Billie Holiday News

Alexa Ray Joel brings a blend of classics and new originals to her latest stint at Cafe Carlyle. She combines tributes to Ray Charles, Nina Simone, and Billy Joel, alongside her latest new songs.

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with week two of the a?oeThird Annual Celebration of Ron Cartera?? with Ron Carter's Golden Striker Trio, Anita Gillette, An Evening with Garrison Keillor and Heather Masse, and more!

If you are a lover of theatre and great music, then LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL at the Human Race Theatre Company is the show for you.  

Deadline reports that upcoming film 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday' has cast Evan Ross, Dana Gourrier, and Erik Laray Harvey in supporting roles. Lee Daniels directs a script by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks.

Celebrate the music that made Harlem the center of the music universe at Harlem 100 Featuring Mwenso & The Shakes, Sunday, October 27 at 7 pm at Mayo Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $29-$69.

Today, AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee) President Jackie Jeffries , Project1Voice Founder and CEO Erich McMillan-McCall , Marcia Pendelton , President of Walk Tall Girl Productions/Black Theater Online, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (Kevin Young, Director, Schomburg Center) announced THE THEATERMAKERS - A Black Theater Preview: Fall Edition.

A powerful gathering of black women of Broadway and New York Theatre was celebrated for their artistry and achievements at the Café Mocha 9th Annual Salute Her Awards, held Monday, September 16, 2019, at the Gerald W. Lynch Theatre in New York City.

During Lisa Viggiano's critically-praised 2018 Bruce SpringsteenTribute Shows (which helped earn her a 2019 Bistro Award for a?oeOutstanding Vocalista??), she included a section of songs by iconic musicians and singers discovered over five decades by talent scout/record producer John Henry Hammond, who also championed Springsteen and recorded a?oeThe Boss'sa?? first demo. Now, like a spinoff from a hit TV sitcom, Viggiano has created an entire cabaret show featuring songs and performers produced by Hammond during his long career at Columbia Records. In FROM LADY DAY TO THE BOSS: 50 YEARS OF TALENT DISCOVERED BY LEGENDARY COLUMBIA RECORD PRODUCER JOHN HENRY HAMMOND, Viggiano will deliver her unique renditions of classic tunes recorded by Bessie Smith, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Harry James, Count Basie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Leonard Cohen, George Benson, and Springsteen.

DACAMERA of Houston continues its 2019a?"2020 jazz series with Blue Note Records 80th Birthday Celebration, an evening honoring the legendary jazz record label with performances by three outstanding artists on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. at the Wortham Theater Center's Cullen Theater. The first date in a nationwide anniversary tour, the concert lineup features Kandace Springs, James Francies and the James Carter Organ Trio, each performing a set of their own music, followed by a finale with all of the artists coming together to perform a classic Blue Note tune.

An encore performance of American Captives: Lena Baker & Sandra Bland, written and performed by Connie Winston and directed by Rhonda a?oePassiona?? Hansome, will be presented during  the  10th anniversary season of the  United Solo Theatre Festival in New York City on Sunday October 6, 2019 at 4pm.

Beginning production in early October in Montreal, Lee Daniels will direct and produce THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY, a new feature film about the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday. In 2010, Daniels received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and was the first African American to receive a Director's Guild of America Nomination for Best Director for his critically acclaimed film PRECIOUS. Daniels also helmed the global box-office hit, THE BUTLER in 2013, grossing over $175M worldwide.

Birdland will kick-off their exciting month of programming with the following acts:

In honor of the hundredth anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, The Human Race Theatre Company's season-long theme is a?oeWomen of Influence: Their Power, Passion, and Pitfalls.a?? In that spirit, they've partnered with The Neon for a companion film series, a?oeWomen of Influence in the Movies.a?? Each of The Human Race's five mainstage productions will be paired with a thematically-related film, shown at The Neon on a Monday evening during the production's run.

Turn back the hands of time for an intimate evening with legendary jazz songstress Billie Holiday when International City Theatre presents an acclaimed musical portrait of one of the greatest jazz and blues vocalists of all time. With Karole Foreman(ICT's award-winning production of Fences) in the title role, music direction by Stephan Terry and Ebony Rep producing artistic director Wren T. Brown at the helm, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill by Lanie Robertson gets a three-week run Oct. 18 through Nov. 3.

Hackney Showroom today announce the full cast for the world première of for all the women who thought they were Mad by Zawe Ashton. Associate Director of Hackney Showroom's Jo McInnes directs Layo-Christina Akinlude (Angela), Mina Andala (Joy), Jennifer Dixon (Kim), Joy Elias-Rilwan (Margaret), Jumoké Fashola (Ruth), Michael Fitzgerald (Boss/Doctor), Janet Kumah (Rose), with Elena Coleman, Chiamara Nwosu and Rae Ann Quayle sharing the role of Nambi. The production opens at Stoke Newington Town Hall on 17 October, with previews from 14 October, and runs until 9 November a?" marking Hackney Showroom's a new partnership with the London Borough of Hackney to bring theatre to Stoke Newington Town Hall.

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.