Ella Fitzgerald News

This week, The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street, NYC) presents three special live music events on the stage of the Loreto Theater. Tickets are available at SheenCenter.org, by phone at (212) 925-2812, or in-person at The Sheen Center box office. 

As thoughts turn to balmy summer evenings, Darlington Hippodrome announces a sizzling season of shows between May and September.

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

The spirited soprano makes her auspicious Seattle Opera debut as the title character in Francesca Zambello's upcoming Aida production

The Broadway at Birdland concert series was proud to present award-winning singer Natalie Douglas with another one of her very special "Tributes!" On Monday, April 9, she threw an onstage celebration of the music and magic of the one and only Elvis Presley. Songs included "Blue Suede Shoes," "Viva Las Vegas," and "If I Can Dream."

In celebration of what would have been Ella Fitzgerald's 101 on April 25th, a new show and book about the Legendary Ella Fitzgerald, with full support of the Fitzgerald estate and foundation, has been produced and written by Emmy(R) Award winner, Grammy(R) Award nominee and best selling author, Geoffrey Mark.

Bloomingdale School of Music (BSM) is pleased to present pianist and faculty member Anna Khanina in a solo concert entitled Variations on Friday, May 4th at 7:00 pm. This free concert open to the community will be held at the school's home site located at 323 West 108th Street in Manhattan. Seating is limited.

In Sisters of Swing, produced by Town Hall Arts Center, the lives of LaVerne, Maxene and Patty, are put on display as they sing their way through the years. The show follows the sisters from their early days on the road and rise in fame to their dissembling over irreconcilable differences. With a score chalk-full of hit songs such as, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon," "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," some audiences members may get a sense of nostalgia that will leave them smiling.

The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) continues its intimate "Jazz Club" performances with jazz trumpeter Amir ElSaffar and his Two Rivers Ensemble on Thursday, April 26 at 8:00pm. ElSaffar was born to an American mother and an Iraqi father. After studying classical music in the U.S. and Iraqi maqam music in Baghdad, he forged his own path by mixing ornaments and microtones from Arab music with melodies and harmonies from the West. His unique fusion has won him accolades from DownBeat magazine and rowdy ovations at the Newport Jazz Festival.

Refusing to end their 2017/2018 season, Delaware Theatre Company reprises their hit production Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life. Happy to be performing for Wilmington audiences again, tap dancing legend Maurice Hines will wow audiences for one weekend only, Friday, June 1 to Sunday, June 3, 2018.

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street, NYC) continues their live music series, 'Inspirations: Women And Their Muses,' with a one night only event featuring Grace McLean & Them Apples, Friday, April 20 in The Loreto Theater. Tickets are $35 and available at SheenCenter.org, by phone at (212) 925-2812, or in-person at The Sheen Center box office.  

One of Hollywood's most iconic stars is coming to the Las Vegas Strip in Marilyn! The New Musical, an original musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. The show will open at Paris Las Vegas with preview performances beginning May 23 and a grand opening June 1, just in time for Marilyn's birthday. Written, directed and produced by Tegan Summer, CEO of Prospect House Entertainment, in partnership with Authentic Brands Group, owner of the Estate of Marilyn Monroe, the new musical will feature acclaimed Broadway actress Ruby Lewis as the resident Marilyn Monroe.

Beloved as one of the world's most popular dance companies, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for a seven-performance engagement at the David H. Koch Theater June 13 - 17, 2018.  Led by Artistic Director Robert Battle as it reaches six decades, the Company's repertory for the season features works by eight choreographers - including a world premiere by Jessica Lang - across three programs. Alvin Ailey's must-see masterpiece Revelations is the uplifting finale of each performance.

AEG Presents announced this morning the full 2018 lineup for its 60th Summer Concert Series at The Mountain Winery. This year's shows will run from May 27 through September 30 and include legendary performers and top-notch talent across many genres in music and comedy. Returning icons gracing The Mountain Winery's legendary summer stage include Willie Nelson with Alison Krauss, Tony Bennett, Pretenders, Alanis Morissette, The Original Wailers, Los Lobos, Norah Jones, Lyle Lovett and The Roots. New performers include Roger Daltrey, O.A.R., The Rascals and the comedy duo #IMOMSOHARD.

Maestro LUKE FRAZIER and THE AMERICAN POPS ORCHESTRA - Washington, DC's innovative hometown orchestra - has announced the winners of their first annual vocal competition, "NextGen: Finding The Voices of Tomorrow." The First Place female winner is Nia Savoy (Howard University) and the First Place male winner is Evan LaChance (The Catholic University of America).

Delaware Theatre Company dazzles this spring with their final 2017/2018 season production, Ella: First Lady of Song! Written by Lee Summers (Off Broadway: From My Hometown) and conceived & directed by tap dancing legend Maurice Hines (DTC: Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life, Film: The Cotton Club). This enchanting regional premiere peeks into the key scenes and songs that changed Ella's struggles into a celebrated jazz career.

Eliane Elias: Music From Man Of La Mancha, ALON & JOCA, Natalie Douglas Tributes: Elvis, and more lead Birdland's lineup for the week of April 9!

LEGENDS: Diana Ross, Billie Holiday, Beyonce' and More Stars MOTOWN: The Musical and Helen Hayes nominee N'Kenge with the Jacksonville Symphony under the baton of Maestro Nathan Aspinall. The show celebrates musical greats from Opera Legends Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo to jazz and Pop stars such as Tina Turner, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne and Beyonce. Broadway's Kenny Seymour (Memphis, Amazing Grace) is currently Music Director on the piano, and song selections include audience favorites such as "Proud Mary", "Love On Top", "Stormy Weather" and Porgy and Bess's "My Man's Gone Now".

The Soraya's Great Hall will be transformed into the coolest of the cool intimate New York nightspot as "Jazz Club" arrives at The Younes and Soraya Center for the Performing Arts this spring.  Grammy Award-winning vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant kicks off "Jazz Club" with her unmatched range that soars to the rafters and dives to earthy depths. She continues the legacies of the greats-Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday-and tackles racial stereotypes by performing forgotten numbers from the vaudeville and minstrel eras stretching back more than a century. McLorin Salvant performs two nights, April 18 & 19 at The Soraya's Jazz Club located on the campus of CalState University, Northridge.

Acclaimed Jazz harpist-pianist-vocalist Corky Hale will present a 103rd Birthday Show honoring Billie Holiday on Sunday, April 8 at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood.  Hale is one of the few people still performing who was actually a close friend of Holiday's, playing for her on the 'Stars of Jazz' TV show, and on several recordings and live appearances, and this will be her fourth annual birthday salute to the singer.