Diahann Carroll News

The newly formed J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company (Jim Jimirro, Executive Producer/Co-Founder; Robert W. Schneider, Artistic Director/Co-Founder) has announced the cast and creative team for the second of the three productions in the company's inaugural 2020 season: the 1962 hit musical, No Strings, with book by Samuel Taylor, and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers.

They've Gotta Have Us, a dynamic chronicle of art, activism and race in Black Cinema featuring in-depth interviews with some of Hollywood's most iconic voices, has been acquired by ARRAY Releasing as the company's first series acquisition.  ARRAY will premiere the docu-series on Netflix on February 5, 2020. ARRAY has also acquired distribution rights in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Africa. The announcement was made by ARRAY founder Ava DuVernay.

2019 has come and gone, and we are reflecting on those we have lost in the Broadway and theatre communities throughout the year.

Filmmaker Robert Townsend has truly had a singular career ever since coming to prominence with his groundbreaking 1987 film a?oeThe Hollywood Shuffle.a?? That satirical comedy about Black actors dealing with racial stereotypes in the film and TV industry was famously self-financed by Townsend maxing out his credit cards. Perhaps even more remarkably, he has successfully maintained simultaneous careers over the ensuing decades as an actor, director, writer and producer working in both film and TV, narratives and documentaries, with the occasional mockumentary thrown in for good measure. Along the way, he has worked with a virtual galaxy of stars - Beyoncé, James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman to name just a few a?" while surviving the inevitable ups and downs of a career in show business. Townsend is now returning to his roots as a stage performer with his solo show a?oeLiving the Shufflea?? at The Marsh Berkeley.

Earlier this month, BroadwayWorld was saddened to report that singer and actress Diahann Carroll had died. Today, we're remembering her by taking a look back in our photo archives.

Porchlight Music Theatre presents Sunset Boulevard at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts. Featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics and books by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, Sunset Boulevard stars Hollis Resnik and is directed by Michael Weber, choreographed by Shanna VanDerwerker and music directed by Aaron Benham.

Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce Sunset Boulevard at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street, has been extended through Sunday, Dec. 8.

Tony winning singer and actress Diahann Carroll has died Friday at the age of 84.The Broadway community mourns the loss of beloved performer, pioneer, and Tony Award winner Diahann Carroll, who passed away on October 4, 2019 at age 84. To commemorate her life and work, the Committee of Theatre Owners will dim the lights of the American Airlines, Broadhurst, Helen Hayes, Hudson, Marquis, New Amsterdam, Samuel J. Friedman, St. James, and Vivian Beaumont Theatres in New York for one minute on Wednesday, October 16th at exactly 7:45pm. 

GetTV will honor the late entertainer-activist Diahann Carroll, who died October 4, by airing 'The Flip Wilson Special,' featuring guest stars Carroll, along with comedian Freddie Prinze and singer-composer Paul Williams, on Sunday, October 13 at 10PM ET. 

In her recent show at the beautiful Noorda Center for the Performing Arts on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, McDonald was absolutely captivating.

Tony winning singer and actress Diahann Carroll passed away today at the age of 84. See a rare video below of Carroll below performing a medley of standards and showtunes from Rodgers and Arlen with none other than Judy Garland.

Tony winning singer and actress Diahann Carroll has died Friday at the age of 84.

On Friday, Oct. 11, 6:00 pm, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series will honor award-winning performance artist, author and cultural activist Camille Yarbrough with our distinguished Reel Sisters Hattie McDaniel Award for her outstanding contributions to film, television, literature and performing arts over six decades. The Reel Sisters Trailblazer Award will be presented to Sandra Guzman, producer and lead interviewer of Toni Morrison: Pieces I Am, and pioneering filmmaker Leslie Harris, director of the classic film Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. Cash prizes will also be presented to our award-winning filmmakers. Tickets: $35 ($30 - Bring A Pal discount for 2+ tickets).

A lifelong passion for Liza Minnelli has brought Haley Swindal to the hearts of audiences who will, now, have a lifelong passion for Haley Swindal.

Porchlight Music Theatre's 25th Anniversary Mainstage season launches with Sunset Boulevard, October 11 - November 24

Official winner of the Hollywood Fringe Scholarship Award and now on at the 2019 Dallas Solo Festival - Who You Calling A Bitch?!? Is the solo reverie of a young African-American actress as she navigates her identity through iconic African-American characters and entertainers in black history.

Starting Sunday, April 14th, lost episodes of the groundbreaking The Carol Burnett Show will return to broadcast television only on MeTV, America's #1 classic television network. Airing Sunday nights at 10:30pm ET/PT and Monday-Friday at 11pm ET/PT, these rarely seen episodes will showcase sketches from the first five seasons of the longstanding series, including the premiere episode with Jim Nabors, who became Burnett's “good luck charm” and first appearances of iconic characters, like pitiful Eunice and air-headed Mrs. Wiggins, who fans continue to adore. Many of these milestone episodes have never aired beyond their original debut – until now on MeTV.

Two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominee Michael Feinstein returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko May 9-12, 2019 with It Might as Well Be Spring, an all-new show celebrating the great mothers of song.

Two of McCallum Theatre's favorite artists join forces for the first time to present an unforgettable evening of music on Friday, February 15, at 8:00pm, and Saturday, February 16, at 8:00pm. Accompanied by a 7-piece band inspired by Louis Prima, with music ranging from the Great American Songbook to the music of the James Bond and "Mad Men" era,Michael Feinstein and Storm Large will present a performance of "Shaken and Stirred - Classic Songs Reimagined" with brilliant singing and amusing anecdotes.

The World Premiere comedy SPECIAL commemorates the 40th Anniversary of the worst variety show in television history with a behind-the-scenes imagined look of how The Star Wars Holiday Special came to be. And from the outrageous imagination of playwright Andrew Osborne and a hard-working multi-role cast directed by Kerr Seth Lordygan (who also appears as a Special Guest Star in the production), laughs abound from start to finish as we witness how the ridiculous nature of the script, backstage politics and out-of-control spending doomed it to go down in history as being the most horrible Holiday Special that nobody talks about, notorious known for its extremely negative reception by Star Wars fans, the general public, and critics.