Billie Holiday News

Jazz lovers will be excited to hear that acclaimed American based vocalist Madeleine Peyroux will grace Queensland Performing Arts Centre's (QPAC's) Concert Hall stage on Thursday 7 June 2018.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series was thrilled to present Gunhild Carling, known as Sweden's 'Queen of Swing,' at the club on Sunday, April 22. Ms. Carling absolutely captivated the sold-out house, eliciting many standing ovations and an old-school New Orleans parade through the venue. 

Out of the Box Theatrics (OOTB) will host a special forum on Monday, April 30 to support the theater's commitment to providing a platform for up and coming artists.

When the radiant, intellectual soprano Julia Bullock stepped on stage Carnegie Hall's intimate venue, Weill Recital Hall (just 268 seats), to wild applause, I felt like I was the only one hearing her “live” for the first time. Everyone else there seemed to have a personal relationship with her and her artistry. I'd somehow missed her “live,” in previous recitals and in the title roles of CENDRILLON and CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN at Juilliard. My loss--and a significant one.

After making her debut with Dominion Entertainment (DEG) in the sell-out holiday classic 'Black Nativity,' actress and singer Terry Burrell is returning to the stage. This summer, Burrell will play the audacious preacher's wife, Mabel, in DEG's production of 'Crowns.' The gospel musical by Golden Globe winning playwright Regina Taylor will run May 30 - June 10, at the Fulton County Southwest Arts Center Performance Theater & Gallery.

Dael Orlandersmith's Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama YELLOWMAN runs from April 24 - May 20 with aThursday, April 26 opening night at The Billie Holiday Theatre, 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216. Take a look behind-the-scenes with select rehearsal photos below.

Deidrie Henry returns to The Armory to star as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Lanie Robertson's riveting portrait of Holiday's life told through an imagined final performance in a small bar in South Philadelphia in 1959. Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill begins preview performances on May 26, opens on June 1, and runs through July 1 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. Bill Fennelly returns to The Armory to direct after previously directing Gypsy, Black Pearl Sings and, most recently, Little Shop of Horrors. Deidrie Henry, who most recently played Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire at The Armory, will be joined on stage by Abdul Hamid Royal, the production's music director who also plays the role of Jimmy Powers, along with local musicians Charles Neal (drums) and Andre St. James (bass).

On Saturday, April 28th, McCarter Theatre Center will host its Annual Gala Benefit, which supports McCarter's many ongoing artistic and educational missions in and around the region.

Molissa Fenley and Company, in collaboration with percussionist Frank Cassara and violist Ralph Farris, will present an evening of dance and live music, with scores by four contemporary composers. The program features four dances from Fenley's Water Table, three of which are New York premieres. The program also includes a new configuration of Fenley's 1979 work Mix. Performances are June 21–23 (Thursday–Saturday) at 8pm, at Danspace Project, 131 East 10th Street, New York, NY 10003.

Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland announce the full lineup for Signature Theatre's 2018/19 season.

Boasting a stellar international cast, this acclaimed show tells the story of the first racially-desegregated jazz club in New York - Cafe Society, which opened in Greenwich Village 80 years ago, in December 1938. It will play the historic Theatre Royal Stratford East from Tuesday 5 June to Saturday 16 June.

On this day in 2014, Audra McDonald returned to Broadway as legendary jazz singer, Billie Holiday, in the musical drama, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill.

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with Curtis Stigers, Gunhild Carling: Sweden's 'Queen of Swing," Julien Hucq Quartet, and more!

LEGENDS: Diana Ross, Billie Holiday, Beyonce' and More Stars MOTOWN: The Musical and Helen Hayes nominee N'Kenge with the Jacksonville Symphony under the baton of Maestro Nathan Aspinall. The show celebrates musical greats from Opera Legends Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo to jazz and Pop stars such as Tina Turner, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne and Beyonce. Broadway's Kenny Seymour (Memphis, Amazing Grace) is currently Music Director on the piano, and song selections include audience favorites such as "Proud Mary", "Love On Top", "Stormy Weather" and Porgy and Bess's "My Man's Gone Now".

The Soraya's Great Hall will be transformed into the coolest of the cool intimate New York nightspot as "Jazz Club" arrives at The Younes and Soraya Center for the Performing Arts this spring.  Grammy Award-winning vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant kicks off "Jazz Club" with her unmatched range that soars to the rafters and dives to earthy depths. She continues the legacies of the greats-Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday-and tackles racial stereotypes by performing forgotten numbers from the vaudeville and minstrel eras stretching back more than a century. McLorin Salvant performs two nights, April 18 & 19 at The Soraya's Jazz Club located on the campus of CalState University, Northridge.

Acclaimed Jazz harpist-pianist-vocalist Corky Hale will present a 103rd Birthday Show honoring Billie Holiday on Sunday, April 8 at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood.  Hale is one of the few people still performing who was actually a close friend of Holiday's, playing for her on the 'Stars of Jazz' TV show, and on several recordings and live appearances, and this will be her fourth annual birthday salute to the singer.

A Free Sample Showing of BOJANGLES A New Musical by James E./Prez Carter

A sensational Bernadette Robinson brings five 'nobodies' and five superstars to life in a series of monologues with music that explore human fallibility with wit and wisdom to spare.

Columbia University School of the Arts presents ten new plays written by the Columbia MFA Playwriting Students of 2018. The esteemed faculty who have nurtured these students, including Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and Charles L. Mee, invite you to experience these innovative new playwrights.

WRITE ACT REP announces the extension of? PREZ? - The Lester Young Story?, a solo show written by playwright Willard Manus, in celebration of Black History Month, and returns to Los Angeles, as part of a Festival Series at Write Act Rep's Brickhouse Theatre called THREE BY WILL IN REP.