Billie Holiday News

Omaha Performing Arts' 2014/2015 Season will be a spectacular season of award-winning productions and performers. The upcoming season was announced during a subscriber and patron event at the Holland Performing Arts Center on March 31. Two of the iconic Rockettes helped kick off the night and led a dance demonstration for local youth in the lobby after the event. Cast members from the Broadway musical MOTOWN THE MUSICAL closed the event with a performance that featured a medley of Motown hits.

Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF), now heading into its 12th season, welcomes springtime in NYC with three weeks of new theatre at HERE's Mainstage, today, April 2 to 19, 2014.

The Apollo Theater and World Music Institute present AFRICA NOW, a four-day music festival spotlighting today's African music scene. The second annual festival will feature a powerful lineup of artists who have drawn upon their roots for inspiration - and transplanted them onto the global music landscape. Africa Now will be anchored by a blow-out concert, April 5th, on the legendary Apollo stage featuring: Malian songstress Fatoumata Diawara; Senegalese trio Les Freres Guisse; and reggae/Afrobeat collective Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars.

For its much-anticipated 12th annual season, the Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF) will again take residency at HERE's Mainstage in New York City, today, April 2nd through 19th, 2014, with three weeks of new groundbreaking theatre.

The multi-talented British singer, actress and writer, NINA KRISTOFFERSON, debuted her passionate and exhilarating, self-penned, one-woman show 'Billie Holiday Story' in 2011 at the Edinburgh Festival. Following a sellout season at London's Charing Cross Theatre in the spring of 2013, Nina will now be hitting the road in April and May 2014, taking her critically acclaimed show about the life of Lady Day to audiences around the UK.

Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) will celebrate its annual Gala tonight, March 27, 2014 at BB King's Blues Club in Times Square, hosted by the vivacious singer, band leader, and multiple MAC Award winner, Terese Genecco. The gala will be produced by Julie Miller and directed by Lennie Watts, the current MAC President.

Buika's remarkable voice -and greatest instrument on stage-has attracted world- wide audiences with its husky, velvety, raw tonal textures that carry the emotive lyricism of her latest album release, La Noche Mas Larga (The Longest Night, 2013).

Fans of five-time Tony Award-winning Broadway superstar Audra McDonald now have an early chance to get a first look at her upcoming Broadway return in the Billie Holiday biomusical LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL via a new behind the scenes promotional featurette now available to view.

It's hard to believe that it has been 50 years since Barbra Streisand portrayed Fanny Brice in the 1964 Broadway stage production of Funny Girl, and 46 years since she reprised her critically acclaimed role for the 1968 feature film, winning her an Oscar. The reason that it's so hard to believe is because she's still as relevant as ever and has to be the greatest Broadway export of all time. On April 29, Capitol/UMe will release the Gold-certified Funny Girl: Original Broadway Cast Recording in a 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition boxed set with a digitally remastered CD and vinyl LP, as well as a 48-page book featuring exclusive photos from the production and a new essay by Jay Landers, her longtime A&R executive, who has worked with her on many recordings. The remastered original cast recording will also be available for digital purchase, including 192k and 96k high definition audio on HDtracks.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: BEYOND THERAPY opens tonight, LADY DAY begins previews and more!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: MOTHERS AND SONS opens tonight, Block, Groff, Lewis, Rannells and more join forces for BROADWAY BACKWARDS and more!

Entertainer, vocalist and jazz aficionado Keith A. Dames takes a musical journey through the Billie Holiday songbook at 'Homage To Eleanora' on Sunday, April 6th at Stage 72 (aka Triad Theater) in Manhattan at 8:00pm.

The sultry singer/songwriter Madeleine Peyroux will perform at the Westhampton beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 12 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $75 - $95 and can be purchased online at www.whbpac.org.

Five-time Tony winner Audra McDonald will return to the stage as legendary songstress Billie Hollidayin a revival of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. The show will open at the Circle in the Square Theatre on April 13 for a limited 10-week run. Performances will begin on March 25. The company just met the press yesterday and BroadwayWorld's Richard RIdge was there to chat with the whole gang. Check out what they had to say below!

Five-time Tony winner Audra McDonald will return to the stage as legendary songstress Billie Holliday in a revival of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. The show will open at the Circle in the Square Theatre on April 13 for a limited 10-week run. Performances will begin on March 25. The company just met the press and BroadwayWorld brings you a sneak peek of the festivities below. Check back later for complete coverage!

Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF), now heading into its 12th season, welcomes springtime in NYC with three weeks of new theatre at HERE's Mainstage, April 2 to 19, 2014. Seventeen of America's best emerging writers and theatrical visionaries will share their stories that interpret our history and our times through live performances fusing theatre, dance, music, media and visual arts. A special addition to this year's festival will be the U.S. premiere of Two of Us, DUTF's international selection from Romania.

Whether you've been living under a rock for the past week or you're just in the mood for a recap, BroadwayWorld's 'This Week in Pictures' is here to satisfy your end-of-the-week fix! Take a look below to catch up on the latest happenings from the Great White Way to The West End (and everywhere in between) with coverage of press events, rehearsals, opening nights and more. Highlights this week include a sneak peek at THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN, Audra McDonald at doggie auditions for LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL, and look at Angela Lansbury in BLITHE SPIRIT!

Explore the powerful role women have played in the world of rock and roll music inside the Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power exhibition at Henry Ford Museum starting May 17 through August 24, 2014. Created by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, this groundbreaking and provocative exhibition features the firsts, the bests, and the celebrated and sometimes the lesser-knowns whose innovation advanced the progress of rock and roll.

Guests who haven't yet seen Vegas' hottest headliner no longer have any excuses. The Strip's favorite vocal vixen is offering up reduced-price tickets to a one-night-only dress rehearsal for her critically-acclaimed show, co-produced by Celine Dion, VERONIC Voices, at Bally's Las Vegas on Thursday, April 24 at 9:30 p.m.

The Apollo Theater and World Music Institute present AFRICA NOW, a four-day music festival spotlighting today's African music scene. The second annual festival will feature a powerful lineup of artists who have drawn upon their roots for inspiration - and transplanted them onto the global music landscape. Africa Now will be anchored by a blow-out concert, April 5th, on the legendary Apollo stage featuring: Malian songstress Fatoumata Diawara; Senegalese trio Les Freres Guisse; and reggae/Afrobeat collective Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars.