminster Symphonic Choir, and guest vocalists sopranos Camilla Tilling and Susanna Phillips, tenor Thomas Cooley, and bass-baritone Michael Sumuel.

Herman Leonard: The Rhythm of Old New York will be on view at Robert Mann Gallery September 7 - October 14, 2017, with an opening reception set for September 7 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The Billie Holiday Theatre (The Billie) is launching its 46th Season in the newly-renovated theater with a production of The Old Settler, written by Brooklyn-born playwright John Henry Redwood and directed by Tony Award nominee Michele Shay.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and Project1VOICE (P1V) have announced a screening series tour for the #LegacyLeaders video of Douglas Turner Ward coming to three cities this fall.

Axis Theatre served as the incubator and theatrical home for East 10th Street: Self Portrait with Empty House (2009), In the Park (2014), and Attorney Street (2016), the three poignantly peculiar solo plays that make up New York's monologizing cult sensation Edgar Oliver's New York Trilogy.

Tony, Grammy and Emmy winning star Audra McDonald returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts for an up close and personal concert on Friday, May 11, 2018 in the Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Accompanied by her trio, McDonald will bring her vivacious personality and artistry to hit show tunes, classic film songs and selections written expressly for her by many of today's leading composers. The New York Times wrote of her Carnegie Hall concert, "That sense of excitement, in which she tugs a song forward emotionally, is inherent in the quickness and tang of her vibrato, as though feelings are pouring out of her almost faster than they can be reined in."

Portland Stage has announced the kick-off to its 2017-2018 Season with Lady Day At Emerson's Bar and Grill by Lanie Robertson, starring Tracey Conyer Lee. 

New York based vocalist Teri Roiger recently released her fourth recording as a leader, 'GHOST OF YESTERDAY: Shades of Lady Day', a heartfelt tribute to Billie Holiday. Since Ms. Holiday provided the initial spark that led to a lifelong commitment to jazz, this one is especially personal to Teri.