Duke Ellington News

Cleveland Play House enthusiastically welcomes dance legend Maurice Hines to Cleveland in the toe-tapping extravaganza, Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life. Co-produced with Alliance Theatre and Arena Stage, CPH audiences will be dazzled by this infectious production, which brings the history of American tap to life. Directed by Tony-nominee Jeff Calhoun (Newsies) and featuring contemporary tap icons The Manzari Brothers and music from the all-female big band The Diva Orchestra, Tappin' Thru Life will dance its way onto PlayhouseSquare's Allen Theatre stage for an extended run from May 30 - June 29. Special gratitude is given to CPH's generous sponsor, Zinner & Co.

Some of the talented students from Rosie's Theater Kids were invited to a performance of After Midnight currently starring Vanessa Williams and soon to welcome back Fantasia Barrino. The kids were thrilled to meet some of the cast before the dazzling, awe-inspiring show. Check out photos from the special event below!

Following a valiant 22-month struggle, Mark Flugge succumbed to major undiagnosed hearing issues and depression early Sunday morning, May 11. He expressed the hope that his music will live on, and heartfelt love to all of his many friends, family, students, and colleagues. A private service is being scheduled, with a public memorial concert in celebration of his life and music at a later date.

Four-time Grammy winner and preeminent jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves recently released her first album in five years, Beautiful Life, to rave reviews. Beautiful Life, which made its debut in February of this year, is an emotionally charged volcanic journey covering the spectrum from jazz to soul. Ms. Reeves will share her passion for this album in her one-night performance at Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom June 16.

Mercedes Ellington, the renowned dancer/director-choreographer and founder and artistic director of The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts in New York City, will be an Honored Guest and one of the featured speakers at the 22nd International Duke Ellington Study Group Conference, which will be held May 14- May 18,2014 in Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Ms. Ellington, granddaughter of the legendary American composer and musician whose more than 3,000 musical compositions make him the 20th century's most prolific composer, will discuss her relationship with 'The Duke,' as well as his growing popularity today, 40 years after his passing on May 24, 1974.

The show is a celebration of the life of Maurice Hines, his brother Gregory, and their parents who Maurice fondly remembers throughout the show. Adding to emotional content, moveable screens that divide the orchestra from the performing area were often used to display photographs of the Hines family in their early days. And throughout the show, Hines, now a young 70 years old, expresses sheer joy in entertaining his audience, singing and dancing with a passion from deep within his soul. You can't help but be pulled into the magic!

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for May 19 - 25, featuring Karrin Allyson, Nick Ziobro with Michael Feinstein, Barbara Carroll, and more!

The Wallis Center for the Performing Arts presents Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life for 19 performances only from today, May 9 - 24, 2014 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater.

Time Square Arts, in partnership with Allied Partners and Brickman Real Estate, will present Jim Findlay's Dream of the Red Chamber, a performance for a sleeping audience, produced by Collapsable Giraffe and 3-Legged Dog.

America's Orchestra opened its 129th spring season with Keith Lockhart conducting and Jason Alexander as special guest artist. Best known as Seinfeld's best buddy George Costanza, the Tony Award-winning Alexander is a consummate showman and offered a celebration of Broadway music to complement the Pops' selections by American masters from Copland to Ellington to Gershwin.

Pacific Symphony's critically-acclaimed American Composers Festival (ACF) continues for the 14th year with 'From Screen to Score: New Concert Music by Famous Film Composers'-who happen to be four of today's biggest Hollywood heavy-hitters: John Williams ('Star Wars,' 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' 'E.T., the Extra Terrestrial'), Howard Shore ('Lord of the Rings,' 'The Hobbit,' 'Hugo'), James Horner ('Titanic,' 'Star Trek,' 'Apollo 13') and Elliot Goldenthal ('Alien 3,' 'Batman Forever' and 'Batman and Robin'). Together, these iconic composers boast 11 Oscars and countless billions of box office dollars. They also hold the ironic position of simultaneously being the most-heard orchestral composers ever (the soundtrack for 'Titanic' sold 30 million copies), yet their music is the least performed.

Michael Feinstein will join Nick Ziobro, the 17 year-old pop/jazz vocal sensation, as a special guest for his CD release concert at Birdland Jazz Club (315 West 44th Street in Manhattan) on Thursday, May 22 at 6:00 PM. The CD's all-star band - led by Tedd Firth and featuring music legend Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar, Jay Leonhart on bass, Ray Marchica on drums, Brian Pareschi on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Marc Phaneuf on saxophone and clarinet - will also join the concert. Nick's debut album A Lot of Livin' to Do is produced by Michael Feinstein, the two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated vocalist, pianist and musicologist. Tickets - which include a complimentary CD - are $20 with an additional $10 minimum. Visit BirdlandJazz.com for more information.

The cast of After Midnight says farewell to their most recent guest star, Vanessa Williams. Williams' last performance is on Sunday, May 11 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 W. 47th Street). Set to replace Williams is The Color Purple's Fantasia Barrino.

I was just a little more than a year into my new side career as a cabaret show reviewer when I first saw a Karen Oberlin show. It was Valentine's Day night 2012 and Oberlin—with guitarist Sean Harkness and guest violinist Aaron Weinstein—would be performing her romance-laced set, Stringing Along With Love, at the Metropolitan Room. At the time, all I knew about Oberlin was that she was considered among New York's best female cabaret singers, and I hadn't researched her performing history pre-show. About a third of the way into her set I leaned over to my wife (it was Valentine's Day after all) and whispered, “You know, she has a real Doris Day quality in her voice and in the way she delivers some lyrics.” This immediately ratcheted up my appreciation for Oberlin since there are four passions I inherited from my Dad—baseball, reading the morning papers, sports writing and Doris Day (well, also Sophia Loren, but that's for another column). Since Dad had grown up during the prime of the Big Band Era of the 1940s, I heard the sultry sounds of a young Doris Day singing songs like “Sentimental Journey” on the family stereo more than a few times. Once I saw Day's strikingly adorable blondness on a record cover and her rocking body in one of her films, I knew what Dad was talking about. As popular, famous, and near iconic as Doris Day became, in my book, as a singer and screen beauty she's always been vastly underrated. Little did I know that Karen Oberlin had been doing a Doris Day tribute show so since 2001 at places like Firebird, Iridium, and the late Danny's Skylight Room, and produced a CD, Secret Love: The Music of Doris Day, in 2002. Karen Oberlin had instantly become my secret love.

The Houston Symphony kicks off the summer with a sensational line-up of FREE concerts, including an expanded 10 performances around Houston as part of its Summer Neighborhood Concert Series, 5 performances as part of the ExxonMobil Summer Symphony Nights at Miller Outdoor Theatre, and the free July 3rd performance at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

The Houston Symphony kicks off the summer with a sensational line-up of FREE concerts, including an expanded 10 performances around Houston as part of its Summer Neighborhood Concert Series, 5 performances as part of the ExxonMobil Summer Symphony Nights at Miller Outdoor Theatre, and the free July 3rd performance at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

This week's New York Times In Performance video features Vanessa Williams performing the number "I Can't Give You Anything but Love,"

Birdland Jazz Club has announed its schedule for May 12 - 18, featuring Joey DeFrancesco Organ Quartet with guest George Coleman, Miss Coco Peru: Have You Heard?, Jason Graae's "49½ Shades of Graae," the Jay Leonhart Duo, and more!

On the eve of the Tony Award nominations, 9-time Tony Award-winner Tommy Tune threw a lavish late night party to toast the cast and orchestra of After Midnight for their seven nominations at his upper east side penthouse, catered by Creative Edge Parties. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the exclusive party below!