Duke Ellington News

REG E. CATHEY (House of Cards, The Wire) joins the cast of EXODUS: DREAMS OF THE PROMISED LAND IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA, playing multiple roles including Solomon Northrup (Twelve Years a Slave) and the Abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The cast also includes ROSALYN COLEMAN WILLIAMS (The Mountaintop, Seven Guitars, The Piano Lesson) in multiple roles including Elizabeth Keckley (familiar to audiences from the movie Lincoln), JENNIFER RAU as Abolitionist Angelina Grimke, and the noted vocal ensemble THE WESTERN WIND. Conceived by Salon/Sanctuary's Founding Artistic Director Jessica Gould to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, EXODUS was originally presented last year in a sold-out performance staged at the historic Fraunces Tavern, the oldest structure in Manhattan.

World-renowned composer and pianist Geri Allen presents 'A Conversation with Mary Lou: Geri Allen Celebrates Mary Lou Williams' a new music and spoken-word tribute to the legacy of jazz groundbreaker Mary Lou Williams. Featuring vocalist/actress Carmen Lundy, bassist Kenny Davis, drummer Kassa Overall. Directed by award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson ('Law & Order').

Over the weekend, Four-time Grammy Award-winner k.d. lang, who just concluded her engagement as "Special Guest Star" in Broadway's After Midnight, offered the audience a live, rare performance of her legendary rendition of the Leonard Cohen classic, 'Hallelujah' (which she famously performed at the 2010 Olympic Games Closing Ceremonies). She gave the special encore to raise money for The Actors Fund, and was joined on stage by the Tony Award-winning chairman of the organization, Brian Stokes Mitchell.

The cast of After Midnight would like to remind New Yorkers to 'spring forward' after midnight tonight. Check out k.d. lang and company's friendly reminder below!

Yoouuuuu can taaaake the A-Train, yooooou can take it all the way to Haaarlem.

Liz Kennedy (www.lizkennedymusic.com) had been composing wordless songs on the piano since she was 12, always wondering who was going to come along and finish them for her. By her late '40s, she finally gave up waiting and began adding the lyrics herself. Performing for the first time in her early '50s, she knew she was taking a bold risk. Divorced and remarried, facing the kind of fears that come with the pain of loss, never playing for anyone but her young children asleep on the floor below, she was protecting a budding need for self-expression. She worried that one sharp critique could destroy her deep connection to something that had always been her greatest passion.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced their excellent line-up of talent for March 17-23, including Steve Ross in 'Ridin' High: Cole Porter on Broadway,' 'Now This' with Gary Peacock, Marc Copland & Joey Baron, The Puppeteers, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more.

Backstage at the Lincoln, the Lincoln Theatre's intimate, new concert series, has scheduled three concerts for 2014. These concerts offer patrons the extraordinary opportunity to be seated on stage with the featured local artist, providing concert goers an up-close-and-personal performance set against the hand-painted grandeur of the Lincoln's rare Egyptian Revival-style motif.

Salon/Sanctuary Concerts presents Exodus: Dreams of the Promised Land in Antebellum America featuring The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble with guest actors Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Jennifer Rau. The Script and Stage Direction is by Erica Gould and Jessica Gould did the program concept and dramaturgy.

Music Director Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) announce the Orchestra's 2014-2015 season, its eighth under the direction of Maestra Alsop. The full schedule and details about each production follow.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series is pleased to announce that Broadway/television leading man CHEYENNE JACKSON will return to the historic music room for two shows only on Thursday, March 27 and Saturday, March 29, with shows at 6:15pm.

The innovative PUBLIQuartet, winner of the Concert Artists Guild Sylvia Ann Hewlett Adventurous Artist Prize and a CAG New Music/New Places Ensemble, will team up with the hip hop poetry trio, The Mighty Third Rail for an original performance at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space on Thursday evening, March 20th at 7:30 p.m. The PUBLIQuartet will begin the evening with Gyorgy Ligeti's Quartet No. 1. The Mighty Third Rail will then perform their own hip hop/spoken word improvisations based on iconic jazz standards by Duke Ellington and John Coltraine, as well as Gil Scott- Heron's 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' along with their own compositions. The concert will come full circle with a re- imagining of Ligeti's Quartet No. 1in which both ensembles will take part, featuring improvisation, electronics, beat boxing, and spoken word in a modern day telling of the Garden of Eden. The performance is part of the PUBLIQuartet's MIND|THE|GAP series, which explores the intersection between jazz, hip hop, and classical genres.

If you like high quality, memorable music, superbly performed, with a clever and informative narrative, then you will love this unique cabaret production.

Marc Robin, the Artistic Director of the historic Fulton Theatre in downtown Lancaster, has announced the company's lineup for its 2014/2015 Mainstage Season and the first fully produced play of the Ellen Arnold Groff Studio Series. The lineup includes a hilarious farce, a holiday hit based on a classic Irving Berlin film musical, an Agatha Christie thriller, a Broadway hit that's a sexy game of cat and mouse, the Mel Brooks musical that took home the most Tony® Awards in history, a feel-good musical based on a Best Picture Oscar® Nominated Film, and perhaps the most magical musical of all time.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced their wonderful line-up of excellent talent for March 10-16. Birdland will kick-off their outstanding week of programming with the following acts:

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Ring Of Fire' opens, 'Road Show' readies, 'Gypsy' and 'Chicago' thrive, 'Carnival' prepares, 'Queenie Pie' reschedules, Boho brings the Mozart, plus the new musicals 'Period Piece' and 'Shining Lives,' and more!

Today Jazz at Lincoln Center announces its 2014-15 Concert and Education season, which features a season-long journey 'through the Americas.' Through a diverse array of concerts and programs, Jazz at Lincoln Center's 27th season will explore how jazz has both integrated and influenced the rich musical traditions of the Caribbean and North, South, and Central America.

Music Director Steven Smith and Executive Director today announced the 2014/15 season of the Richmond Symphony (RSO). The new season features world-renowned guest artists, new partnerships and concerts designed to appeal to diverse audiences throughout the Richmond region.

Baritone David Serero is set to perform a one man show in a UK tour, following the release of his new album, The Broadway Baritone. Serero, 32, has received international recognition and critical acclaim from all over the world. He's already performed more than 600 concerts and performances throughout the world - which have been broadcasted to an audience of over 30 million worldwide.

For DIRECTOR'S CHOICE, the fourth program of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2013-2014 season, Artistic Director Peter Boal selects from his roster of acquisitions and increases them by one: The captivating mixed-bill program will feature a much-anticipated world premiere by Alejandro Cerrudo, resident choreographer of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. The program also reprises audience favorites TAKE FIVE…More or Less, Broadway-darling Susan Stroman's sunny slice of jazz-infused Dave Brubeck fun; and Susan Marshall's distinctive aerial duet, Kiss. Rounding out the lineup is Molissa Fenley's State of Darkness, a tour-de-force solo performance set to Stravinsky's riot-inducing The Rite of Spring. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE runs for seven performances only, March 14 through 23 at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at just $28 and may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, online at PNB.org, or in person at the PNB Box Office, 301 Mercer Street.