Cissy Houston News

KEVIN SMITH KIRKWOOD a?" who most recently appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots, and as a featured performer in the 2019 WORLD PRIDE PARADE on the PROCTOR & GAMBLE float a?" will return home to JOE'S PUB at The Public with CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! for an impromptu 'GREATEST HITS POP UP SHOW' on October 8th at 9:30PM. With reprisals of favorite tunes from CLASSIC WHITNEY shows over the past four years (including special guests Mary J. Blige and Luther Vandross), this show is guaranteed to give audiences more of the CLASSIC WHITNEY they have come to love.

The Mama Foundation for the Arts announces open auditions for all roles in the upcoming performances of Mama, I Want to Sing, the classic gospel musical created by Vy Higginsen and Ken Wydro.  Auditions will take place on Saturday, September 28th (for those who sign up between 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm) at The Mama Foundation for the Arts, located at 149 West 126th Street (between 7th and Lenox Avenue). All roles are open; the leads are African American women in their ages 18 - 60; African American men ages 20s a?" 60; and ensemble soloists and chorus members of all ages and ethnicities.

KEVIN SMITH KIRKWOOD - who appeared on Broadway in the entire run of the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots - will return to JOE'S PUB with CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! in a special celebration of 2019 World Pride 'The Rainbow Show' on Monday, June 24 at 9:30 PM. The night features a special performance recreating Whitney's appearance at 1999's Pride Dance and her live covers of tunes by the divas who inspired her and keep the LGBTQ community dancing (including Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, and Judy Garland).

Well, the next step in my decluttering/digitizing journey is throwing out my Chess CDs, not that they take up much space. I only have the Original Concept Recording and the Broadway cast. I'm going to download the freaking 2008 Royal Albert Hall concert version (with Idina Menzel, Josh Groban and Adam Pascal) to try to keep this column hip. But let's all just remember two things: 1.) I am not hip; and, 2.) I'm just downloading the concert for this column, so it doesn't really count as part of my digitizing.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Kelly Wright in his debut of "Love, Freedom & Peace." on August 9, 2018 at 9:30pm. A nationally recognized TV News Personality and Recording Artist makes his solo debut in "Love, Freedom & Peace," an entertaining and inspiring show featuring soulful resistance and peace songs from Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross plus his original songs.

KEVIN SMITH KIRKWOOD - currently appearing on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots - will bring CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! back to JOE'S PUB at The Public for a four performance limited-engagement residency beginning this weekend after a series of smash, sold-out shows.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Kelly Wright in his debut of "Love, Freedom & Peace." on August 9, 2018 at 9:30pm. A nationally recognized TV News Personality and Recording Artist makes his solo debut in "Love, Freedom & Peace," an entertaining and inspiring show featuring soulful resistance and peace songs from Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross plus his original songs.

Emmy award-winning journalist Kelly Wright, former anchor and reporter for Fox News Channel, performs a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence to kick off Historic Richmond Town's Pinwheel Parade, led by fife and drum, as New York City's living history village Celebrates the Centennial!

In celebration of the new Elvis Presley album release, “Elvis Presley – Where No One Stands Alone,” the groundbreaking album from RCA/Legacy Recordings featuring 14 original performances of gospel songs to be released on August 10, Graceland® will be hosting an exclusive album launch event for fans during Elvis Week on Saturday, August 11, with Lisa Marie Presley.  Fans will have the unique and unprecedented opportunity to celebrate the album with Lisa Marie Presley and join with her to listen, for the first time at Graceland, to her powerful and emotional duet with her father on the title track, along with 13 other gospel performances featuring legendary Presley backing vocalists, including Darlene Love, Cissy Houston, and members of The Imperials and The Stamps Quartet.

RCA/Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release Elvis Presley - Where No One Stands Alone, a new Elvis album celebrating the artist's everlasting love of gospel music, on Friday, August 10.

KEVIN SMITH KIRKWOOD - currently appearing on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots - will bring CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! back to JOE'S PUB at The Public for a four performance limited-engagement residency this summer after a series of smash, sold-out shows. Due to popular demand, CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! 'The Greatest Hits: Volumes 1 & 2' will serve four nights with two different shows and set lists! 'The Greatest Hits: Volume 1' will be performed on Sunday, August 5 and Monday, August 13 with 'The Greatest Hits: Volume 2' on Monday, August 6 and Sunday, August 12.

The 36 th Annual McDonald's Gospelfest comes to Newark Symphony Hall (1030 Broad Street, Newark, NJ) on Saturday, May 12th for the gospel event of the year. This year will feature a stellar line-up of gospel artists including Bishop Hezekiah Walker, Jekalyn Carr, VaShawn Mitchell, Le'Andria Johnson, Wes Morgan, Cissy Houston, Melba Moore, and Keith 'Wonderboy' Johnson. McDonald's Gospelfest tickets are on sale now at the Symphony Hall Box Office at 973-643-8014, or by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000, or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

KEVIN SMITH KIRKWOOD, currently appearing on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots, will bring CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! back to New York this month after another smash, sold-out show last summer.

PURE FLIX, the leading independent faith and family film studio, announces the completion of principal photography for GOD'S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN DARKNESS, scheduled to release in theaters next Easter on March 30, 2018.

Prudential Center and the forthcoming GRAMMY Museum Experience (developed in partnership with the Los Angeles-based GRAMMY Museum) have announced today details for the Experience's ribbon-cutting ceremony today, Oct. 19 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Prudential Center in Newark.

Prudential Center and the forthcoming GRAMMY Museum Experience (developed in partnership with the Los Angeles-based GRAMMY Museum) have announced today details for the Experience's ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 19 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Prudential Center in Newark.

Kevin Smith Kirkwood, currently appearing on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots, will bring CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! back to Joe's Pub at The Public later this season after another smash, sold-out show earlier this summer.

Creating and starring in a solo show in which the late Whitney Houston, an undeniable legend with a complicated legacy, 'comes down from heaven and is reincarnated' in your body is a swing for the fences. But Kevin Smith Kirkwood does just that in CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE!, which mostly sets the darkness of the singer's later years aside to focus on Whitney's 'good times.'

She has a 'powerhouse voice' (The New York Times). He is 'a theater world heartthrob' (The New York Times). And together Orfeh and Andy Karl have had an impressively long run as one of Broadway's best couples.

Kevin Smith Kirkwood - currently appearing on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots - will bring CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! back to Joe's Pub at The Public by popular demand.